The 1930 Imperial Conference was the sixth

Imperial Conference Imperial Conferences (Colonial Conferences before 1907) were periodic gatherings of government leaders from the self-governing colonies and dominions of the British Empire between 1887 and 1937, before the establishment of regular Meetings of ...

bringing together the prime ministers of the

dominion A dominion was any of several largely self-governance, self-governing countries of the British Empire, once known collectively as the ''British Commonwealth of Nations''. Progressing from colonies, their degrees of self-governing colony, colon ...

s of the

British Empire The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...

. It was held in London. The conference was notable for producing the Statute of Westminster, which established legislative equality for the self-governing Dominions of the British Empire with Great Britain, thereby marking the effective legislative independence of these countries. Economic relations within the British Empire was also a key topic with proposals for a system of

Imperial preference Imperial Preference was a system of mutual tariff reduction enacted throughout the British Empire and British Commonwealth following the Ottawa Conference of 1932. As Commonwealth Preference, the proposal was later revived in regard to the member ...

- empire-wide trade barriers against foreign (i.e. non-empire) goods. These proposals were further discussed at the British Empire Economic Conference in 1932.

Background

The

1926 Imperial Conference The 1926 Imperial Conference was the fifth Imperial Conference bringing together the prime ministers of the Dominions of the British Empire. It was held in London from 19 October to 23 November 1926. The conference was notable for producing the ...

produced the

Balfour Declaration The Balfour Declaration was a public statement issued by the British Government in 1917 during the First World War announcing its support for the establishment of a "national home for the Jewish people" in Palestine, then an Ottoman regio ...

that Dominions were autonomous and not subordinate to Great Britain. The 1929 Conference on Dominion Legislation and Merchant Shipping Laws was intended to move from the Balfour Declaration's broad statement of principle to a substantive legal framework, but the

Irish Free State The Irish Free State (6 December 192229 December 1937), also known by its Irish-language, Irish name ( , ), was a State (polity), state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-ye ...

and the

Union of South Africa The Union of South Africa (; , ) was the historical predecessor to the present-day South Africa, Republic of South Africa. It came into existence on 31 May 1910 with the unification of the British Cape Colony, Cape, Colony of Natal, Natal, Tra ...

demanded greater practical autonomy than the other attendees would allow. The 1930 Conference would instead address the issue. Historian George Woodcock argues it marks the beginning of the end of the British Empire.Woodcock, 1974.

The Conference

The conference was hosted by

King-Emperor A king-emperor or queen-empress is a sovereign ruler who is simultaneously a king or Queen regnant, queen of one territory and emperor or empress of another. This title usually results from a merger of a royal and imperial crown, but recognises ...

George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until Death and state funeral of George V, his death in 1936. George w ...

, with his Prime Ministers and members of their respective cabinets:

References

Citations

Sources and further reading

* Holland, R. F. "The 1930 Imperial Conference." in ''Britain and the Commonwealth Alliance 1918–1939'' (Palgrave Macmillan, 1981) pp. 115–126. * JWW-B. "The Imperial Conferences of 1926-1930 and the Conduct of Foreign Policy." ''Bulletin of International News'' (1931): 3-1
online
* Keith, Berriedale. "The Imperial Conference of 1930." ''Journal of Comparative Legislative and International Law'' 3d ser. 13 (1931): 26+. * Woodcock, George. (1974) "1930: The Climacteric of Empire." ''History Today'' (Oct 1974), Vol. 24 Issue 10, pp 673–683 online. * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Imperial Conference 1930 Imperial Conference History of the Commonwealth of Nations

1930 in international relations Events in London 1930 conferences 1930 in the British Empire October 1930 in the United Kingdom November 1930 in the United Kingdom 1930s in the City of Westminster George V R.B. Bennett Ramsay MacDonald