1937 Imperial Conference

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox summit meeting | summit_name = 1937 Imperial Conference | other_titles = | image = 1937 Imperial Conference.jpg | alt = | caption = | country = {{flagicon|United Kingdom}} [[United Kingdom]] | date = {{nowrap|14 May}}–{{nowrap|24 June 1937}} | venues = St. James’s Palace | cities = [[London]] | participants =  | heads_of_state_label = {{nowrap|Heads of State}} or Government | heads_of_state = 8 | chairperson = [[Stanley Baldwin]] (to 28 May), [[Neville Chamberlain]] (from 28 May) ([[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom]]) | follows = [[British Empire Economic Conference|1932]] | precedes = [[1944 Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference]] | keypoints = Foreign affairs, defence, trade, [[Imperial Federation]] }} The '''1937 Imperial Conference''' was held in London from 14 May to 24 June 1937, following the [[coronation of George VI and Elizabeth|coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth]] on 12 May.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Wilson |first=Robert R. |date=1938 |title=The Imperial Conference of 1937 |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/american-journal-of-international-law/article/imperial-conference-of-1937/75010AB88F3A4D9956AC8CD1EA781250 |journal=American Journal of International Law |language=en |volume=32 |issue=2 |pages=335–339 |doi=10.2307/2190981 |jstor=2190981 |issn=0002-9300|url-access=subscription }}</ref> It was the eighth and final [[Imperial Conference]] and the last meeting of British and dominion prime ministers held until World War II.

Topics included the foreign affairs and defence - in particular whether or not the foreign policies of the dominions should follow that of the British government, trade policy and constitutional arrangements.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Soward |first=F. H. |date=1937 |title=The Imperial Conference of 1937 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2750628 |journal=Pacific Affairs |volume=10 |issue=4 |pages=441–449 |doi=10.2307/2750628 |issn=0030-851X|url-access=subscription }}</ref> On the last question, the proposal for an [[Imperial Federation]] was discussed and dismissed.

The conference was attended by representatives of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Southern Rhodesia and Burma. Newfoundland was represented by the [[UK Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs]] and the colonial empire by the [[UK Secretary of State for the Colonies]]. It was the first [[Imperial Conference]] in which the [[Irish Free State]] chose not to participate.<ref>Dáil Éireann 27/Apr/1937 wherein President de Valera said "the circumstances were such that the interests of the State would [not] be served by going [to the Conference]"</ref> Nonetheless, the Irish Free State was still regarded as a Commonwealth member.

Delegates attended plenary meetings for the opening and closing sessions of the Conference, on 14 May and 15 June respectively, and during the intervening month there were twenty meetings of principal delegates. Sub-committees gave specialised attention to a number of topics, including imperial shipping, economic questions, constitutional questions, civil air communications, [[Antarctica]] and the [[New Hebrides]]. During the conference, on 28 May, there was a changeover in the office of Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from [[Stanley Baldwin]] to [[Neville Chamberlain]].

New Zealand Prime Minister [[Michael Joseph Savage]] attended, with High Commissioner [[Bill Jordan (politician)|Bill Jordan]] and civil servant [[Carl Berendsen]] (who recalled that neither Ireland or South Africa were represented). The [[First Labour Government of New Zealand|New Zealand government]] was opposed to [[appeasement]] and [[Second Italo-Ethiopian War|Italy's invasion of Abyssinia]] (Ethiopia). Savage criticised appeasement at the conference, saying "Is your policy peace at any price; if it is so I cannot accept it". [[Anthony Eden]] replied "No, not at any price, but peace at almost any price", to which Savage replied: "You can pay too high a price even for peace".<ref>{{cite book |last= Berendsen |first= Carl |title= Mr Ambassador: Memoirs of Sir Carl Berendsen |year= 2009 |publisher= Victoria University Press |location= Wellington |isbn= 9780864735843 |pages=128–9 }}</ref>

==The Conference== The conference was hosted by [[King-Emperor]] [[George VI]], with his Prime Ministers and members of their respective cabinets:

{| class="wikitable" |- ! Nation ! Name ! Portfolio |- | {{Country|United Kingdom}} | [[Stanley Baldwin]] (until 28 May) [[Neville Chamberlain]] (from 28 May) | [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|Prime Minister]] (Chairman) |- | {{Country|Australia}} | [[Joseph Lyons]] | [[Prime Minister of Australia|Prime Minister]] |- | {{flagicon|Burma|1937}} [[British Burma|Burma]] |[[Ba Maw]] |[[Chief Minister]] |- | {{Country|Canada|1921}} | [[William Lyon Mackenzie King]] | [[Prime Minister of Canada|Prime Minister]] |- | {{flagicon|British Raj}} [[British Raj|India]] | [[Lawrence Dundas, 2nd Marquess of Zetland|The Marquess of Zetland]] | [[Secretary of State for India|Secretary of State]] |- | {{Country|New Zealand}} | [[Michael Joseph Savage]] | [[Prime Minister of New Zealand|Prime Minister]] |- | {{Country|Southern Rhodesia}} | [[Godfrey Huggins]] | [[Prime Minister of Rhodesia|Prime Minister]] |- | {{flagicon|South Africa|1928}} [[Union of South Africa|South Africa]] | [[J. B. M. Hertzog]] | [[Prime Minister of South Africa|Prime Minister]] |- |}

==References==

===Sources=== * {{cite journal |title=Imperial Conference, 1937. Summary of Proceedings. |journal=Journals of the House of Representatives |location=New Zealand |date=1937 |volume = Session I Appendix, A-07 |url=https://atojs.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/atojs?a=d&d=AJHR1937-I.2.1.2.10 }}

===Citations=== {{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Imperial Conference 1937}} [[Category:Imperial Conference]] [[Category:History of the Commonwealth of Nations]] [[Category:1937 in London]] [[Category:1937 in international relations]] [[Category:Organised events in London]] [[Category:1937 conferences]] [[Category:1937 in the British Empire]] [[Category:May 1937 in the United Kingdom]] [[Category:June 1937 in the United Kingdom]] [[Category:1930s in the City of Westminster]] [[Category:George VI]] [[Category:Stanley Baldwin]] [[Category:Neville Chamberlain]] [[Category:Third premiership of William Lyon Mackenzie King]]