Editing British Empire (section)

=== Inter-war period ===
{{Main|Interwar Britain|Irish revolutionary period|Indian independence movement|Partition of the Ottoman Empire|Commonwealth of Nations||}}
[[File:British Empire 1921.png|thumb|upright=1.8|The British Empire at its territorial peak in 1921]]
The changing world order that the war had brought about, in particular the growth of the United States and Japan as naval powers, and the rise of independence movements in India and Ireland, caused a major reassessment of British imperial policy.{{Sfn|Goldstein|1994|p=4}} Forced to choose between alignment with the United States or Japan, Britain opted not to renew its [[Anglo-Japanese Alliance]] and instead signed the 1922 [[Washington Naval Treaty]], where Britain accepted naval parity with the United States.{{Sfn|Louis|2006|p=302}} This decision was the source of much debate in Britain during the 1930s{{Sfn|Louis|2006|p=294}} as militaristic governments took hold in Germany and Japan helped in part by the [[Great Depression]], for it was feared that the empire could not survive a simultaneous attack by both nations.{{Sfn|Louis|2006|p=303}} The issue of the empire's security was a serious concern in Britain, as it was vital to the [[Economy of the United Kingdom|British economy]].{{Sfn|Lee|1996|p=305}}

In 1919, the frustrations caused by delays to [[Irish Home Rule movement|Irish home rule]] led the MPs of [[Sinn Féin]], a pro-independence party that had won a majority of the Irish seats in the [[1918 Irish general election|1918 British general election]], to establish an [[Dáil Éireann (Irish Republic)|independent parliament]] in [[Dublin]], at which [[Irish Declaration of Independence|Irish independence was declared]]. The [[Irish Republican Army]] simultaneously began a [[guerrilla warfare|guerrilla war]] against the British administration.{{Sfn|Brown|1998|p=143}} The [[Irish War of Independence]] ended in 1921 with a stalemate and the signing of the [[Anglo-Irish Treaty]], creating the [[Irish Free State]], a Dominion within the British Empire, with effective internal independence but still constitutionally linked with the British Crown.{{Sfn|Smith|1998|p=95}} [[Northern Ireland]], consisting of six of the 32 [[Counties of Ireland|Irish counties]] which had been established as a devolved region under the 1920 [[Government of Ireland Act 1920|Government of Ireland Act]], immediately exercised its option under the treaty to retain its existing status within the United Kingdom.{{Sfn|Magee|1974|p=108}}

[[File:ImperialConference.jpg|thumb|right|[[George V]] (Seated front) with British and Dominion prime ministers at the [[1926 Imperial Conference]]. Standing (left to right): [[Walter Stanley Monroe|W.S. Monroe]] ([[Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador|Newfoundland]]), [[Gordon Coates]] ([[Prime Minister of New Zealand|New Zealand]]), [[Stanley Bruce]] ([[Prime Minister of Australia|Australia]]), [[J. B. M. Hertzog]] ([[Prime Minister of South Africa|Union of South Africa]]), [[W. T. Cosgrave]] ([[President of the Executive Council of the Irish Free State|Irish Free State]]). Seated left: [[Stanley Baldwin]] ([[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|United Kingdom]]), seated right: [[William Lyon Mackenzie King|William Mackenzie King]] ([[Prime Minister of Canada|Canada]])]]
A similar struggle began in India when the [[Government of India Act 1919]] failed to satisfy the demand for independence.{{Sfn|Ferguson|2002|p=330}} Concerns over communist and foreign plots following the [[Ghadar conspiracy]] ensured that war-time strictures were renewed by the [[Rowlatt Act]]s. This led to tension,{{Sfn|James|2001|p=416}} particularly in the [[Punjab region]], where repressive measures culminated in the [[Jallianwala Bagh massacre|Amritsar Massacre]]. In Britain, public opinion was divided over the morality of the massacre, between those who saw it as having saved India from anarchy, and those who viewed it with revulsion.{{Sfn|James|2001|p=416}} The [[Non-cooperation movement (1909–22)|non-cooperation movement]] was called off in March 1922 following the [[Chauri Chaura incident]], and discontent continued to simmer for the next 25 years.{{Sfn|Low|1966|pp=241–259}}

In 1922, Egypt, which had been declared a British [[protectorate]] at the outbreak of the First World War, was [[Unilateral Declaration of Egyptian Independence|granted formal independence]], though it continued to be a British client state until 1954. [[British Army|British troops]] remained stationed in Egypt until the signing of the [[Anglo-Egyptian treaty of 1936|Anglo-Egyptian Treaty]] in 1936,{{Sfn|Smith|1998|p=104}} under which it was agreed that the troops would withdraw but continue to occupy and defend the Suez Canal zone. In return, Egypt was assisted in joining the [[League of Nations]].{{Sfn|Brown|1998|p=292}} Iraq, a British mandate since 1920, gained membership of the League in its own right after achieving independence from Britain in 1932.{{Sfn|Smith|1998|p=101}} In Palestine, Britain was presented with the problem of mediating between the Arabs and increasing numbers of Jews. The [[Balfour Declaration]], which had been incorporated into the terms of the mandate, stated that a national home for the Jewish people would be established in Palestine, and Jewish immigration allowed up to a limit that would be determined by the mandatory power.{{Sfn|Louis|2006|p=271}} This led to increasing conflict with the Arab population, who openly [[1936–39 Arab revolt in Palestine|revolted in 1936]]. As the threat of war with Germany increased during the 1930s, Britain judged the support of Arabs as more important than the establishment of a Jewish homeland, and shifted to a pro-Arab stance, limiting Jewish immigration and in turn triggering a [[Jewish insurgency in Palestine|Jewish insurgency]].{{Sfn|Brown|1998|pp=494–495}}

The right of the Dominions to set their own foreign policy, independent of Britain, was recognised at the [[1923 Imperial Conference]].{{Sfn|McIntyre|1977|p=187}} Britain's request for military assistance from the Dominions at the outbreak of the [[Chanak Crisis]] the previous year had been turned down by Canada and South Africa, and Canada had refused to be bound by the [[Treaty of Lausanne (1923)|1923 Treaty of Lausanne]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Brown|1998|p=68}}; {{Harvnb|McIntyre|1977|p=186}}.</ref> After pressure from the Irish Free State and South Africa, the [[1926 Imperial Conference]] issued the [[Balfour Declaration of 1926]], declaring Britain and the Dominions to be "autonomous Communities within the British Empire, equal in status, in no way subordinate one to another" within a "British Commonwealth of Nations".{{Sfn|Brown|1998|p=69}} This declaration was given legal substance under the 1931 [[Statute of Westminster 1931|Statute of Westminster]].{{Sfn|Rhodes|Wanna|Weller|2009|pp=5–15}} The parliaments of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Union of South Africa, the Irish Free State and [[Dominion of Newfoundland|Newfoundland]] were now independent of British legislative control, they could nullify [[Law of the United Kingdom|British laws]] and Britain could no longer pass laws for them without their consent.{{Sfn|Turpin|Tomkins|2007|p=48}} Newfoundland reverted to colonial status in 1933, suffering from financial difficulties during the Great Depression.{{Sfn|Lloyd|1996|p=300}} In 1937 the Irish Free State introduced a [[Constitution of Ireland|republican constitution]] renaming itself ''Ireland''.{{Sfn|Galligan|1995|p=122}}