1930 Imperial Conference

Conference between nations in the Commonwealth April 2022 1930 Imperial Conference United Kingdom United Kingdom 1 October 1930–14 November 1930 10 Downing Street and Foreign Office London Heads of State or Government 8 Ramsay MacDonald (Prime Minister) 1926 1932 Imperial preference, Statute of Westminster 1931 The 1930 Imperial Conference was the sixth Imperial Conference bringing together the prime ministers of the dominions of the British Empire. It was held in London.Marshall Sir Peter September 2001 The Balfour Formula and the Evolution of the Commonwealth The Round Table 90 361 541–53 10.1080/00358530120082823 143421201 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 - 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 produced the Balfour Declaration 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 and the Union of South Africa demanded greater practical autonomy than the other attendees would allow.Keith A. Berriedale 1930 Notes on Imperial Constitutional Law 753800 Journal of Comparative Legislation and International Law Cambridge University Press on behalf of the British Institute of International and Comparative Law 12 4 278–298 : 278 The 1930 Conference would instead address the issue.Keith A. Berriedale 1931 The Imperial Conference of 1930 754081 Journal of Comparative Legislation and International Law Cambridge University Press on behalf of the British Institute of International and Comparative Law 13 1 26–42 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 George V, with his Prime Ministers and members of their respective cabinets: Nation Name Portfolio United Kingdom United Kingdom Ramsay MacDonald Prime Minister (chairman) Australia James Scullin Prime Minister Canada 1921 R. B. Bennett Prime Minister British Raj India William Wedgwood Benn Secretary of State Irish Free State W. T. Cosgrave President Newfoundland Newfoundland Richard Squires Prime Minister New Zealand George Forbes Prime Minister South Africa 1928 South Africa J. B. M. Hertzog Prime Minister 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): 3-11 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. Report of the conference on the operation of dominion legislation and merchant shipping legislation 1929; presented to both Houses of the Oireachtas by the Minister for External Affairs Official publications P. 129 Dublin Stationery Office February 1930 http://opac.oireachtas.ie/AWData/Library3/Library2/DL055593.pdf Imperial Conference, 1930. Summary of Proceedings Session I-II, A-06, Appendix Journals of the House of Representatives New Zealand 1931 https://atojs.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/atojs?a=d&cl=search&d=AJHR1931-I-II.2.1.2.5&srpos=3&e=-------10--1------0IMPERIAL+CONFERENCE-- Category:Imperial Conference Category:History of the Commonwealth of Nations Imperial Conference Category:1930 in international relations Category:Organised events in London Category:1930 conferences Category:1930 in the British Empire Category:October 1930 in the United Kingdom Category:November 1930 in the United Kingdom Category:1930s in the City of Westminster Category:George V Category:Premiership of R. B. Bennett Category:Ramsay MacDonald