Discussions of the need for a "Welsh party" had been conducted since the 19th century. With the generation or so before 1922 there "had been a marked growth in the constitutional recognition of the Welsh nation," wrote historian John Davies. By 1924 there were people in Wales "eager to make their nationality the focus of Welsh politics." Lewis's experiences in World War I, and his sympathy for the cause of Irish independence, brought him to Welsh nationalism.