The King (front, centre) with his prime ministers. Standing (left to right): W.S. Monroe (Newfoundland), Gordon Coates (New Zealand), Stanley Bruce (Australia), J. B. M. Hertzog (Union of South Africa), W. T. Cosgrave (Irish Free State). Seated: Stanley Baldwin (United Kingdom), King George V, William Mackenzie King (Canada).
Host country
United Kingdom
Date
19 October 1926– 23 November 1926
Cities
London
Heads of State or Government
8
Chair
Stanley Baldwin (Prime Minister)
Follows
1923
Precedes
1930
Key points
Balfour Declaration, constitutional arrangements
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.[1] The conference was notable for producing the Balfour Declaration, which established the principle that the dominions are all equal in status, and "autonomous communities within the British Empire" not subordinate to the United Kingdom.[1] The term "Commonwealth" was officially adopted to describe the community.[2]
The conference was arranged to follow directly after the 1926 Assembly of the League of Nations (in Geneva, Switzerland), to reduce the amount of travelling required for the dominions' representatives.
The conference created the Inter-Imperial Relations Committee, chaired by Arthur Balfour, to look into future constitutional arrangements for the Commonwealth. In the end, the committee rejected the idea of a codified constitution, as espoused by South Africa's former Prime Minister Jan Smuts, but also fell short of endorsing the "end of empire" espoused by Smuts's arch-rival, Barry Hertzog.[1] The recommendations were adopted unanimously by the conference on 15 November, followed by an equally warm reception in the newspapers.[1]
^ abcdMarshall, Sir Peter (September 2001). "The Balfour Formula and the Evolution of the Commonwealth". The Round Table. 90 (361): 541–53. doi:10.1080/00358530120082823. S2CID 143421201.
^Historical Dictionary of European Imperialism. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing Group. 1991. pp. 297–298. ISBN 0313262578.
and 28 Related for: 1926 Imperial Conference information
The 1926ImperialConference was the fifth ImperialConference bringing together the prime ministers of the Dominions of the British Empire. It was held...
The Balfour Declaration of 1926, issued by the 1926ImperialConference of British Empire leaders in London, was named after Arthur Balfour, who was Lord...
ImperialConferences (Colonial Conferences before 1907) were periodic gatherings of government leaders from the self-governing colonies and dominions of...
for practical purposes 1926 had removed doubts about functional independence. At the opening of the 1930 ImperialConference which drafted the Statute...
South Africa, and the Irish Free State at the 1926ImperialConference through the Balfour Declaration of 1926, recognising Great Britain and the Dominions...
and it followed Britain into the First World War. The 1923 and 1926ImperialConferences decided that New Zealand should be allowed to negotiate its own...
were further discussed at the British Empire Economic Conference in 1932. The 1926ImperialConference produced the Balfour Declaration that Dominions were...
Commonwealth of Nations through the Balfour Declaration at the 1926ImperialConference, and formalised by the United Kingdom through the Statute of Westminster...
remain in force today. On 15 November 1926, the Balfour Declaration was adopted at the 1926ImperialConference. This document made the dominions of the...
During the 1926ImperialConference, the governments of the Dominions and of the United Kingdom endorsed the Balfour Declaration of 1926, which declared...
the 1926ImperialConference; thenceforth, only the government of the Irish Free State was formally involved. A further effect of the 1926conference (in...
Britain, was recognised at the 1923 ImperialConference. The 1926ImperialConference issued the Balfour Declaration of 1926, declaring the Dominions to be...
Macmillan. p. 94. ISBN 0-333-06319-8. "Inter-Imperial Relations". Proceedings of the 1926ImperialConference. 1927. pp. 8–18. Cumpston, p. 72. Plowman,...
distinct national identities. Britain formally recognised this at the 1926ImperialConference, jointly issuing the Balfour Declaration with all the Dominion...
2014. Retrieved 21 October 2014. ImperialConference, 1926: Summary of Proceedings Cmd 2768, p. 15 (London: HMSO, 1926). Constitution of the Irish Free...
"Try living on their wages before you judge them." In 1926, George hosted an ImperialConference in London at which the Balfour Declaration accepted the...
Kuang Yuang near Jiujiang, China, kills 1,200. October 19 – The 1926ImperialConference opens in London. October 20 – A hurricane kills 650 in Cuba. October...
political resolutions passed by the ImperialConferences of 1926 and 1930; in particular, the Balfour Declaration of 1926. The main effect was the removal...
distinct national identity. Britain formally recognised this at the 1926ImperialConference, jointly issuing the Balfour Declaration with all the Dominion...
Palace on October 11, 1923, during the 1923 ImperialConference. During his first term of office, from 1921 to 1926, King sought to lower wartime taxes and...
ImperialConference met in London in the autumn of 1923, the first attended by the new Irish Free State. While named the Imperial Economic Conference...
31 May 1910. The Union gained relative independence under the 1926ImperialConference and de facto independence under the 1931 Statute of Westminster...
During the 1926ImperialConference, the governments of the Dominions and of the United Kingdom endorsed the Balfour Declaration of 1926, which declared...
Crown, London, 13 May 1927.[1] Heads of government attending the 1926ImperialConference included W. T. Cosgrave, then serving as President of the Executive...