Commonwealth Cooperation and the International Crisis 1931–1939

Abstract

The approach that has usually been taken to the relationship between the Commonwealth and British foreign policy has consisted of an analysis of the Dominions as an ‘influence’ or pressure group, and an investigation to see whether any twist or turn of policy can be attributed to them. But this is much too specific a question to have value, for the Dominions did not possess any such precise or determinative functions. Thorne, struck by this in his study of the Manchuria affair, concluded

While the Dominions were kept informed of Britain’s general policy, they contributed almost nothing in the way of advice or even demands for discussion at government level. They existed as a defence, that was all.¹