White Settler Colonies - Policy, Administration and Nationalism

Question 1

Who were the Secretaries of State for the Colonies during the inter-war period?

Answer 1

• 1922-4: Duke of Devonshire (C)
• 1924-9: Leo Amery (C)
• 1929-31 Lord Passfield (L)

Question 2

What and when was the Chanak Crisis?

Answer 2

• September 1922

- Canada and SA refused to back British policy in defending Straits at Chanak; Australia wavered

Question 3

What is an example of Canada acting independently of Britain?

Answer 3

Signed the. 1923 Halibut Fisheries Treaty with US without consulting the British

Question 4

When were white settlers in southern Rhodesia granted self-rule?

Answer 4

1923

Question 5

What and when was the Devonshire Declaration?

Answer 5

• 1923
• Trusteeship in Kenya; White Paper saying African interests in colony must be paramount
• Lord Passfield confirmed

Question 6

What was the initial consequence of the 1923 Devonshire Declaration?

Answer 6

• Gained African loyalty because recognised African rights

Question 7

What caused the Balfour Definition?

Answer 7

At the 1926 Imperial Conference, South Africa’s PM Hertzog insisted on compelte freedom of action

Question 8

What and when was the Balfour Definition?

Answer 8

• 1926
• Defined constitutional relation between Dominions and Britain
• Autonomous but part of the Commonwealth

Question 9

What and when was the Statute of Westminster?

Answer 9

• 1931
• Formalised Balfour Definition
• Legal basis for independence conceding legal autonomy

Question 10

Where did the Statute of Westminster come into affect?

Answer 10

• Immediately in Canada, South Africa and Irish Free State
• Not ratified in Australia or New Zealand until after WWII
• Never ratified in Newfoundland

Question 11

What was the significance of the Treaty of Lausanne? When?

Answer 11

• 1924
• Following Chanak Crisis, Britain didn’t invite dominions to Lausanne peace conference between Turkey and allies
• Canada and Irish Free State declined any binding responsibility for the agreement

Question 12

What was the other name for Imperial Preference?

Answer 12

Ottowa System

Question 13

Why were imperialists like Lord Beaverbrook arguing for the return of imperial preference?

Answer 13

• After world trade shrank following October 1929 WSC, arguments made to end British policy of free trade

Question 14

When was and what happened at the Ottowa Conference?

Answer 14

• 1932
• Dominions and Britain came to a compromise:
• British introduced a general 10% tax on all imports (othern than Crown COlonies)
• Britain and Dominions gave each other’s exports preferential treatment in their own markets

Question 15

How did the Ottowa System help to strengthen Britain’s relationship with its dominions?

Answer 15

• Mutually beneficual

- Dominions became increasingly important as a market and supplier

Question 16

What is some evidence for support for imperial preference in Canada?

Answer 16

• 1930 Canadian general election

- King’s Liberals were defeated by Conservative party which campaigned on imperial preference

Question 17

What is the background to Irish independence during WWI?

Answer 17

• 1916 Easter Rising in Dublin
• Irish republicans against British rule
• British repressed brutally

Question 18

What happened in the 1918 Irish general election?

Answer 18

• Sinn Fein won 73 seats

Question 19

What happened in Ireland in 1919?

Answer 19

• Frustrations caused by delays to Irish Home Rule
• Members of Sinn Fein est. an Irish assembly in Dublin
• Declared an Irish Republic and Army (IRA) beginning guerrilla war against Britain

Question 20

How did the Irish War of Independence end?

Answer 20

• 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty; Irish Free State as a self-gov Dominion, 6 northern counties opted out
• Constitution of the IFS in 1922

Question 21

What followed Anglo-Irish Treaty?

Answer 21

• Valera, principle Irish leader, refused to accept the treaty because IFS wasn’t a republic and because it would split the country
• Further civil war 1922-23
• Republicans defeated and so Southern Ireland then treated as a Dominion

Question 22

From 1919-21, how did the British defeat the IRA?

Answer 22

• Reinforced the Royal Irish Constabulary with the ‘Black and Tans’

Question 23

When did the Irish Free State eventually become a Republic?

Answer 23

1937

Question 24

What was the significance of the Treaty of Locarno? When?

Answer 24

• 1925

- Dominions expressed their reluctance to be involved