Ottawa and After: British Protectionism and the Empire in the Nineteen-thirties

It is impossible to examine British imperial economic policy in the nineteen-thirties without concentrating upon the Ottawa Conference. Admittedly other things were happening as well. The British Government was concerned to develop preferential arrangements within the dependent colonial Empire. Leading politicians and officials worked hard on colonial ‘restoration’ by constructing cartels: Britain connived with the Netherlands and other countries to organize the world markets for tin and rubber, while trying to devise some suitable agreements for wheat and sugar. The Treasury and the Board of Trade were trying to manage British capital-export. Nevertheless, the Ottawa Conference, to which this chapter is largely devoted, preoccupied the attention of ministers and officials throughout the decade. The following three sections trace the preliminaries, the negotiations and the Agreements themselves, and some of the more important effects. ¹ The final section treats some other policies.