“To Tidy Minds it May Appear Illogical”: How the Commonwealth Evolved from an ‘Imperial Club’ to an International Organisation by Preston Arens A thesis presented to the University Of Waterloo in fulfilment of the thesis requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, 2020 © Preston Arens 2020 Examining Committee Membership The following served on the Examining Committee for this thesis. The decision of the Examining Committee is by majority vote. External Examiner DR. SARAH STOCKWELL Professor in Imperial & Commonwealth History King’s College London Supervisor DR. DAN GORMAN Professor of History University of Waterloo Internal Member DR. DOUGLAS PEERS Professor of History University of Waterloo Internal-external Member DR. ERIC HELLEINER Professor of Political Science University of Waterloo Other Member(s) DR. KEVIN SPOONER Associate Professor of North American Studies and History Wilfrid Laurier University ii Author’s Declaration I hereby declare that I am the sole author of this thesis. This is a true copy of the thesis, including any required final revisions, as accepted by my examiners. I understand that my thesis may be made electronically available to the public. iii Abstract The history of the Commonwealth is vast and multifaceted. It touches on myriad fields, actors, and eras, and reaches from the local to the global. Amidst the Gordian knot of Commonwealth history this thesis is about understanding the organisational history of the Commonwealth on its own terms, rather than as a derivative topic of other fields. Building on the premise that the Commonwealth today is an international organisation (IO), this thesis argues that the Commonwealth transitioned from an imperial club to an international organisation in the 1960s, hinging on the creation of the Commonwealth Secretariat in 1965. The creation and subsequent growth of the Secretariat was negotiated between the “expansionist” members who viewed the Commonwealth as an international organisation and argued for a strong, expanded Secretariat, and the “restrictionist” members who opposed Secretariat growth. The Secretary-General and his staff were a third group of actors that mediated between the expansionists and restrictionists and pursued a vision for the organisation that would appeal to all members. The weight of this project rests on case studies in logistics, membership applications, the Rhodesian crisis, and Commonwealth technical cooperation. These topics help foreground how the transition from club to IO took place. Through these case studies I argue that the management of Commonwealth meetings decisively influenced the future of the organisation and was instrumental in the expansionists’ vision of the Commonwealth as an IO prevailing by 1970. The debates and decisions of Commonwealth meetings are well known, but the process of planning and managing those meetings has shaped the evolution of the Commonwealth as much, if not more than the content of the meetings themselves. iv Acknowledgements The debt of gratitude incurred during the completion of this thesis is comparable in scope to the Commonwealth this project seeks to understand. Yet as this thesis contends, addressing macro- scale topics is worth the effort. I would like foremost to thank my supervisor, Dr. Daniel Gorman, for his guidance, patience, and advice over the past several years. From comprehensive exams to the evolution this thesis since its earliest iterations, to research assistantships and co-teaching, to taking the time to mark milestones on the way, I do not take lightly the efforts he has made to support me in my work and professional development. Thank you again. Thank you to my committee members for challenging me to improve my work and for consistently offering to assist with sources and assess my work. Thank you to my external examiner, Dr. Sarah Stockwell, for her invaluable insights, feedback, and questions; to Dr. Eric Helleiner for encouraging greater interdisciplinary perspectives; to Dr. Douglas Peers for introducing me to so many fields and theories, and to Dr. Kevin Spooner for always helping me develop my arguments. I also owe thanks to my colleagues in the Waterloo History Department for their insights, collegiality, conversation, and hospitality. In particular I would like to thank Dr. Julia Roberts for her confidence and support in my teaching and research; Dr. Susan Roy for her work as Graduate Chair and her committed organisation of so many touchstone events for the graduate students; Dr. Alexander Statiev and Dr. Christopher Taylor for helping develop my professional skills. Thank you to Susan King in the Waterloo History Department and Jane Forgay at the University v of Waterloo Library, as well as the many other librarians, archivists, and administrators who have made this project possible with their professional and courteous support and assistance. Beyond the academy, I am foremost indebted to my family. Thank you to my partner, Sophia, for her love, support, encouragement, and willingness to read endless drafts. When the going gets tough, I am thankful to be going with you. Thank you to my parents, Desmond and Susan Arens, for editorial comments, tolerating impromptu lectures during the holidays, phone calls about Commonwealth policy, and for your encouragement since day one. Thank you to Darby for always listening. Thanks to Travis, Mia, John, Cyrus, Joanne, Natasha, and Ryan for always checking in. Thank you to Dara Lane for taking me under your wing, and thanks to the Warner Family for giving me a home away from home. I could not have done it without you all. Finally, a warm thanks to my friends for making my time at Waterloo so memorable. To Lucy, Jesse, Sarah, Sam, and my graduate colleagues in the Tri-University program, thank you for the many fond memories and for you scintillating conversation. I would particularly like to thank Timothy Clarke and David Hussey for your commitment to knowledge and the many ideas we have workshopped together. vi Table of Contents Examining Committee Membership……..…………………………….…...…...……..….………ii Author’s Declaration........…………………………………………………………..….….……..iii Abstract…………………………………………………………………………...…..………..…iv Acknowledgements…………………….………………………..……………….…..…..….…….v List of Figures………………………………….……………………………..…...…….…....…viii List of Abbreviations……………………..……….………………………………….………......ix Introduction………………………………………….………………..………………..…...……..1 Part One………………………………………………...……………....……………….…….…25 Chapter One: Commonwealth Values...……………….…………………..……….…………25 Chapter Two: The Secretariat Idea……………………………………......……….…………40 Chapter Three: Planning and Implementation……………….………….…………..……..…65 Chapter Four: Arnold Smith…………………………………….………….…..……………..81 Part Two……………………………………………………………………..………..………….91 Chapter Five: Practical Considerations: Logistics………...…………..…...…………………92 Chapter Six: Membership……………………………………………........………………...111 Chapter Seven: High-Level Meetings………………………………….……..….………….137 Chapter Eight: Prime Ministers’ Meetings…………………………..…….…….………….148 Chapter Nine: 1966 and 1969 London Prime Ministers’ Meetings..…………..……....……169 Chapter Ten: Other Ministerial Meetings: Law and Health……..……………....………..…232 Chapter Eleven: Economic Meetings…………………………...……...…....………………258 Chapter Twelve: Finance Ministers’ Meetings and Commonwealth Aid.…….…………….282 Epilogue…………………………………………………………………..………..……….......321 Conclusion……………………………………………………………..………..………...……327 Bibliography…………………………………………………………..………..………………332 Appendix: Timeline of Postwar Commonwealth Membership…..…...….……………….........340 vii List of Figures Figure One: Expressed values and structures of key Commonwealth documents…...........…….38 Figure Two: Composition of the Commonwealth Economic Consultative Council....………...263 Figure Three: Management of Commonwealth meetings in 1970…………………....………..319 viii List of Abbreviations BBC………….. British Broadcasting Corporation CAF…………...Central African Federation CEC…………...Commonwealth Economic Committee CECC…………Commonwealth Economic Consultative Council CELU…………Commonwealth Education Liaison Unit CHOGM………Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting CIDA………….Canadian International Development Agency CO…………….Colonial Office CO…………….Commonwealth Office CRO…………..Commonwealth Relations Office EEC…………...European Economic Community EMB…………. Empire Marketing Board FCO……….…..Foreign and Commonwealth Office FO…………….Foreign Office GATT………...General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade HMS………….Her Majesty’s Ship IEC……………Imperial Economic Committee IO……………..International Organization NATO……….. North Atlantic Treaty Organization NIBMAR……..No Independence Before Majority Rule OAU…………..Organisation for African Unity ODM…………. Overseas Development Ministry SCAAP………..Special Commonwealth African Assistance Plan SEATO………. Southeast Asia Treaty Organization UDI…………....Unilateral Declaration of Independence UN…………….United Nations UNCTAD……..United Nations Conference on Trade and Development UK…………….United Kingdom WHA………….World Health Assembly WHO………….World Health Organization ZANU…………Zimbabwean African National Union ZAPU………….Zimbabwean African Peoples’ Union ix ”The more severe international stresses may prove to be from time to time – and there will be stresses also in the future – the greater, I suggest, is the need for bridge-building institutions and associations to try to resolve them. Our basic need is to learn to share the world. You can’t opt out of the planet.” Arnold Smith, 1966 x Introduction The Commonwealth