Book IV – A Beacon of Hope: Building Socialist Britain
Chapter IX
From Empire to Commonwealth
(The last British Empire update was some time ago, so here is a link to it if you would like to refresh your memory: link)
The second Imperial Council (IC) conference, held in Ottawa in April 1927, formally presided over the demise of the largest Empire the world had ever seen. There had been no deliberate or pronounced strategy to dismantle the Empire. The outcomes of the conference simply reflected the new reality, and formalised a gradual process of adjustment that had begun shortly after the Revolution in Britain. The momentous historical significance of the second IC conference, however, seemed to be lost on all those involved at the time. Engrossed and bewildered by the detail and intricacies of the gargantuan task of carefully unravelling an empire, the politicians, civil servants and military leaders involved in the protracted discussions and negotiations failed to grasp the full reality of what was occurring around them. It was not until the conclusion of the conference that the participants fully recognised the significance of their decisions when the New York Times declared “the British Empire has disappeared from the maps.”
The IC’s first decision was to formally adopt the term “Commonwealth”. Although a largely symbolic move, this set the tone for the remainder of the conference. The term “British Commonwealth of Nations” was first coined in 1917 by South African Prime Minister Jan Smuts. It quickly gained momentum, and received imperial statutory recognition in the Anglo-Irish Treaty, when the term “British Commonwealth of Nations” was used in place of “British Empire” in the oath taken by members of the Irish Free State’s parliament. Although officials in Whitehall tried to discourage the use of the term, it continued to gain prominence throughout the 1920s, especially within the Dominions following the Revolution. The IC formally endorsed the adoption of the term, and the British Commonwealth of Nations (the Commonwealth) was formally constituted in Ottawa on the first day of the conference. All Imperial terminology was dropped as the Imperial Council became the Commonwealth Council of Leaders (CCL), the Imperial Defence Council became the Commonwealth Defence Council (CDC) and the Imperial Council’s Secretariat in Ottawa became the Commonwealth Secretariat. The United Kingdom (represented by the waning BGE) and the Dominions would henceforth be referred to as Commonwealth Realms “in free association.” The Commonwealth’s Charter declared them all to be “equal in status, in no way subordinate to another in any aspect of their domestic or external affairs, and united by common allegiance to the Crown.” This enshrined the Ottawa Declaration of 1926 that guaranteed full legislative independence to the Dominions.
The conference then moved on to the report from the Colonial Review Commission chaired by Sir Joseph Cook. By this stage the Commission’s report, after much negotiation and redrafting, had already been accepted by the Commonwealth leaders. The purpose of the conference was for the CCL to formally endorse it. The Cook Report, as it became known, recommended that the Commonwealth Realms assume formal responsibility for administration of Britain’s imperial possessions, inclusive of all crown colonies, territories and protectorates, as “H.M Government [the BGE] is no longer in a position to satisfactorily exercise its responsibilities to govern colonial territories on behalf of the Crown.” The Commonwealth Realms were therefore asked to administer and defend the colonial territories on behalf of the Crown, with jurisdiction to be resorted to British Government when (not if) it was restored to power in London. By this stage, much of the day to day colonial administration had already been assumed by Canada, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. The Cook Report formalised the ad-hoc colonial arrangements, essentially dividing the Empire into four new spheres of influence. Canada, as the largest and wealthiest of the Commonwealth Realms, reluctantly inherited the largest swathe of the Empire, which included the Caribbean territories, British Honduras and British Guyana, the Atlantic Ocean territories as well as all of British West Africa. Canada also assumed responsibility for Gibraltar and Malta, although the Commonwealth was facing increasing pressure from Spain and Italy to cede control of these territories. The Cook Report recommended that the Commonwealth relinquish control of the League of Nations Mandate of Cyprus to France (which the CCL approved), much to the chagrin of Greece, Italy and Turkey.
Australia took responsibility for a large number of territories across South and South East Asia. Ceylon was largely self-governing, overseen by the popular Vice President of the Legislative Council Sir James Peiris. Along with Ceylon, Australia also gained responsibility for troublesome Burma. Wracked by anti-British unrest and ethnic conflict, Australia rushed to institute self-governance under a federated system that endeavoured to give adequate representation to the country’s various ethnic groups. Burma worried politicians and bureaucrats in Canberra, and the Australian Government was eager to relinquish control over Burma as soon as practicable. A timeline for Burma’s future was hurriedly developed by Canberra in early 1927, envisioning full independence for Burma by no later than 1940. The wealthy Malay States (Federated and Unfederated) and Straits Settlements also came under Australia jurisdiction and like Ceylon, a largely “hands off” approach was maintained by the Australian colonial authorities who were in no rush to encourage independence. The Sultanate of Brunei simply became an Australian protectorate with the appointment of an Australian Resident in place of a British Resident. The White Rajahs of the Kingdom of Sarawak were allowed to rule unmolested and continue their modernisation program funded by revenue from oil and rubber. For all practical purposes, North Borneo’s administration remained purely in the hands of the North Borneo Chartered Company and the dismemberment of British rule had no discernible impact. New Zealand assumed control of Britain’s Pacific possessions, and Australia and New Zealand established joint control over Hong Kong and the British Concession in Shanghai.
Of the Commonwealth Realms that inherited a piece of Empire, Canada was the most unenthusiastic, while the Irish Free State declined to “play the imperialist game” and abstained on all matters relating to colonial affairs. The Federation of Indian States (FIS) also declined to involve itself in Colonial affairs (although the Cook Commission had no intention of recommending the FIS take responsibility of administration for any colonial territories*) with Prime Minister Jinnah noting that the Commonwealth should make “working towards self-government in the colonies” a key priority. The Cook Report reflected this sentiment, declaring that the Commonwealth should encourage greater self-governance within the colonies and protectorates, and move more rapidly towards Dominion (Commonwealth Realm) status for colonies that suitably developed civic and economic institutions. The degree to which the Commonwealth Realms agreed with this sentiment differed. Canada, the reluctant colonial master, strongly pushed for an accelerated pace of establishing self-governance with eventual independence in mind, while Australia and New Zealand displayed mixed feelings (depending on the colonial possession in question). South Africa, on the other hand, sought to expand its territory and influence, with the issue of self-governance for colonies barely registering any interest in Pretoria.
South Africa benefited the most from the “Imperial Carvery” as the Sydney Morning Herald put it, directly absorbing a number of colonial possessions into the Union. Fulfilling a long held desire of the South African government, the Cook Report (at Pretoria’s urging) recommended that the protectorates of Bechuanaland, Swaziland and Basutoland be annexed by South Africa rather than continue to exist as separate protectorates under South African administration. The Colonial Office had long frustrated South Africa’s hopes of absorbing these territories, but now there was little standing in the way of annexation despite some token opposition from what remained of the BGE and uneasiness expressed by Karachi about the future of the native peoples of those territories. Canada, Australia and New Zealand, however, did not hold much of an interest in the issue and agreed to South Africa’s request. The CCL also agreed to recognise South Africa’s annexation of the Mandate of South West Africa. The Commonwealth Realms by this stage had lost all interest in the League of Nations, and France was persuaded to turn a blind eye to the annexation after gaining Cyprus. In addition to the new territories annexed to the Union, South Africa also gained formal jurisdiction over all Southern and Eastern African colonies and protectorates, including Tanganyika, Uganda and Kenya. Despite the South African government’s best efforts, Southern Rhodesia, as well as Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland, evaded their grasp. The fate of Southern Rhodesia had been a lingering problem that dated back to advent of self-governance in 1922. Although small in numbers, the white settler community of the colony was strong-willed and determined. In his submission to the Cook Commission, John Chancellor, the Governor of Southern Rhodesia wrote that “when I arrived in Rhodesia five years ago to initiate responsible government institutions, which were conferred upon the people in accordance with their desire as expressed by the 1922 referendum, there were many in London who shook their heads with anxious forebodings…they marvelled at the rashness of the small community and feared that the Government would lead the country to disaster. There can, however, be no question that the events of the last five years have proved that those doubts and fears were groundless.” Self-governance had been a success for Southern Rhodesia, and the settler community, described by Chancellor as “the most thoroughly English people I have encountered,” looked dimly on joining the Boer dominated Union.
The Premier of Southern Rhodesia, Sir Charles Coghlan, fervently refused to continence any notion of joining South Africa and had been arguing for full Dominion status since the first Imperial Council in September 1926 much to Pretoria’s irritation. The fate of the self-governing crown colony was propelled to the CCL’s agenda as thousands of refugees from Britain made their way to southern Africa with the promise of land and a new life. Coghlan had enthusiastically welcomed the new arrivals in an effort to improve the economic viability of the colony and grow its standing within the Empire. Southern Rhodesia’s British population grew rapidly, from around 36,000 before the Revolution to nearly 43,000 by January 1927. Although more refugees sought a new life in Southern Rhodesia, the government in Salisbury was forced to temporarily freeze its settler intake program in late 1926 as the colony had reached the point in which it could no longer absorb settlers without economic dislocation. The BGE and the other Commonwealth Realms (excluding South Africa) were supportive of granting independence to Southern Rhodesia, making it a new Commonwealth Realm with representation on the CCL. In order to achieve a “critical mass” of land, resources and population for Rhodesia, the Cook Report recommended that Southern Rhodesia merge with Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland. The Southern Rhodesian government was initially divided on this, with some drawn to the mineral wealth of Northern Rhodesia, while others were concerned that the undeveloped north would divert resources from the south. In order to secure independence, the Southern Rhodesian legislative assembly agreed to merge with the other two colonies, forming a new nation. The Cook Report insisted on a federal system in order to protect the interests of the small settler communities in Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland, who baulked at amalgamation fearing interference from Salisbury. Although Premier Coghlan expressed doubts over the viability of the federal system, he reluctantly agreed. Under Jan Smuts, South Africa’s stance on the matter softened, and the South African government grudgingly withdrew its objection to Rhodesian independence. On 1 June 1927, the three colonies formed the Federation of Rhodesia (Rhodesia for short) with Salisbury as its capital and formally gained full membership status in the Commonwealth. Coghlan remained Premier of Southern Rhodesia, while Howard Moffat became the first Prime Minister of the Federation.
With hundreds of thousands of square miles to defend, the Commonwealth required the means to defend it. With a touch of irony, the downfall of Britain saw the Commonwealth divest itself of most of the troublesome spots which had drained British manpower and treasury resources since the end of the Great War. There were no more expensive garrisons to maintain in India or Palestine, and Egypt, the Sudan and Somaliland were no longer Commonwealth concerns. The positive relationship with Japan provided some measure of security for the Commonwealth’s Asian territories. As an example of the small full time commitment, at the time of the Revolution, in Britain’s African colonies there were only 12,000 regular British troops, with small forces of locally recruited police and soldiers providing law and order. The strategic and local threats to the colonial territories remained little changed since before the Revolution. Strategic threats could largely be countered by diplomacy (such as the alliance with Japan) and the focussed deployment of scarce military resources (small expeditionary forces and air policing) and the occasional “showing the flag” naval visit. The need for large standing armies was limited as most local threats could be met by the deployment of airpower and locally recruited forces. British service personnel who were transferred to Commonwealth commands were offered land and settlement packages in return for continued service. With the burden of the colonial territories in mind, the Commonwealth leaders were required to dramatically rethink their military policies. With expensive naval assets to maintain having carved up the Royal Navy (see list below), there was little want for large scale, long term garrisons. The pride of Britain was picked clean “by a horde of hungry vultures” as First Sea Lord Sir Osmond Brock lamented. What the Commonwealth Realms had no interest in was earmarked for sale or mothballing.
One area of growing concern for the Commonwealth was the FIS. Although the newly founded nation under Prime Minister Jinnah had made the transition to nationhood relatively smoothly, his government faced a number of problems. The North West Frontier and Waziristan was in open revolt against authorities the federal government and Jinnah could spare little in the way of manpower from the frontier with the Union of India due to repeated border skirmishes and infringements. In late 1926, Jinnah appealed for Commonwealth military support to help put the rebellion down. Rather than deploying ground troops, the Commonwealth leaders opted to utilise airpower, which had been successfully employed during the Third Anglo-Afghan War in 1919 and the subsequent revolts in the area. Although its standing air force was small, Australia offered a number of surplus aircraft to the newly established Commonwealth Assistance Force in India (CAFI) which was already providing technical and material support to the FIS based out of the Staff College at Quetta. At the conference, Canada, South African, Australia and New Zealand committed to providing ongoing military resources for the CAFI to help secure stability for the government in Karachi. Jinnah also attempted to raise the issue of the Union of India, which was becoming increasingly belligerent. The other Commonwealth leaders, fearful of war with India, adopted a head in the sand approach and discussion on the matter quickly fizzled out much to Jinnah’s frustration. This also brought into question of what military obligations that the Commonwealth Realms had if a member of the Commonwealth was attacked. With the unravelling of the Empire, the Commonwealth was nothing more than a community of nations without any formal defensive agreement. Little headway was made on the issue during the conference, with the Commonwealth leaders agreeing to continue deliberations on the matter through the Commonwealth Defence Council (CDC). The first priority for the CDC would be to decide the future of the British alliance with Japan and how it would operate given the demise of the Empire. Although Australia and New Zealand were strongly in favour of the alliance, Canada was less enthusiastic, favouring closer relations with the United States. The divergent priorities and concerns of the Commonwealth Realms were becoming increasingly pronounced.
The contentious issue of Britain’s war loans and debt was also tabled for discussion. There was a question of British Government war debt to private lenders and the US Government. There was also the question of loans (both to and from) Britain during and after the war to various Commonwealth governments. In the aftermath of Revolution, Washington temporarily suspended British payments, but President Calvin Coolidge came under intense pressure from Congress to recover British debts. The Dawes Commission was established in early 1925 by the President to examine the issue, with Reginald McKenna representing British interests. For nearly year, negotiations dragged on between Dawes, McKenna and their team of negotiators. The resulting Dawes-McKenna Plan did not find a permanent solution to the problem of the war debt, but provided a viable short term solution. The Plan recommended that President Calvin Coolidge introduce a five year moratorium on interest on British debt, to be reviewed every five years. In the meantime, the United States would receive Britain’s reparation payments from Berlin as repayment on war debts. The BGE had little choice in the matter, its political reserves exhausted. The Commonwealth leaders flexed their political muscles and in late 1926 unanimously announced a two year moratorium on repayment of all loans to the British Government, given the cost of taking on responsibility for the colonial territories. Although the Commonwealth Realms assured the BGE that they would examine the issue again in 1928, they had no intention of paying back their war debt to the BGE.
At the conclusion of the conference, Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin announced that the BGE would relocate to Northern Ireland now that it was clear that the SRB was in no position to launch an invasion. For some time, there had been increasing calls from within the ranks of the BGE that it needed to find ways to remain relevant. With its influence and power rapidly diminished and finances in disarray, the BGE leadership decided to return home to Northern Ireland, the last remaining bastion of the United Kingdom. The government in Belfast was hesitant at first, due to local political concerns, and the fear that the BGE would assume direct control of the province, displacing the local authorities. Although still part of the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland had been left largely to its own devises following the Revolution and operated as a de facto independent state. The Northern Irish leadership did not want to relinquish their authority. The Northern Irish government’s fears were largely assuaged after the signing of a memorandum of understanding, in which the BGE guaranteed that there would be “no redrawing of constitutional responsibilities in the near future.” Moreover, the BGE agreed that Northern Irish domestic affairs would be left entirely to the local administration in Belfast, with the BGE assuming responsibility for foreign affairs and defence, although the local government held much influence over the British Army in Northern Ireland (BANI). With the return to home soil, Baldwin insisted that all talk of “a government in exile” be avoided, and the BGE became informally known as the Belfast Government. The Emergency Cabinet was disbanded, and a new Cabinet of eight members was established which included Lord Cushendun as Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, and Victor Cavendish, 9th Duke of Devonshire as Secretary of State for Defence. Most members of the Cabinet held little real responsibility, however. In June 1927, the BGE moved into an office building off Donegall Square in Belfast. However, the King and the Royal household would continue to reside in Canada indefinitely. There were many within the British émigré community in Canada who also showed no inclination to move to Northern Ireland, and when the Rump Parliament (Joint Houses) reconvened in Belfast, it consisted of less than 50 members. Churchill, who had been living in Belfast since his resignation as Prime Minister, loudly questioned the legitimacy of the Belfast Government.
Attendees of the April 1927 CCL conference
The British Government: Stanley Baldwin
Canada: Hugh Guthrie
Australia: Stanley Bruce
South Africa: Jan Smuts
New Zealand: Gordon Coates
Federation of Indian States: Muhammad Ali Jinnah
The Irish Free State: William Cosgrave
Northern Ireland: Charles Vane-Tempest-Stewart, 7th Marquess of Londonderry (observer)
Southern Rhodesia: Sir Charles Coghlan (observer)
* This led to a rather farcical debate during the Cook Commission’s deliberations, as FIS representatives demanded that the FIS be considered for colonial administration responsibilities in principle despite the fact that Karachi was not interested in assuming any such responsibilities. To the FIS Government, it was a matter of “equality” with the “White Dominions.” The Cook Commission denied there was an equality issue, instead recording its decision to exclude the FIS from colonial administration due to its lack of financial resources and administrative expertise.
Chapter IX
From Empire to Commonwealth
(The last British Empire update was some time ago, so here is a link to it if you would like to refresh your memory: link)
The second Imperial Council (IC) conference, held in Ottawa in April 1927, formally presided over the demise of the largest Empire the world had ever seen. There had been no deliberate or pronounced strategy to dismantle the Empire. The outcomes of the conference simply reflected the new reality, and formalised a gradual process of adjustment that had begun shortly after the Revolution in Britain. The momentous historical significance of the second IC conference, however, seemed to be lost on all those involved at the time. Engrossed and bewildered by the detail and intricacies of the gargantuan task of carefully unravelling an empire, the politicians, civil servants and military leaders involved in the protracted discussions and negotiations failed to grasp the full reality of what was occurring around them. It was not until the conclusion of the conference that the participants fully recognised the significance of their decisions when the New York Times declared “the British Empire has disappeared from the maps.”
The IC’s first decision was to formally adopt the term “Commonwealth”. Although a largely symbolic move, this set the tone for the remainder of the conference. The term “British Commonwealth of Nations” was first coined in 1917 by South African Prime Minister Jan Smuts. It quickly gained momentum, and received imperial statutory recognition in the Anglo-Irish Treaty, when the term “British Commonwealth of Nations” was used in place of “British Empire” in the oath taken by members of the Irish Free State’s parliament. Although officials in Whitehall tried to discourage the use of the term, it continued to gain prominence throughout the 1920s, especially within the Dominions following the Revolution. The IC formally endorsed the adoption of the term, and the British Commonwealth of Nations (the Commonwealth) was formally constituted in Ottawa on the first day of the conference. All Imperial terminology was dropped as the Imperial Council became the Commonwealth Council of Leaders (CCL), the Imperial Defence Council became the Commonwealth Defence Council (CDC) and the Imperial Council’s Secretariat in Ottawa became the Commonwealth Secretariat. The United Kingdom (represented by the waning BGE) and the Dominions would henceforth be referred to as Commonwealth Realms “in free association.” The Commonwealth’s Charter declared them all to be “equal in status, in no way subordinate to another in any aspect of their domestic or external affairs, and united by common allegiance to the Crown.” This enshrined the Ottawa Declaration of 1926 that guaranteed full legislative independence to the Dominions.
The conference then moved on to the report from the Colonial Review Commission chaired by Sir Joseph Cook. By this stage the Commission’s report, after much negotiation and redrafting, had already been accepted by the Commonwealth leaders. The purpose of the conference was for the CCL to formally endorse it. The Cook Report, as it became known, recommended that the Commonwealth Realms assume formal responsibility for administration of Britain’s imperial possessions, inclusive of all crown colonies, territories and protectorates, as “H.M Government [the BGE] is no longer in a position to satisfactorily exercise its responsibilities to govern colonial territories on behalf of the Crown.” The Commonwealth Realms were therefore asked to administer and defend the colonial territories on behalf of the Crown, with jurisdiction to be resorted to British Government when (not if) it was restored to power in London. By this stage, much of the day to day colonial administration had already been assumed by Canada, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. The Cook Report formalised the ad-hoc colonial arrangements, essentially dividing the Empire into four new spheres of influence. Canada, as the largest and wealthiest of the Commonwealth Realms, reluctantly inherited the largest swathe of the Empire, which included the Caribbean territories, British Honduras and British Guyana, the Atlantic Ocean territories as well as all of British West Africa. Canada also assumed responsibility for Gibraltar and Malta, although the Commonwealth was facing increasing pressure from Spain and Italy to cede control of these territories. The Cook Report recommended that the Commonwealth relinquish control of the League of Nations Mandate of Cyprus to France (which the CCL approved), much to the chagrin of Greece, Italy and Turkey.
Australia took responsibility for a large number of territories across South and South East Asia. Ceylon was largely self-governing, overseen by the popular Vice President of the Legislative Council Sir James Peiris. Along with Ceylon, Australia also gained responsibility for troublesome Burma. Wracked by anti-British unrest and ethnic conflict, Australia rushed to institute self-governance under a federated system that endeavoured to give adequate representation to the country’s various ethnic groups. Burma worried politicians and bureaucrats in Canberra, and the Australian Government was eager to relinquish control over Burma as soon as practicable. A timeline for Burma’s future was hurriedly developed by Canberra in early 1927, envisioning full independence for Burma by no later than 1940. The wealthy Malay States (Federated and Unfederated) and Straits Settlements also came under Australia jurisdiction and like Ceylon, a largely “hands off” approach was maintained by the Australian colonial authorities who were in no rush to encourage independence. The Sultanate of Brunei simply became an Australian protectorate with the appointment of an Australian Resident in place of a British Resident. The White Rajahs of the Kingdom of Sarawak were allowed to rule unmolested and continue their modernisation program funded by revenue from oil and rubber. For all practical purposes, North Borneo’s administration remained purely in the hands of the North Borneo Chartered Company and the dismemberment of British rule had no discernible impact. New Zealand assumed control of Britain’s Pacific possessions, and Australia and New Zealand established joint control over Hong Kong and the British Concession in Shanghai.
Of the Commonwealth Realms that inherited a piece of Empire, Canada was the most unenthusiastic, while the Irish Free State declined to “play the imperialist game” and abstained on all matters relating to colonial affairs. The Federation of Indian States (FIS) also declined to involve itself in Colonial affairs (although the Cook Commission had no intention of recommending the FIS take responsibility of administration for any colonial territories*) with Prime Minister Jinnah noting that the Commonwealth should make “working towards self-government in the colonies” a key priority. The Cook Report reflected this sentiment, declaring that the Commonwealth should encourage greater self-governance within the colonies and protectorates, and move more rapidly towards Dominion (Commonwealth Realm) status for colonies that suitably developed civic and economic institutions. The degree to which the Commonwealth Realms agreed with this sentiment differed. Canada, the reluctant colonial master, strongly pushed for an accelerated pace of establishing self-governance with eventual independence in mind, while Australia and New Zealand displayed mixed feelings (depending on the colonial possession in question). South Africa, on the other hand, sought to expand its territory and influence, with the issue of self-governance for colonies barely registering any interest in Pretoria.
South Africa benefited the most from the “Imperial Carvery” as the Sydney Morning Herald put it, directly absorbing a number of colonial possessions into the Union. Fulfilling a long held desire of the South African government, the Cook Report (at Pretoria’s urging) recommended that the protectorates of Bechuanaland, Swaziland and Basutoland be annexed by South Africa rather than continue to exist as separate protectorates under South African administration. The Colonial Office had long frustrated South Africa’s hopes of absorbing these territories, but now there was little standing in the way of annexation despite some token opposition from what remained of the BGE and uneasiness expressed by Karachi about the future of the native peoples of those territories. Canada, Australia and New Zealand, however, did not hold much of an interest in the issue and agreed to South Africa’s request. The CCL also agreed to recognise South Africa’s annexation of the Mandate of South West Africa. The Commonwealth Realms by this stage had lost all interest in the League of Nations, and France was persuaded to turn a blind eye to the annexation after gaining Cyprus. In addition to the new territories annexed to the Union, South Africa also gained formal jurisdiction over all Southern and Eastern African colonies and protectorates, including Tanganyika, Uganda and Kenya. Despite the South African government’s best efforts, Southern Rhodesia, as well as Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland, evaded their grasp. The fate of Southern Rhodesia had been a lingering problem that dated back to advent of self-governance in 1922. Although small in numbers, the white settler community of the colony was strong-willed and determined. In his submission to the Cook Commission, John Chancellor, the Governor of Southern Rhodesia wrote that “when I arrived in Rhodesia five years ago to initiate responsible government institutions, which were conferred upon the people in accordance with their desire as expressed by the 1922 referendum, there were many in London who shook their heads with anxious forebodings…they marvelled at the rashness of the small community and feared that the Government would lead the country to disaster. There can, however, be no question that the events of the last five years have proved that those doubts and fears were groundless.” Self-governance had been a success for Southern Rhodesia, and the settler community, described by Chancellor as “the most thoroughly English people I have encountered,” looked dimly on joining the Boer dominated Union.
The Premier of Southern Rhodesia, Sir Charles Coghlan, fervently refused to continence any notion of joining South Africa and had been arguing for full Dominion status since the first Imperial Council in September 1926 much to Pretoria’s irritation. The fate of the self-governing crown colony was propelled to the CCL’s agenda as thousands of refugees from Britain made their way to southern Africa with the promise of land and a new life. Coghlan had enthusiastically welcomed the new arrivals in an effort to improve the economic viability of the colony and grow its standing within the Empire. Southern Rhodesia’s British population grew rapidly, from around 36,000 before the Revolution to nearly 43,000 by January 1927. Although more refugees sought a new life in Southern Rhodesia, the government in Salisbury was forced to temporarily freeze its settler intake program in late 1926 as the colony had reached the point in which it could no longer absorb settlers without economic dislocation. The BGE and the other Commonwealth Realms (excluding South Africa) were supportive of granting independence to Southern Rhodesia, making it a new Commonwealth Realm with representation on the CCL. In order to achieve a “critical mass” of land, resources and population for Rhodesia, the Cook Report recommended that Southern Rhodesia merge with Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland. The Southern Rhodesian government was initially divided on this, with some drawn to the mineral wealth of Northern Rhodesia, while others were concerned that the undeveloped north would divert resources from the south. In order to secure independence, the Southern Rhodesian legislative assembly agreed to merge with the other two colonies, forming a new nation. The Cook Report insisted on a federal system in order to protect the interests of the small settler communities in Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland, who baulked at amalgamation fearing interference from Salisbury. Although Premier Coghlan expressed doubts over the viability of the federal system, he reluctantly agreed. Under Jan Smuts, South Africa’s stance on the matter softened, and the South African government grudgingly withdrew its objection to Rhodesian independence. On 1 June 1927, the three colonies formed the Federation of Rhodesia (Rhodesia for short) with Salisbury as its capital and formally gained full membership status in the Commonwealth. Coghlan remained Premier of Southern Rhodesia, while Howard Moffat became the first Prime Minister of the Federation.
With hundreds of thousands of square miles to defend, the Commonwealth required the means to defend it. With a touch of irony, the downfall of Britain saw the Commonwealth divest itself of most of the troublesome spots which had drained British manpower and treasury resources since the end of the Great War. There were no more expensive garrisons to maintain in India or Palestine, and Egypt, the Sudan and Somaliland were no longer Commonwealth concerns. The positive relationship with Japan provided some measure of security for the Commonwealth’s Asian territories. As an example of the small full time commitment, at the time of the Revolution, in Britain’s African colonies there were only 12,000 regular British troops, with small forces of locally recruited police and soldiers providing law and order. The strategic and local threats to the colonial territories remained little changed since before the Revolution. Strategic threats could largely be countered by diplomacy (such as the alliance with Japan) and the focussed deployment of scarce military resources (small expeditionary forces and air policing) and the occasional “showing the flag” naval visit. The need for large standing armies was limited as most local threats could be met by the deployment of airpower and locally recruited forces. British service personnel who were transferred to Commonwealth commands were offered land and settlement packages in return for continued service. With the burden of the colonial territories in mind, the Commonwealth leaders were required to dramatically rethink their military policies. With expensive naval assets to maintain having carved up the Royal Navy (see list below), there was little want for large scale, long term garrisons. The pride of Britain was picked clean “by a horde of hungry vultures” as First Sea Lord Sir Osmond Brock lamented. What the Commonwealth Realms had no interest in was earmarked for sale or mothballing.
One area of growing concern for the Commonwealth was the FIS. Although the newly founded nation under Prime Minister Jinnah had made the transition to nationhood relatively smoothly, his government faced a number of problems. The North West Frontier and Waziristan was in open revolt against authorities the federal government and Jinnah could spare little in the way of manpower from the frontier with the Union of India due to repeated border skirmishes and infringements. In late 1926, Jinnah appealed for Commonwealth military support to help put the rebellion down. Rather than deploying ground troops, the Commonwealth leaders opted to utilise airpower, which had been successfully employed during the Third Anglo-Afghan War in 1919 and the subsequent revolts in the area. Although its standing air force was small, Australia offered a number of surplus aircraft to the newly established Commonwealth Assistance Force in India (CAFI) which was already providing technical and material support to the FIS based out of the Staff College at Quetta. At the conference, Canada, South African, Australia and New Zealand committed to providing ongoing military resources for the CAFI to help secure stability for the government in Karachi. Jinnah also attempted to raise the issue of the Union of India, which was becoming increasingly belligerent. The other Commonwealth leaders, fearful of war with India, adopted a head in the sand approach and discussion on the matter quickly fizzled out much to Jinnah’s frustration. This also brought into question of what military obligations that the Commonwealth Realms had if a member of the Commonwealth was attacked. With the unravelling of the Empire, the Commonwealth was nothing more than a community of nations without any formal defensive agreement. Little headway was made on the issue during the conference, with the Commonwealth leaders agreeing to continue deliberations on the matter through the Commonwealth Defence Council (CDC). The first priority for the CDC would be to decide the future of the British alliance with Japan and how it would operate given the demise of the Empire. Although Australia and New Zealand were strongly in favour of the alliance, Canada was less enthusiastic, favouring closer relations with the United States. The divergent priorities and concerns of the Commonwealth Realms were becoming increasingly pronounced.
The contentious issue of Britain’s war loans and debt was also tabled for discussion. There was a question of British Government war debt to private lenders and the US Government. There was also the question of loans (both to and from) Britain during and after the war to various Commonwealth governments. In the aftermath of Revolution, Washington temporarily suspended British payments, but President Calvin Coolidge came under intense pressure from Congress to recover British debts. The Dawes Commission was established in early 1925 by the President to examine the issue, with Reginald McKenna representing British interests. For nearly year, negotiations dragged on between Dawes, McKenna and their team of negotiators. The resulting Dawes-McKenna Plan did not find a permanent solution to the problem of the war debt, but provided a viable short term solution. The Plan recommended that President Calvin Coolidge introduce a five year moratorium on interest on British debt, to be reviewed every five years. In the meantime, the United States would receive Britain’s reparation payments from Berlin as repayment on war debts. The BGE had little choice in the matter, its political reserves exhausted. The Commonwealth leaders flexed their political muscles and in late 1926 unanimously announced a two year moratorium on repayment of all loans to the British Government, given the cost of taking on responsibility for the colonial territories. Although the Commonwealth Realms assured the BGE that they would examine the issue again in 1928, they had no intention of paying back their war debt to the BGE.
At the conclusion of the conference, Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin announced that the BGE would relocate to Northern Ireland now that it was clear that the SRB was in no position to launch an invasion. For some time, there had been increasing calls from within the ranks of the BGE that it needed to find ways to remain relevant. With its influence and power rapidly diminished and finances in disarray, the BGE leadership decided to return home to Northern Ireland, the last remaining bastion of the United Kingdom. The government in Belfast was hesitant at first, due to local political concerns, and the fear that the BGE would assume direct control of the province, displacing the local authorities. Although still part of the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland had been left largely to its own devises following the Revolution and operated as a de facto independent state. The Northern Irish leadership did not want to relinquish their authority. The Northern Irish government’s fears were largely assuaged after the signing of a memorandum of understanding, in which the BGE guaranteed that there would be “no redrawing of constitutional responsibilities in the near future.” Moreover, the BGE agreed that Northern Irish domestic affairs would be left entirely to the local administration in Belfast, with the BGE assuming responsibility for foreign affairs and defence, although the local government held much influence over the British Army in Northern Ireland (BANI). With the return to home soil, Baldwin insisted that all talk of “a government in exile” be avoided, and the BGE became informally known as the Belfast Government. The Emergency Cabinet was disbanded, and a new Cabinet of eight members was established which included Lord Cushendun as Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, and Victor Cavendish, 9th Duke of Devonshire as Secretary of State for Defence. Most members of the Cabinet held little real responsibility, however. In June 1927, the BGE moved into an office building off Donegall Square in Belfast. However, the King and the Royal household would continue to reside in Canada indefinitely. There were many within the British émigré community in Canada who also showed no inclination to move to Northern Ireland, and when the Rump Parliament (Joint Houses) reconvened in Belfast, it consisted of less than 50 members. Churchill, who had been living in Belfast since his resignation as Prime Minister, loudly questioned the legitimacy of the Belfast Government.
Attendees of the April 1927 CCL conference
The British Government: Stanley Baldwin
Canada: Hugh Guthrie
Australia: Stanley Bruce
South Africa: Jan Smuts
New Zealand: Gordon Coates
Federation of Indian States: Muhammad Ali Jinnah
The Irish Free State: William Cosgrave
Northern Ireland: Charles Vane-Tempest-Stewart, 7th Marquess of Londonderry (observer)
Southern Rhodesia: Sir Charles Coghlan (observer)
* This led to a rather farcical debate during the Cook Commission’s deliberations, as FIS representatives demanded that the FIS be considered for colonial administration responsibilities in principle despite the fact that Karachi was not interested in assuming any such responsibilities. To the FIS Government, it was a matter of “equality” with the “White Dominions.” The Cook Commission denied there was an equality issue, instead recording its decision to exclude the FIS from colonial administration due to its lack of financial resources and administrative expertise.
(it just says list below on it)