Welsh Journals

THE PEACE BALLOT OF 1935: THE WELSH CAMPAIGN* THE official history of the famous Peace Ballot of 1934-35 hailed not only the size of the vote-II 1,640,066 adults had taken part-but also the uniformity of the response.1 The percentage of favourable and unfavourable replies to each question varied little from region to region. Accordingly, the Ballot could be considered a 'National Declaration'. But in Wales the organizers of the Ballot were disappointed that they had not produced special results on the final question involving the use of military measures to stop a peace breaker. On this issue campaign leaders had been of one mind and their instructions to campaign workers had been pointedly biased, and yet Wales had given a lower 'Yes' vote on military sanctions than England, Scotland and Northern Ireland: England 58-3% Scotland 63-2% N. Ireland 72-8% Wales 56-6% This article gives the Welsh campaign close study in its own right for two reasons. First, it was unique in character yet failed to produce special results. That deserves an explanation. Second, the organizers puzzled over the low 'Yes' vote on military sanctions. Their musings merit consideration. Finally, the study of a regional campaign should make it possible to understand better why the entire country, 'with a quite extraordinary degree of universality, arrived at the same opinions'2 in 1934-35. To sponsor the Ballot, a National Declaration Committee was formed by thirty-eight participating societies, with Lord Cecil as chairman. This Committee asked Lord Davies, chairman of the executive committee of the Welsh League of Nations Union, to plan the campaign for Wales and serve as its chairman. Within Wales the responsibility for the referendum fell solely on the Welsh League of Nations Union, although it invited other societies to contribute funds and volunteer workers. A small sub-committee, with Lord The research for this article was made possible by a grant from the American Philosophical Society. 1 See Dame Adelaide Livingstone, The Peace Ballot: The Official History (London, 1935), and Martin Ceadel, 'The Peace Ballot, 1934-5', Eng. Hist. Rev., XCV (Oct. 1980), 810-39. For useful surveys of peace movements in Wales, see G. J. Jones, Wales And The Quest For Peace (Cardiff, 1969), and K. 0. Morgan, 'Peace Movements In Wales, 1899-1945', ante, Vol. X, No. 3 (June 1981), pp. 398-430. W. Ashley, 'The Meaning of the Vote', The Ballot Worker, No. 7 (9 May 1935).