Welsh League of Nations Union (WLNU)

The ‘first predecessor’ to today’s Welsh Centre for International Affairs (WCIA), the Welsh League of Nations Union was founded after World War 1 to channel the energies of people Wales-wide into Peacebuilding and Global Cooperation. WLNU’s letterbox remains on the North Wing entrance to Wales’ Temple of Peace and Health to this day, an understated reminder of an exceptional organisation once woven into the fabric of Welsh communities for nearly 2 decades.

The Interwar Peace Campaigns of WLNU

View Peacemakers Feature article: “Man, Mission and Movement: the Welsh League of Nations Union and the Interwar Peace Campaigns of Gwilym Davies.”

Under the campaign organising leadership of Rev Gwilym Davies, and with the financial support of David Davies of Llandinam, the WLNU through the 1920s and 1930s pursued high profile international Peace campaigns that mobilised the Welsh population in support of internationalism and institutions of global cooperation.

From Cardiff to Caernarfon, Denbigh to Tenby, at its high point 1,014 community groups, and 61,262 members were actively involved in the campaigning activities of the WLNU (see below). 390,296 signed the 1923 Women’s Peace Petition to America; and over 1,025,040 voted in the WLNU-organised 1935 Peace Ballot. WLNU’s Youth Message of Peace & Goodwill continues to this day through Urdd Gobaith Cymru (celebrating its centenary in 2022); and the Temple of Peace, opened in Nov 1938 as a headquarters befitting such a popular organisation, continues their mission through today’s Welsh Centre for International Affairs… ‘grandchild’ of the WLNU.

‘To Strive for a World of Justice’

Community, Internationalism and the Campaign for Peace in Interwar Wales – Llafur Talk, Oct 2020

In the aftermath of the First World War, Welsh communities took concerted action in the name of internationalism, peace and equality with increasing frequency and commitment. In this Llafur online event, join us and our guests Craig Owen, Rob Laker, and Emma West, to explore these themes in an interwar context – from the Welsh Women’s Peace Petition of 1923, to the Peace Ballot of 1935 and the opening of the Temple of Peace in 1938. (view other Llafur Event Recordings).

Researching the WLNU

The campaigning activities of the Welsh League of Nations Union can be explored in greater depth through their Annual Reports 1922-45, digitised to People’s Collection Wales and Flickr as part of WCIA’s ‘Wales for Peace’ project with support of volunteers. The original booklets can be viewed in the Temple of Peace Archives, and extensive original documentary holdings can be explored in the National Library of Wales (WLNU, Gwilym Davies and Lord Davies of Llandinam Papers).

Welsh League of Nations Union (WLNU) Annual Reports (and Significant Events)
1922	1923	1924	1925	1926
Founding of Welsh League of Nations Union, Llandrindod Wells Youth Message of Peace & Goodwill first broadcast	Women’s Peace Petition campaign Gregynog Teachers Conferences on International Education founded	Women’s Peace Delegation to America ‘Welsh Churches and World Peace’ Campaign	Faith Leaders Petition to America American Women’s Petition Response: Conference on Cause & Cure of War	League of Nations Int’l Congress held in Aberystwyth   N Wales Women’s Peace Pilgrimage for ‘Law not War’
1927	1928	1929	1930	1931
WLoNU branches and membership reach their peak	Temple of Peace proposed as Wales’ national memorial to fallen of WW1	David Davies commissions new WLoNU HQ – a ‘Temple of Peace’   ‘Welsh Teachers and World Peace’ Manifesto published	Stock Market crash and onset of Great Depression	WLoNU Women’s Advisory Committee (WAC) established – see records of meetings
1932	1933	1934	1935	1936
		Equity Tribunal Campaign	Peace Ballot Campaign	Festival of Youth
1937	1938	1939	1940	1941
Foundation Stone laid and construction starts on Wales’ Temple of Peace	Opening of Wales Temple of Peace	Outbreak of WW2; suspension of WLoNU activities		WLoNU / Gwilym Davies invited to develop proposals for UNESCO
1942	1943	1944	1945	WLoNU – UNA Wales combined Annual Report for 1943-1946
	UNESCO	Death of Lord David Davies, founder and sponsor of WLoNU.   Lord Davies Memorial Fund	WLoNU becomes United Nations Assoc (UNA) Wales   Inaugural meeting of UNA Wales, Oct 1945	Start of International Youth Service (IYS) and CEWC, the Council for Education in World Citizenship
Welsh Churches and World Peace – Campaign Booklet, 1924	Teachers and World Peace, 1929 Manifesto	Wales’ Peace Ballot Bulletins, 1935 (see more detail below)	UNESCO Proposals, 1941-45	Gwilym Davies’ Memorial Service, 1955

WLNU Branches 

Grassroots community participation was at the fore of the Welsh League’s approach, with a comprehensive programme of activities led by local branches and activists:

• Public meetings and debates on topical issues of current international affairs.
• ‘Lantern Lectures’ (slide shows) on international issues.
• Fundraising for the work of the Welsh League, in particular through organising annual Daffodil Days for Peace (researched by Swansea University History student Rob Laker, as part of a heritage placement with WCIA in 2019).
• Petitions and campaigns to sway public / political opinion on peace issues such as the Arms Trade, and ‘Law not War’.
• Marches and Peace Pilgrimages, such as the North Wales Women’s Peace Pilgrimage of 1926.
• Eisteddfod stalls
• School competitions including the Geneva Scholarship Scheme, Peace Essays and Exams, and International Summer School scholarships – many continued after WW2 under CEWC.

Membership

The table below emerges from analysis of membership figures from interwar WLNU Reports (with thanks to Rob Laker and Stuart Booker, Swansea University). Years of particularly high membership are spotlighted in bold, with a peak of 61,262 in 1930 (just prior to the Great Depression). Despite a drop in paid memberships the following year, the highest number of branches in Wales – 1,014 – was recorded in 1931-2. The peak in junior branches, at over 302 across Wales, was to come in 1938. Further explanation of the figures is below.

Year	1923	1924	1925	1926	1927	1928	1929	1930	1931-32
Adult Membership	18,110	26,345	31,299	34,999	36,689	39,223	41,822	43,050	14,051
Junior Membership	2,686	4,247	6,080	9,801	10,653	11,727	14,784	18,212	12,749
Total Membership	20,796	30,592	37,379	44,800	47,342	50,950	56,606	61,262	26,800
Community Branches	280	415	571	652	700	770	794	764	770
Junior Branches	20	39	77	133	149	176	202	233	244
Total Branches	300	454	648	785	849	946	996	997	1,014

Year	1933	1934	1935	1936	1937	1938	1939	1940	1941
Adult Membership	15,146	13,630	13,537	15,675	18,255	12,745	13,018	7,828	4,635
Junior Membership	9,264			9.026	9,290	6,780	9,216	3,881	2,342
Total Membership	24,410	13,630	13,537	24,701	27,545	19,525	22,234	11,709	6,977
Community Branches	621		479	533		538	498
Junior Branches	279		298	200		302	227
Total Branches	900		777	733		840	725

Whilst impressive by any measure, these figures demonstrate changes that reflect the changing world in which the League of Nations Union was operating:

• In 1930-31, the ‘apparent dip’ in membership was actually a change in presentation. Due to falling income, the Welsh League Council decided to measure paid memberships. It will be noted that the highest number of active local branches is the same year – suggesting voluntary and campaigner activity remained high.
• However, as the Great Depression of 1930-31 took effect, this had 2 impacts: a sharp decrease in paid memberships, reflecting the unemployment and austerity situation; and some loss of faith in the League of Nations itself following the Manchuria Crisis.
• Further reorganisation in 1934, and some presentational variations, result in some gaps in figures.
• The highest paid members ever was marked in 1937, as Wales’ Temple of Peace was under construction – and as concerns escalated towards WW2.
• With the outbreak of WW2, the Welsh League partially suspended work, although some figures are offered – though these may not represent similar measures of activity.
• A general question / point of interest on Junior Membership Branches, is whether these were the predecessors, parallel organisations or the same local bodies as the Urdd Youth movements local Aelwyd’s or youth branches / chapters. Given the overlap in mission between the WLoNU, Peace Message and the Urdd, it seems quite possibly these local groups may be one and the same.

‘Daffodil Days’ & Fundraising

The funds of the League were generated through widespread Fundraising by Branches, through organising annual Daffodil Days for Peace (explored by Swansea University History student Rob Laker).  

In 1927, branches Wales-wide contributed £1,507 12s 11d – approx. £93,000 today – towards the general running costs of the Welsh League, as well as funding their own local campaigns and activities.

View Google Map of Communities who organised Daffodil Days between 1925-39, collated by Rob Laker. Zoom, or click on pins, to find specific communities.