Empire Lost - Andrew Stewart [28]
They might not have had any real power or influence but the high commissioners certainly thought they did, and this was all that mattered. The idea that they were not being kept fully informed of important developments angered them and this would prove to be a long-standing complaint. They were not alone in believing this to be the case as was made clear with calls in the press and even questions tabled in the House of Commons demanding that the experience of the First World War should be repeated.49 During this there has been two clear phases to what was termed 'consultative cooperation'. The first, from the war's outbreak in August 1914, saw frequent visits being made to London by various Dominion ministers. As the Allied strategic position on the Western Front worsened in the spring of 1917, this was deemed insufficient and an Imperial War Conference was convened chaired by the British leader, David Lloyd George, and involving all of the Dominion leaders. Experimental in both form and procedure, the authorities in London hailed the gathering as an example of Imperial unity and it continued until mid-1919 in the guise of an Imperial War Cabinet.50 In the Dominions the reaction was not as positive; although it allowed the respective leaders an opportunity to claim they had provided assistance during a moment of great crisis for the British Empire, it also served to exacerbate some long-held concerns. There had been fears about any mechanism which could be used by the British government to make unilateral, binding decisions long before the 1911 Imperial Conference. Indeed these went back to the previous century and Joseph Chamberlain's proposals for an Imperial Council.51 As a result the inter-war period saw a persistent reluctance to allow subsequent Imperial Conferences, now held at regular intervals, to be viewed as anything more than non-permanent meetings of a purely advisory nature.52
Mackenzie King was especially reluctant to be dragged into any form of what he described as an 'Imperial conclave' and already, even in the war's earliest months his sensitivities on the matter were recognized not just within the DO but throughout Whitehall.53 Following a cursory glance at some of the telegrams received from the high commissioner in Ottawa, Eden had stated that Britain had to be careful not to appear to be setting up an Imperial War Cabinet and avoid meetings at regular intervals.54 At the same time, however, it was also widely understood that there was a genuine need to hold some sort of gathering, if for no other reason than to 'to impress upon the Dominions that they must also pull their weight if victory is to be attained'.55 Eden's committee therefore proposed that each should send a ministerial representative, as opposed to their political leadership, to see the vast effort that was being made by Britain. The Canadian leader was in 'a suspicious mood' and it was important to tread cautiously when considering how best to proceed. The official press release announcing the proposed meeting was consequently couched in suitably placatory terms.56 Even though the feared Blitzkrieg had been re-christened Sitzkrieg, a reflection on the static nature of the conflict, organizing such a conference at short notice in the midst of a war was something of a Herculean task. The DO proved up to the task and by the end of October 1939 delegates from