The British Imperial Establishment, Post Imperial Era, and the ‘Churchillian’ World View, 1945-2016. (Adjustments & Challenges in Contemporary British Diplomatic Strategy)

52

The
Start of Decolonisation Process: the Dominions and the
Commonwealth

With
Britain facing the rising competition of the United States, Japan and
Germany, and political challenge within
the Empire from the four white
Dominions already exercising self-government in colonial affairs, the question
of
the political future of the Empire loomed larger than ever. One solution appeared
to be to close
ranks, to draw together the various colonies under a more
centralised control from London. This did not
impress the colonies already
exercising responsible government. The idea of a grand imperial federation,
as
propagated by the Imperial Federation League, was freely floated instead. A
series of colonial and
imperial conferences, starting in 1887 and continuing
through the twentieth century, helped considerably to
strengthen the strands of
imperial sentiment in a loose, informal fashion. Imperial grievances could
be
aired, schemes of co-operation could be considered; some success was achieved
in defence planning but
detailed plans of unions, either economic or political,
were avoided and a heavy centralised, bureaucratic
control was shunned. The
conferences functioned as ideal means of communication and co-operation, not
of
control. Colonial leaders had no desire to forego the degree of independence
they had already achieved. In
the mid-nineteenth century Australian and
Canadian colonies had acquired legislative control over internal
matters such as
fiscal and trading policies and waste lands; this came later to the South
African
colonies. Asserting greater control over foreign affairs, chipping away at the
reserve powers
which the supreme British parliament possessed (for example,
making void repugnant colonial legislation) and
having ultimate sanction over
the making of constitutions were the next steps. Independent and
nationalistic
sentiments were rising. The analogy of the adolescent reaching manhood was
resorted to as
Dominion leaders expressed the belief in their political maturity,

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