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19 Feb 18:04

Bettws Wales

by jackhill000

Wales ( Cymru , pronounced [ ˈkəmrɨ ] ; Wales , pronounced [ˈweɪlz] ) – a country that is part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland [2] [3] . Also a Celtic historical land . The country is located in the southwestern part of the island of Great Britain , west of England , on the Irish and Celtic Seas . The capital of Wales is Cardiff .

Despite the fact that the country shares a socio-political history with the rest of Great Britain and the vast majority of the population speaks English, Wales has kept its cultural identity and is a bilingual country. Over 560,000 of its inhabitants speak Welsh , which is especially widespread in the western and northern parts of the country. From the end of the 19th century, Wales gained an image of a “land of songs”, in part thanks to the eisteddfod tradition . The country is represented by its own team at many international sports events, incl. at the FIFA World Cup , the UEFA European Championship , the Rugby World Cup and the Commonwealth Games . Rugby unionit is considered a symbol of Welsh national identity and a manifestation of national consciousness.

The name Walia is a Polish version of the English name Wales which is a Germanic exonym derived from the Germanic word Walha and means stranger or foreigner. The word Walha probably comes from the name of the Celtic tribe of Volcae .

Welsh, in turn, call their country Cymru (pronounced [ ˈ k ə m r ɨ ] ), and themselves Cymry, which means “compatriot”, “fellow countryman” in Old Welsh.
HistoryEdit
From prehistory to antiquityEdit
Celtic tribes before the Roman conquest

Wales for at least 29,000 years is inhabited by modern people. The beginning of permanent residence is considered to be the end of the Ice Age between 12,000 and 10,000. years ago. Hunters from the Mesolithic era, living in central Europe, began to migrate to Great Britain. At that time, sea levels were much lower than they are today, and what’s more, the shallower layers of the present North Sea were once dry land. The present east coast of England and the coasts of Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands were connected by an area of ​​land known as Doggerland(inhabited by Palaeolithic nomadic peoples), thus creating the British Peninsula on the European continent. Wales did not have glaciers until around 10,250 years ago, and the warmer climate contributed to the dense forest cover in this part of the continent.

Post-Ice Age sea level rise separated Wales and Ireland, shaping the Irish Sea. Doggerland was sunk by the North Sea and 8,000 years ago the British Peninsula turned into an island.

Until the beginning of the Neolithic (6,000 years ago), sea level in the Bristol Channel was about 10 meters lower than it is today. John Davies interprets the theory of the sinking of the Cantre’r Gwaelod and the tales of the Mabinogion of narrower and shallower waters between Wales and Ireland as distant memories of the time preserved in folk accounts.

The Stone Age colonists integrated with the hunting and gathering indigenous peoples, gradually changing their way of life to farming and settlements (see the Neolithic Revolution ). Forests were cleared to establish pastures and cultivate the land. New technologies such as ceramics and textiles were also developed. In the period between 5,800 and 5,500 years ago, kromlechs were also built, such as Pentre Ifan, Bryn Celli Ddu or Parc Cwm, as well as high stone mounds.

Like the people of Great Britain, the population of today’s Wales assimilated immigrants for centuries, which resulted in an exchange of experiences between representatives of the Bronze Age and Iron Age cultures. According to John T. Koch and many other scientists, Wales in the later Bronze Age was part of a coastal trading network that also included other Celtic regions, such as today’s England, France, Spain and Portugal, where Celtic languages ​​developed.

This view, sometimes called “Atlantic-Celtic”, is, however, opposed to the theory of Celtic languages, which have their roots further east, to the Hallstatt culture. At the time of the Roman invasion of Britain, the territory of modern Wales for hundreds of years had already been divided between the tribes of Deceangli, Ordoviki, Kornovia, Demetas and Silurians.

The original population of Wales has left behind great megalithic structures . Later the area was occupied by the Celts . The Romans occupied areas of Wales from the 1st to the 5th centuries AD
Between Roman and English ruleEdit

After the end of the Roman Empire, the national identity of Wales emerged. Despite the later invasions of the Jutes , Angles and Saxons , Wales retained its separateness. At that time, several states were established in Wales, the most powerful of which were the Kingdom of Gwynedd and the Kingdom of Powys .

The 400-year period following the fall of Roman rule is the most difficult period to interpret in the history of Wales. After the departure of the Romans from Britain in AD 410, many of the British lowlands to the east and south-east were conquered by various Germanic peoples. Before detailed studies of the distribution of R1-Y-DNA subclasses, it was initially assumed that the indigenous Britons had been driven out by the invaders. This theory has been rejected in the face of evidence that the majority of the population is of late Hallstatt origin, but likely Late Neolithic or Early Mesolithic origin with little Anglo-Saxon origin. By 500 AD, however, the land that had become Wales was divided into many kingdoms free from Anglo-Saxon rule. The kingdoms of Gwynedd, Powys, Dyfed and Seisyllwg, Morgannwg and Gwent became the independent Welsh successor states. Archaeological evidence found in the Netherlands and the lands that would become England points to an early Anglo-Saxon migration to Britain between AD 500 and AD 550, which is consistent with the chronicles of the Franks. John Davies marks this as being in line with the British victory at Badon Hill attributed to King Arthur by Nennius. The persistent survival of the Roman-British peoples and their descendants in the Western kingdoms gave rise to what we know today as Wales. With the loss of the lowlands, the English kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria, later Wessex, struggled with Powys, Gwent, and Gwynedd to define the border between the two nations. points to early Anglo-Saxon migration to Britain between AD 500 and AD 550, which is in line with the Frankish chronicles. John Davies marks this as being in line with the British victory at Badon Hill attributed to King Arthur by Nennius. The persistent survival of the Roman-British peoples and their descendants in the Western kingdoms gave rise to what we know today as Wales. With the loss of the lowlands, the English kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria, later Wessex, struggled with Powys, Gwent, and Gwynedd to define the border between the two nations. points to early Anglo-Saxon migration to Britain between AD 500 and AD 550, which is in line with the Frankish chronicles. John Davies marks this as being in line with the British victory at Badon Hill attributed to King Arthur by Nennius. The persistent survival of the Roman-British peoples and their descendants in the Western kingdoms gave rise to what we know today as Wales. With the loss of the lowlands, the English kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria, later Wessex, struggled with Powys, Gwent, and Gwynedd to define the border between the two nations. The persistent survival of the Roman-British peoples and their descendants in the Western kingdoms gave rise to what we know today as Heol Senni Wales. With the loss of the lowlands, the English kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria, later Wessex, struggled with Powys, Gwent, and Gwynedd to define the border between the two nations. The persistent survival of the Roman-British peoples and their descendants in the Western kingdoms gave rise to what we know today as Wales. With the loss of the lowlands, the English kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria, later Wessex, struggled with Powys, Gwent, and Gwynedd to define the border between the two nations.

Having lost much of Mercia (today the West Midlands) in the 6th century and at the beginning of the 7th century, the Powys reviving in the 7th century mastered the achievements of Mercians. Aethelbald of Mercia, counting on the defense of recently conquered lands, built Wat’s Dyke. According to John Davis, it is likely that this project could have been carried out with the consent of King Elisedd ap Gwylog, ruler of Powys. As this border stretched north from the River Severn Valley to the mouth of the River Dee, it connected Oswestry with Powys. Another theory – based on carbon dating – determined the existence of Dyke 300 years earlier, which may suggest that the causeway may have been built by the post-Roman rulers of Wroxeter. King Offa of Mercia appears to continue this advisory initiative by creating a larger earthen rampart known today as the Offa Dam (Welsh Clawdd Offa). Davies writes of Sir Cyril Fred Fox’s research on Offa Dam: “In planning this, there was a consultation with Kings Powys and Gwent. On Długa Góra, near Trelistan, the dike turns east, leaving the fertile slopes in the hands of the Welsh. Near Rhiwabon [the causeway] was designed to ensure that Cadell ap Brochwel retained the right to own the Penygadden Fortress. ” For Gwent, Offa built a causeway “on the eastern ridge of the gorge, clearly with the intention of recognizing that the River Wye and its movement belonged to the kingdom of Gwent.” However, Fox’s interpretations of both the length and purpose of Offa’s dyke have been questioned by more recent studies. The Offa Causeway remained largely the border between Wales and England, although Wales regained the area between Dee (Afon Dyfrdwy) and Conwy in the 12th century, then known as Y Berfeddwlad.

In 853 the Vikings attacked Anglesey, but in 856 Rhodi Mawr defeated and killed their leader, Goma. The British from Wales later made peace with the Vikings, and Anarawd ap Rhodi allied with the Norsemen who occupied Northumbria to conquer the north. This alliance later broke up, and Anarawd came to an agreement with Alfred, King of Wessex, with whom he fought against the West Welsh. According to Annales Cambriae, in 894 “Anaward came with the Angles [peoples of Germanic origin] and laid the scraps of Ceredigion and Ystrad Tywi.”

English ruleEdit

In the eighth century AD, the Welsh tribes managed to defend themselves against the neighborly invasion of the Anglo-Saxons. However, when England was invaded by William the Conqueror (1066), his Norman army broke into Wales and began the occupation. In 1218, Prince Gwynedd managed to unify the lands of Wales and assumed the title of Prince of Wales. In 1282, when Llywelyn ap Gruffudd died, the final annexation of Wales by England took place. In 1301, King Edward I conferred the title of Prince of Wales on his son Edward II in a gesture that was to testify to the unity and ties between Wales and England. The title of Prince of Wales is traditionally accorded to the eldest son of a British ruler, heir to the throne of the United Kingdom.

In 1400, the Welsh Prince Owain Glyndŵr started an uprising against England, removing the English from most of Wales in four years. In 1410, the uprising was suppressed. In 1485, Henry VII became the king of England . As a Welshman and the first Tudor ruler, he made the rule of England more tolerant of the Welsh. His son, Henry VIII , joined England and Wales by union in 1536. Under the Laws of Wales 1535-1542, Wales was annexed by England and incorporated into its legal system.

The 19th century industrial revolution changed the face of Wales, endangering the traditional way of life of Welsh farmers and shepherds. Distinctive political parties began to develop. The Welsh liberalism represented at the beginning of the 20th century by Lloyd George was then supplanted by the development of socialism and the Labor Party. The sense of the nationality of Wales revived especially during the 20th century, and the Welsh language and culture began to revive. Plaid Cymru was founded in 1925 , and the Welsh Language Society in 1962. The Welsh National Assembly, which was created under the Government of Wales Act 1998, is responsible for a number of areas in which it can legislate.
Political systemEdit

In the Middle Ages, Wales was an independent principality, now it is an integral part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland .

Like Northern Ireland, Wales does not have a state church. The Anglican Church in Wales ( Yr Eglwys yng Nghymru / Church in Wales ) was finally separated from the state in 1920. It is headed by the Archbishop of Wales.

In 1267, Wales entered a personal union with England . In the years 1535–1707 it was the dominion of the English crown, and after 1707 it was incorporated directly into England as a principality. In 1964 a special ministry was created under the British government for Wales. In 1967, Welsh was legally equated with English . In a referendum on gaining autonomy in 1979, the idea gained only 12% of the support of the inhabitants. During the 1997 election campaign, Labor leader Tony Blair submitted a proposal to establish a Welsh National Assemblywith broad competences in relation to home affairs. In a referendum, the project received 50.3% of the support of the voting population of Wales.
Plik:Cynhadledd i’r wasg gyda’r Prif Weinidog Mark Drakeford – Press conference with the First Minister.webm Play a media file
Mark Drakeford, Prime Minister of Wales, speaking at a press conference on COVID-19 in September.

In fulfillment of election promises, the Labor parliament passed the Government of Wales Act 1998 [4] in 1998, which established the National Assembly for Wales ( Cynulliad Cenedlaethol Cymru ); the term “parliament” has been deliberately dropped to emphasize the lesser degree of autonomy. An expression of this was the fact that the Welsh Assembly did not have the power to establish its own electoral law , but it was done by the minister of the British government. The detailed scope of the Assembly’s competences was also determined by the regulation of the British monarch, i.e. de factoby the British Government, with the proviso that the draft of such a regulation must obtain the consent of each of the houses of the UK Parliament; Moreover, the subsequent change of the scope of competences also required the consent of the Assembly. This body, however, did not appoint any separate executive, and its competences were shaped mainly as executive ones. In practice, however, a custom has emerged to appoint a special executive committee, which is essentially a commission of the Assembly. The first elections to the Welsh National Assembly were held on May 2, 1999.

As a result of the 2002 report Better Governance for Wales [5] , prepared by the Assembly, the Government of Wales Act 2006 [6] was adopted , which significantly strengthened the position of the autonomous bodies of Wales. Local electoral law, although still subject to British government decisions, has been more precisely specified in the act itself. A separate Welsh executive with the First Minister ( Prif Weinidog , the First Minister) was created – following the example of Scotland .) at the head, appointed by the monarch, but at the request of the Assembly. The Assembly itself thus became, first of all, a legislative body, which was reflected in the change in the rules of legislation. The Assembly has been directly authorized to adopt ” Measures of the National Assembly for Wales ” ( Mesurau Cynulliad Cenedlaethol Cymru ) , subject to royal sanction and constituting a formal source of law, albeit in terms of executive legislation (equivalent to Polish regulations), subject to the supremacy of the UK Parliament. The above-described mechanism of defining the powers of the Congregation by means of royal ordinances was retained, with the change that the consent of the Assembly to the modification was considered obligatory in every situation.

As a result of the referendum held in 2011, the Welsh National Assembly was given the opportunity to pass laws ( Act of National Assembly for Wales ) requiring a formal royal sanction, similar to the acts of the United Kingdom Parliament, but with the supremacy of the British Parliament. . At the same time, the competence of the Assembly to adopt the existing instruments expired.

The name of the flag of Wales is The Dragon of Cadwallader.