From the very beginnings of Wales, its people have defined themselves
against their large neighbour. Wales: England's Colony? shows, that
relationship has not only defined what it has meant to be Welsh, it has
also been central to making and defining Wales as a nation. Yet the
relationship between the two nations has not always been a happy one and
never one between equals. Wales was England's first colony and its
conquest was by military force. It was later formally annexed, ending
its separate legal status. Yet most of the Welsh reconciled themselves
to their position and embraced the economic and individual opportunities
being part of Britain and its Empire offered. Only in the later half of
the twentieth century, in response to the decline of the Welsh language
and traditional industry, did Welsh nationalism grow.