In the largely military anniversary commemoration of the First World War, little has been heard about social change and national identities, which were strongly present in Wales. In 1914, Wales was economically prosperous, culturally thriving, and politically stable. The advent of war saw strong voluntary recruitment and propaganda. David Lloyd George himself claimed that it was a war for Welsh liberal values. But by the time Lloyd George became Prime Minister in 1917, there was mounting dissent. For Wales as elsewhere, the First World War was a harsh, disillusioning period. The pre-1914 vibrant sense of nationality was replaced by one of bland unity in both Wales and Scotland.  The union, as evident in the recent referendum, precariously continues to endure.
 
Kenneth O. Morgan was a Fellow of Queen's College, Oxford, 1966-89, later Vice-Chancellor of the University of Wales, 1989-95. He was made a life peer (Labour) in 2000. He has written 34 books on British, Welsh, and American history. His most famous book, perhaps, is Labour in Power, 1945-1951 (1984); his latest is Devolution to Revolution (2014). He is married to the French constitutional lawyer, Elizabeth Gibson-Morgan of Bordeaux.