Wales still a colony?

COLONIALISM AND HOW IT RELATES TO WALES.

Jurgen Osterhammel (born 1952) is a distinguished German Historian who has studied colonialism extensively.  In his book entitled “Colonialism – a Theoretical Overview” he defines “Colonialism” as follows: “Colonialism is a relationship between an indigenous majority and a minority of foreign invaders. The fundamental decisions affecting the lives of the colonized people are made and implemented by the colonial rulers in pursuit of interests that are often defined in a distant metropolis. Rejecting cultural compromises with the colonized population, the colonizers are convinced of their own superiority and their ordained mandate to rule.”  My Concise Oxford English Dictionary defines a Colony as “A country or territory under the political control of another country and occupied by settlers from that country.”  Although dictionary definitions vary slightly, this is the generally accepted meaning.

In order to decide to what extent Wales is, and has been, a colony here is a list the major characteristics of colonies:

1. As Osterhammel’s definition indicates, colonies result when – generally weaker – countries or territories are conquered, invaded and subdued (ruled by force) by aggressive, militaristic countries – without the consent of the indigenous people, of course.
2. Colonial powers invariably exploit the natural resources of their colonies, i.e. seizing or commandeering them without the consent of the indigenous population, indeed, nearly always against their will and with no (or very little) recompense of any description. Colonizers impose their culture (including language, history and geography) upon their colonies thereby gravely undermining and eroding the culture, language and national identity of the indigenous people. This nearly always includes planting substantial numbers of people from the colonizing nation as settlers in the colony. In the last few centuries colonies have also been exposed to huge amounts of the, ever-present, colonists’ media.
3. The colonizing nation always exhibits a “superior” attitude towards the colonized people, being openly disrespectful, disdainful, arrogant and often contemptuous towards them.
4. Colonies are invariably neglected by the colonizing nation with virtually all infrastructure developed being for the benefit of the colonizers.
5. Colonizers invariably refuse to acknowledge that their colonies have the right to freedom. Believing they have an ordained, divine, mandate to rule the colony (see Osterhammel’s definition), they take an extremely dim and indignant view of any aspiration by the colonized people for Independence for their country and will adopt any method and resort to virtually any lengths (even armed conflict) to prevent it happening.

There is, therefore no doubt that Wales fits the bill with regard to being a colony, for it satisfies both Osterhammel’s and the dictionary definition and virtually all of the above 5 colonial characteristics. Even some prominent pro-Unionist politicians have asserted this; for example: the late Wales First Minister Rhodri Morgan (Western Mail 12/1/2010), the late Welsh Assembly Tory Leader Nick Bourne – Lord Crickhowell (Cambria Magazine Jan/Feb 2009) and Elystan Morgan in the Lords debate on the Wales Bill (October 2016).

Ethical considerations relating to colonialism.

The method employed by colonizing nations in acquiring colonies invariably involves the following characteristics (generally to extreme degrees): violence, aggression, invasion, conquest, occupation, subjugation, intimidation, oppression, bullying and a lot of bloodshed, particularly of the vanquished people.

Thereafter, the policy of the colonial power towards the colonized nation is:  What we have we hold – at virtually any cost. This scenario surely poses the following fundamental question:

Should colonizing countries be rewarded for the acquisition of colonies by such brutal, despicable, vicious and atrocious methods.  For any fair-minded person there is only one possible answer – a resounding NO.

Wales was conquered by England in 1282 and 2½ centuries later England devised a much cheaper way than military occupation to control the “natives” in Wales – implemented by the Acts of Union (1536/43).  Because of England’s huge population compared to Wales (10 -1 then), giving Wales parliamentary representation was no threat whatever to England’s massive hegemony because this representation was so miniscule.  It remains so for English MPs now constitute 82% of all MPs (96% of ruling Tory Party MPs).  This massive majority easily enables them to maintain control of Wales.  For centuries the English establishment has – to an enormous extent – softened up and indoctrinated the people of Wales that colonial status is best for them – a folly that has been swallowed hook, line and sinker.  They have even convinced the vast majority of the people of Wales to help peddle this nonsense.

Gwyn Hopkins   6/3/2019