ABSTRACT
In the wider context of British society in the Edwardian age, colonial successes gave observers some hope for the British race. In the face of a potential war with Germany and of persistent fears of Asian population growth and expansion dubbed the 'yellow peril', colonial fitness, maturity and originality were seen as virtues which could be exploited to help save the empire in the future. During the first decade of the 19OOs, the Australian colonies formed a federation (1901), New Zealand was granted dominion status (1907) and South Africa became unified (1910). As these nations emerged, closer imperial unity was advocated by conservative leader Joseph Chamberlain and his followers. A 'Greater Britain' of Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa in addition to Britain was envisaged as the best hope for competing with Germany, the USA, Russia and Japan in the twentieth century. Although closer union never materialized to the extent Chamberlain wanted, the idea formed a powerful undercurrent in Edwardian thinking about Britain's role in the twentieth-century world.
