Imperial Federation

The Imperial Federation was a proposal in the late 19th and early 20th centuries to create a federal union in place of the existing British Empire. The project was championed by Unionists such as Joseph Chamberlain as an alternative to William Gladstone's proposals for home rule. At the time, the British Empire consisted of many colonies, some of which were largely self-governing dominions (Canada, Newfoundland, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa) and others of which were not (India, West Indies, Fiji). The future of the empire remained uncertain, as it was unclear what the end result would be if all colonies eventually became self-governing. Among other concerns, it would be very difficult for British interests to be maintained if every colony was essentially already sovereign. Creating an Imperial Federation thus became a popular alternative proposal to colonial imperialism. The plan was never firm, but the general proposal was to create a single federal state among all colonies of the British Empire. The federation would have a common parliament and would be governed as a superstate. Thus, Imperial unity could be maintained while still allowing for democratic government. The colonies would increase their influence while Britain would be able to share the costs of imperial defence. The best features of large states could be combined with the best features of small states. It was seen as a method of solving the Home Rule problem in Ireland, as England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland (along with the other members of the Old Commonwealth) would have their own Parliaments. Westminster would become a purely Imperial body. Supporters of the Imperial Federation regarded the United Kingdom as having two possible futures: imperial union and continued long-term importance or imperial dissolution and the reduction of the status of the UK to a second-class nation. In response to claims that geography was against federation on such a large scale, it was said that scientific advancements would solve the difficulty. Edward Ellis Morris reminded listeners to his lecture in 1885 that it was now as easy to reach London from Melbourne as it had been to reach London from Orkney at the time of the Acts of Union 1707, or to reach Washington, D.C. from California before passes over the Rockies were made. The Imperial Federation League was founded in London in 1884 and subsequent branches were established in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Barbados, and British Guiana. While the proposal was often associated with segments of the British Conservative Party, it was also popular among Liberal Imperialists or New Imperialism such as William Edward Forster. The movement was also a vehicle for British race nationalism, inspired by such writers as Charles Dilke and John Robert Seeley and ideas of a greater Britain encompassing the largely white self-governing colonies and dominions. Canadian advocates of imperial federation, are called 'Canadian Imperialists' and their ideology 'Canadian Imperialism' in Canadian historiography since Carl Berger 1970's book The Sense of Power identified this as a separate ideology from Canadian nationalism. Noted Canadian Imperialists included George Monro Grant, Sir George Robert Parkin, Stephen Leacock, and George Taylor Denison III.