ABSTRACT
The decision to commit the British Empire to war in 1914 was taken by the United Kingdom Cabinet alone, though it was confident of Dominion approval. The Dominion leaders did not expect to play a passive role. W. M. Hughes, the new Australian Prime Minister, came to London in 1916 armed with support from other Dominion leaders and demanded consultation. The Dominion response to the Chanak crisis when it seemed, for a time, that Britain might go to war with Turkey showed that Lloyd George could not expect automatic endorsement. The diplomatic unity of the British Empire was a fiction. Imperial conferences took place in 1921, 1923 and 1926. At the first, Smuts had a plan for the 'Constitution of the British Commonwealth', but there was a general feeling that a 'family' did not need a rule book and it was not discussed. However, great store was still set upon the Crown as the continuing symbol of a British Commonwealth.
