Dominion

:This is a page about Dominions of the British Empire/Commonwealth. For other meanings, please see Dominion (disambiguation).

Foreign relations

Initially the Foreign Office of the United Kingdom conducted the foreign relations of the Dominions. A Dominions section was created within the Colonial Office for this purpose in 1907. Canada set up its own Department of External Affairs in June 1909, but diplomatic relations with other governments continued to operate through the governors-general, through Dominion high commissioners in London (first appointed by Canada in 1880; Australia followed only in 1910) and through British legations abroad. Britain deemed her declaration of war against Germany in August 1914 to extend without the need for consultation to all territories of the Empire, occasioning some displeasure in Canadian official circles and contributing to a brief anti-British insurrection by Afrikaner militants in South Africa later that year. A Canadian War Mission in Washington, D.C., dealt with supply matters from February 1918 to March 1921.

Related Topics:
United Kingdom - 1907 - 1909 - 1880 - 1910 - Germany - 1914 - Afrikaner - Washington, D.C. - 1918 - 1921

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Although the Dominions had had no formal voice in declaring war, each became a separate signatory of the June 1919 peace Treaty of Versailles, which had been negotiated by a British-led united Empire delegation. In September 1922 Dominion reluctance to support British military action against Turkey influenced Britain's decision to seek a compromise settlement. Diplomatic autonomy soon followed, with the U.S.-Canadian Halibut Fisheries Agreement (March 1923) marking the first international treaty negotiated and concluded entirely independently by a Dominion. The Dominions section of the Colonial Office was upgraded in June 1926 to a separate Dominions Office. However, initially the same person was appointed as the Secretary of State for the Colonies.

Related Topics:
1919 - Treaty of Versailles - 1922 - Turkey - 1923 - Colonial Office - 1926 - Secretary of State for the Colonies

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The principle of Dominion equality with Britain and independence in foreign relations was formally recognized by the Balfour Declaration adopted at the Imperial Conference of November 1926. Canada's first permanent diplomatic mission to a foreign country opened in Washington, DC in 1927. In 1928 Canada obtained the appointment of a British high commissioner in Ottawa, separating the administrative and diplomatic functions of the governor-general and ending the latter's anomalous role as the representative of the British government in relations between the two countries. The Dominions Office was given a separate secretary of state in June 1930, though this was entirely for domestic political reasons given the need to relieve the burden on one ill minister whilst moving another away from unemployment policy. The Balfour Declaration was enshrined in the Statute of Westminster 1931 when it was adopted by the British Parliament and subsequently ratified by the Dominion legislatures.

Related Topics:
Balfour Declaration - Imperial Conference - 1926 - Washington, DC - 1927 - 1928 - High commissioner - 1930 - Statute of Westminster 1931

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Britain's declaration of hostilities against Germany in September 1939 tested the issue. Most took the view that the declaration did not commit the Dominions. Éire chose to remain neutral. At the other extreme, the conservative Australian government of the day, led by Robert Menzies, took the view that it was legally bound by the UK declaration of war — which had also been the view at the outbreak of World War I — although this was contentious within Australia. Between these two extremes, New Zealand declared that as Britain was or would be at war, so it was too. Canada issued its own declaration of war after a recall of Parliament, as did South Africa after a delay of several weeks. Éire, which had negotiated the removal of British forces from its territory the year before, chose to remain neutral throughout the war. There were soon signs of growing independence from the other Dominions: Australia opened a diplomatic mission in the US in 1940 and Canada's mission in Washington gained Embassy status in 1943).

Related Topics:
1939 - Robert Menzies - Embassy - 1943

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