the First World War, was not anti-military. Rather, Lewis and other party members were attempting to strengthen loyalty to the Welsh nation "over the loyalty to the British State". Lewis argued, "The only proof that the Welsh nation exists is that there are some who act as if it did exist". However, most party members who claimed conscientious objector status did so in the context of their moral and religious beliefs, rather than based on political conviction. Of these, almost all were exempted from military service. About 24 party members made politics their sole ground for exemption, of whom twelve received prison sentences (for refusing to attend a medical examination, as an essential preliminary to call-up, after their claim of conscientious had been refused). For Lewis, those who objected proved that the assimilation of Wales was "being withstood, even under the most extreme pressures". University of Wales by-election, 1943 Until 1950, universities elected their own representatives to the UK parliament. In 1943 Lewis contested the University of Wales parliamentary seat at a by-election, his opponent being former Plaid Genedlaethol Cymru deputy vice-president Dr William John Gruffydd. Gruffydd had voiced doubts about Lewis' ideas since 1933, and by 1943 he had joined the Liberal party. The "brilliant but wayward" Gruffydd was a favourite with Welsh-speaking intellectuals and drew 52.3 per cent of the vote, to Lewis' 22 per cent, or 1,330 votes. The election effectively split the Welsh-speaking intelligentsia, and left Lewis embittered with politics. However, the experience proved invaluable for Plaid Cymru, as they began to refer to themselves, as "for the first time they were taken seriously as a political force". The by-election campaign led directly to "considerable growth" in the party's membership. The Evans Legacy 1945–1981 With Lewis retreating from direct political involvement, and with the party drawing a modest increase in membership, Dr Gwynfor Evans was elected party president in 1945. Evans, born in Barry in Glamorgan but spending most his life in Llangadog in Carmarthenshire, only learned to speak Welsh as an adult. Evans was educated at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth, and at St John's College, Oxford, where he founded a branch of Plaid Cymru while he was a student. As a devout Christian pacifist, Evans was unconditionally exempted from conscription during the Second World War on grounds of conscientious objection. Building on a higher profile the party fielded more candidates in elections; and in