Draft:Dominions Office

The Dominions Office (renamed Commonwealth Relations Office 1947 to 1966 and Commonwealth Office from 1966 to 1968) was a government department of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1925 to manage relations between the United Kingdom and the self-governing dominions of the British Empire.

Before its creation Dominion affairs was handled by a division of the Colonial Office, and between 1925 and 1947 the Dominions Office retained administrative links with the Colonial Office, including shared staff and office space. In 1947 it was formally separated from the Colonial Office and combined with the India Office to create the Commonwealth Relations Office. In 1966, the Commonwealth Relations Office was merged with the Colonial Office to form the Commonwealth Office, which was itself absorbed by the Foreign Office in 1968 to form what is today the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.

The department was headed by the Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs (and subsequently Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations).

Origins

Previous to the establishment of the Dominions Office, relations between the United Kingdom and the self-governing colonies of the British Empire (including Canada, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Newfoundland) was administered by the Colonial Office. At the 1907 Imperial Conference, it was agreed that these self-governing colonies would henceforth be referred to as "Dominions", and a new division of the Colonial Office was created with responsibility for these Dominions.

The nature of the relationship between the United Kingdom and the Dominions began to change during the First World War. Leaders from the Dominions and the United Kingdom formed a joint Imperial War Cabinet and participated in two Imperial War Conferences. One outcome of the Imperial War Conference was a resolution which acknowledged that, once the war was over, British and Dominion governments would formally adjust "the constitutional relations of the component parts of the Empire", starting with the recognition that the Dominions were "autonomous nations of an Imperial Commonwealth" with a right to "effective arrangements for continuous consultation in all important matters of common Imperial concern".

Despite these commitments, the British government was opposed to the creation of a separate department for Dominion affairs on the grounds of cost and duplication of responsibilities, until the appointment of Leopold Amery as Colonial Secretary in 1924. As a condition of his accepting the appointment, Amery stipulated that he "be allowed to create a new and entirely separate office to deal with the Dominions". The Dominion Office was duly established in June 1925.

Responsibilities

The Dominions Office played a key role in transforming the relationship between Dominion governments and the United Kingdom between the first and second world wars. Dominions Office officials filled many of the high commissioner posts in the Dominions and managed the communications between the Dominions and the British government. The Office also organized many of the Imperial Conferences where British and Dominion heads of government met to discuss matters of importance to the British Empire, including the enactment of the Statute of Westminster in 1931 and the abdication crisis in 1936. It also helped manage relations between Britain and the Dominions during the Second World War.

The Dominions Office was also responsible for administering certain territories that were not considered "colonies". This included establishing the Royal Commission that recommended the suspension of responsible government in Newfoundland in 1933, and overseeing the subsequent administration of Newfoundland by a Commission Government.

Evolution of the Office

With the independence of India and Pakistan in 1947, the India Office was incorporated into the Dominions Office, which was renamed the Commonwealth Relations Office. As decolonization proceeded across the British Empire, responsibilities shifted from the Colonial Office to the CRO, which also worked to develop External Affairs departments in the newly independent countries and hold regular meetings of Commonwealth prime ministers until the establishment of the Commonwealth Secretariat in 1965.