On 4 August, Britain entered what was initially a European conflict known now as the First World War - a war that was to change the face of war and Welsh society for ever.
As we mark the centenary of that fateful day, the National Assembly will join the #LightsOut campaign by keeping on just a single light in the Senedd between 22.00 – 23.00.
On the same day, Wales’s law-making body will host a panel discussion in the Societies Pavilion, at the National Eisteddfod, entitled “One hundred years since the beginning of the First World War – Remembering, learning, understanding, grieving.”
“It is one hundred years since Britain declared war on Germany, confirming the UK’s entry into a world war which affected so many lives in Wales,” Presiding Officer of the National Assembly, Dame Rosemary Butler AM, added.
“Over the coming four year period the National Assembly will host a series of events including lectures, debates and exhibitions to mark the centenary of the Great War and provide opportunities to consider its impact on Wales and its people.
“It’s only right that on the hundredth anniversary of the war we look back to remember, learn and develop a greater understanding of this period in history.”
Deputy Presiding Officer David Melding AM will open the Eisteddfod event which will include contributions from respected experts in the field.
The panel will be chaired by Lyn Lewis Dafis, who is Head of Digital Development, National Library of Wales. He will be joined by Dr Gethin Matthews, of Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaeithol and Aled Eirug, a public policy and communications expert who is currently working on a PhD thesis at Cardiff University entitled: “Opposition to the Great War in Wales”