The project is headed by the founding director Henry Markram—who also launched the European Human Brain Project—and is co-directed by Felix Schürmann, Adriana Salvatore and Sean Hill. Using a Blue Genesupercomputer running Michael Hines's NEURON, the simulation involves a biologically realistic model of neurons and an empirically reconstructed model connectome.
The initial goal of the project, which was completed in December 2006, was the creation of a simulated rat neocortical column, which is considered by some researchers to be the smallest functional unit of the neocortex, which is thought to be responsible for higher functions such as conscious thought.
In humans, each column is about 2 mm (0.079 in) in length, has a
diameter of 0.5 mm (0.020 in) and contains about 60,000 neurons. Rat neocortical columns are very similar in structure but contain only 10,000 neurons and 108synapses. Between 1995 and 2005, Markram mapped the types of neurons and their connections in such a column.
Progress
By
2005, the first cellular model was completed. The first artificial
cellular neocortical column of 10,000 cells was built by 2008. By July
2011, a cellular mesocircuit of 100 neocortical columns with a million cells in total was built. A cellular rat brain had been planned
for 2014 with 100 mesocircuits totalling a hundred million cells. A
cellular human brain equivalent to 1,000 rat brains with a total of a
hundred billion cells has been predicted to be possible by 2023.
In November 2007,
the project reported the end of the first phase, delivering a
data-driven process for creating, validating, and researching the
neocortical column.
In 2015, scientists at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
(EPFL) developed a quantitative model of the previously unknown
relationship between the glial cell astrocytes and neurons. This model describes the energy management of the brain through the function of the neuro-glial vascular unit (NGV). The additional layer of neuron-glial cells is being added to Blue Brain Project models to improve functionality of the system.
In 2017, Blue Brain Project discovered that neural cliques
connected to one another in up to eleven dimensions. The project's
director suggested that the difficulty of understanding the brain is
partly because the mathematics usually applied for studying neural networks cannot detect that many dimensions. The Blue Brain Project was able to model these networks using algebraic topology.
In 2018, Blue Brain Project released its first digital 3D brain cell atlas which, according to ScienceDaily,
is like "going from hand-drawn maps to Google Earth", providing
information about major cell types, numbers, and positions in 737
regions of the brain.
In 2019, Idan Segev, one of the computational neuroscientists
working on the Blue Brain Project, gave a talk titled: "Brain in the
computer: what did I learn from simulating the brain." In his talk, he
mentioned that the whole cortex for the mouse brain was complete and
virtual EEG experiments would begin soon. He also mentioned that the
model had become too heavy on the supercomputers they were using at the
time, and that they were consequently exploring methods in which every
neuron could be represented as an artificial neural network (see citation for details).
In 2022, scientists at the Blue Brain Project used algebraic
topology to create an algorithm, Topological Neuronal Synthesis, that
generates a large number of unique cells using only a few examples,
synthesizing millions of unique neuronal morphologies. This allows them
to replicate both healthy and diseased states of the brain. In a paper
Kenari et al. were able to digitally synthesize dendritic morphologies
from the mouse brain using this algorithm. They mapped entire brain
regions from just a few reference cells. Since it is open source, this
will enable the modelling of brain diseases and eventually, the
algorithm could lead to digital twins of brains.
Software
The Blue Brain Project has developed a number of software to reconstruct and to simulate the mouse brain.
Blue Brain Nexus
Blue Brain Nexus is a data integration platform which uses a knowledge graph to enable users to search, deposit, and organise data. It stands on the FAIR data principles to provide flexible data management solutions beyond neuroscience studies. It is an open source software and available for everyone on GitHub.
BluePyOpt
BluePyOpt is a tool that is used to build electrical models of single neurons. For this, it uses evolutionary algorithms
to constrain the parameters to experimental electrophysiological data.
Attempts to reconstruct single neurons using BluePyOpt are reported by Rosanna Migliore, and Stefano Masori. It is an open source software and available for everyone on GitHub.
CoreNEURON
CoreNEURON is a supplemental tool to NEURON, which allows large scale simulation by boosting memory usage and computational speed. It is an open source software and available for everyone on GitHub.
NeuroMorphoVis
NeuroMorphoVis is a visualisation tool for morphologies of neurons. It is an open source software and available for everyone on GitHub.
SONATA
SONATA is a joint effort between Blue Brain Project and Allen Institute for Brain Science,
to develop a standard for data format, which realises a multiple
platform working environment with greater computational memory and
efficiency. It is an open source software and available for everyone on GitHub.
Funding
The project is funded primarily by the Swiss government and the Future and Emerging Technologies (FET) Flagship grant from the European Commission,
and secondarily by grants and donations from private individuals. The
EPFL bought the Blue Gene computer at a reduced cost because it was
still a prototype and IBM was interested in exploring how applications
would perform on the machine. BBP was viewed as a validation of the Blue Gene supercomputer concept.
Criticisms
The management of the Blue Brain Project has undeniably missed the excessively ambitious targets it set itself in 2013.
Voices were raised as early as September 2014 to criticize the
management by the project's key promoter, Professor Henry Makram, as
well as the carelessness of the Brussels authorities who funded the
project.
Prof. Markram is eventually removed from the leadership in 2016.
Related projects
Cajal Blue Brain
Cajal Blue Brain used the Magerit supercomputer (CeSViMa)
Noah Hutton created the documentary film In Silico over a 10-year period. The film was released in April 2021. The film covers the "shifting goals and landmarks"
of the Blue Brain Project as well as the drama, "In the end, this isn’t
about science. It’s about the universals of power, greed, ego, and
fame."
Scientific notation is a way of expressing numbers that are too large or too small to be conveniently written in decimal form, since to do so would require writing out an inconveniently long string of digits. It may be referred to as scientific form or standard index form, or standard form in the United Kingdom. This base ten notation is commonly used by scientists, mathematicians, and engineers, in part because it can simplify certain arithmetic operations. On scientific calculators it is usually known as "SCI" display mode.
Decimal notation
Scientific notation
2
2×100
300
3×102
4321.768
4.321768×103
−53000
−5.3×104
6720000000
6.72×109
0.2
2×10−1
987
9.87×102
0.00000000751
7.51×10−9
In scientific notation, nonzero numbers are written in the form
m × 10n
or m times ten raised to the power of n, where n is an integer, and the coefficientm is a nonzero real number (usually between 1 and 10 in absolute value, and nearly always written as a terminating decimal). The integer n is called the exponent and the real number m is called the significand or mantissa. The term "mantissa" can be ambiguous where logarithms are involved, because it is also the traditional name of the fractional part of the common logarithm. If the number is negative then a minus sign precedes m, as in ordinary decimal notation. In normalized notation, the exponent is chosen so that the absolute value (modulus) of the significand m is at least 1 but less than 10.
Decimal floating point is a computer arithmetic system closely related to scientific notation.
Any given real number can be written in the form m×10n in many ways: for example, 350 can be written as 3.5×102 or 35×101 or 350×100.
In normalized scientific notation (called "standard form" in the United Kingdom), the exponent n is chosen so that the absolute value of m remains at least one but less than ten (1 ≤ |m| < 10). Thus 350 is written as 3.5×102.
This form allows easy comparison of numbers: numbers with bigger
exponents are (due to the normalization) larger than those with smaller
exponents, and subtraction of exponents gives an estimate of the number
of orders of magnitude separating the numbers. It is also the form that is required when using tables of common logarithms. In normalized notation, the exponent n is negative for a number with absolute value between 0 and 1 (e.g. 0.5 is written as 5×10−1).
The 10 and exponent are often omitted when the exponent is 0. Howewver
if there is a series of numbers, which need to be compared (or maybe
added or subtracted), it is often convenient to use the same value of m for all of them.
Normalized scientific form is the typical form of expression of
large numbers in many fields, unless an unnormalized or differently
normalized form, such as engineering notation, is desired. Normalized scientific notation is often called exponential notation—although the latter term is more general and also applies when m is not restricted to the range 1 to 10 (as in engineering notation for instance) and to bases other than 10 (for example, 3.15×220).
Engineering notation (often named "ENG" on scientific calculators)
differs from normalized scientific notation in that the exponent n is restricted to multiples of 3. Consequently, the absolute value of m is in the range 1 ≤ |m| < 1000, rather than 1 ≤ |m|
< 10. Though similar in concept, engineering notation is rarely
called scientific notation. Engineering notation allows the numbers to
explicitly match their corresponding SI prefixes, which facilitates reading and oral communication. For example, 12.5×10−9 m can be read as "twelve-point-five nanometres" and written as 12.5 nm, while its scientific notation equivalent 1.25×10−8 m would likely be read out as "one-point-two-five times ten-to-the-negative-eight metres".
A significant figure is a digit in a number that adds to its
precision. This includes all nonzero numbers, zeroes between significant
digits, and zeroes indicated to be significant.
Leading and trailing zeroes are not significant digits, because they
exist only to show the scale of the number. Unfortunately, this leads to
ambiguity. The number 1230400
is usually read to have five significant figures: 1, 2, 3, 0, and 4,
the final two zeroes serving only as placeholders and adding no
precision. The same number, however, would be used if the last two
digits were also measured precisely and found to equal 0 — seven
significant figures.
When a number is converted into normalized scientific notation,
it is scaled down to a number between 1 and 10. All of the significant
digits remain, but the placeholding zeroes are no longer required. Thus 1230400 would become 1.2304×106 if it had five significant digits. If the number were known to six or seven significant figures, it would be shown as 1.23040×106 or 1.230400×106. Thus, an additional advantage of scientific notation is that the number of significant figures is unambiguous.
Estimated final digits
It
is customary in scientific measurement to record all the definitely
known digits from the measurement and to estimate at least one
additional digit if there is any information at all available on its
value. The resulting number contains more information than it would
without the extra digit, which may be considered a significant digit
because it conveys some information leading to greater precision in
measurements and in aggregations of measurements (adding them or
multiplying them together).
Additional information about precision can be conveyed through
additional notation. It is often useful to know how exact the final
digit or digits are. For instance, the accepted value of the mass of the
proton can properly be expressed as 1.67262192369(51)×10−27 kg, which is shorthand for (1.67262192369±0.00000000051)×10−27 kg. However it is still unclear whether the error (5.1 × 10−37 in this case) is the maximum possible error or the standard deviation.
Most calculators and many computer programs present very large and very small results in scientific notation, typically invoked by a key labelled EXP (for exponent), EEX (for enter exponent), EE, EX, E, or ×10x depending on vendor and model. Because superscripted exponents like 107 cannot always be conveniently displayed, the letter E (or e) is often used to represent "times ten raised to the power of" (which would be written as "× 10n") and is followed by the value of the exponent; in other words, for any real number m and integer n, the usage of "mEn" would indicate a value of m × 10n. In this usage the character e is not related to the mathematical constant e or the exponential functionex (a confusion that is unlikely if scientific notation is represented by a capital E). Although the E stands for exponent, the notation is usually referred to as (scientific) E notation rather than (scientific) exponential notation.
The use of E notation facilitates data entry and readability in textual
communication since it minimizes keystrokes, avoids reduced font sizes
and provides a simpler and more concise display, but it is not
encouraged in some publications.
Examples and other notations
Since its first version released for the IBM 704 in 1956, the Fortran language has used E notation for floating point numbers. It was not part of the preliminary specification as of 1954.
After the introduction of the first pocket calculators supporting scientific notation in 1972 (HP-35, SR-10) the term decapower
was sometimes used in the emerging user communities for the
power-of-ten multiplier in order to better distinguish it from "normal"
exponents. Likewise, the letter "D" was used in typewritten numbers.
This notation was proposed by Jim Davidson and published in the January
1976 issue of Richard J. Nelson's Hewlett-Packard newsletter 65 Notes for HP-65 users, and it was adopted and carried over into the Texas Instruments community by Richard C. Vanderburgh, the editor of the 52-Notes newsletter for SR-52 users in November 1976.
The displays of LED pocket calculators did not display an "E" or
"e". Instead, one or more digits were left blank between the mantissa
and exponent (e.g. 6.022 23, such as in the Hewlett-Packard HP-25), or a pair of smaller and slightly raised digits reserved for the exponent was used (e.g. 6.022 23, such as in the Commodore PR100).
Fortran (at least since FORTRAN IV as of 1961) also uses "D" to signify double precision numbers in scientific notation.
Some newer FORTRAN compilers like DEC FORTRAN 77 (f77), Intel Fortran, Compaq/Digital Visual Fortran or GNU Fortran (gfortran) support "Q" to signify quadruple precision numbers in scientific notation.
MATLAB supports both letters, "E" and "D", to indicate numbers in scientific notation.
The ALGOL 60 (1960) programming language uses a subscript ten "10" character instead of the letter E, for example: 6.0221023.
The use of the "10" in the various Algol standards provided a challenge on some computer systems that did not provide such a "10" character. As a consequence Stanford UniversityAlgol-W required the use of a single quote, e.g. 6.022'+23, and some Soviet Algol variants allowed the use of the Cyrillic character "ю" character, e.g. 6.022ю+23.
Subsequently, the ALGOL 68 programming language provided the choice of 4 characters: E, e, \, or 10. By examples: 6.022E23, 6.022e23, 6.022\23 or 6.0221023.
Decimal Exponent Symbol is part of the Unicode Standard, e.g. 6.022⏨23. It is included as U+23E8⏨DECIMAL EXPONENT SYMBOL to accommodate usage in the programming languages Algol 60 and Algol 68.
in 1962, Ronald O. Whitaker of Rowco Engineering Co. proposed a
power-of-ten system nomenclature where the exponent would be circled,
e.g. 6.022 × 103 would be written as "6.022③".
In normalized scientific notation, in E notation, and in engineering notation, the space (which in typesetting may be represented by a normal width space or a thin space) that is allowed only
before and after "×" or in front of "E" is sometimes omitted, though it
is less common to do so before the alphabetical character.
Further examples of scientific notation
An electron's mass is about 0.000000000000000000000000000000910938356 kg. In scientific notation, this is written 9.10938356×10−31 kg (in SI units).
The Earth's mass is about 5972400000000000000000000 kg. In scientific notation, this is written 5.9724×1024 kg.
The Earth's circumference is approximately 40000000 m. In scientific notation, this is 4×107 m. In engineering notation, this is written 40×106 m. In SI writing style, this may be written 40 Mm (40 megametres).
An inch is defined as exactly25.4 mm. Quoting a value of 25.400 mm shows that the value is correct to the nearest micrometre. An approximated value with only two significant digits would be 2.5×101 mm
instead. As there is no limit to the number of significant digits, the
length of an inch could, if required, be written as (say) 2.54000000000×101 mm instead.
Hyperinflation
is a problem that is caused when too much money is printed with regards
to there being too few commodities, causing the inflation rate to rise
by 50% or more in a single month; currencies tend to lose their
intrinsic value over time. Some countries have had an inflation rate of 1
million percent or more in a single month, which usually results in the
abandonment of the country's currency shortly afterwards. In November
2008, the monthly inflation rate of the Zimbabwean dollar reached 79.6 billion percent; the approximated value with three significant figures would be 7.96×1010 percent.
Converting numbers
Converting
a number in these cases means to either convert the number into
scientific notation form, convert it back into decimal form or to change
the exponent part of the equation. None of these alter the actual
number, only how it's expressed.
Decimal to scientific
First, move the decimal separator point sufficient places, n,
to put the number's value within a desired range, between 1 and 10 for
normalized notation. If the decimal was moved to the left, append × 10n; to the right, × 10−n. To represent the number 1,230,400 in normalized scientific notation, the decimal separator would be moved 6 digits to the left and × 106 appended, resulting in 1.2304×106. The number −0.0040321 would have its decimal separator shifted 3 digits to the right instead of the left and yield −4.0321×10−3 as a result.
Scientific to decimal
Converting a number from scientific notation to decimal notation, first remove the × 10n on the end, then shift the decimal separator n digits to the right (positive n) or left (negative n). The number 1.2304×106 would have its decimal separator shifted 6 digits to the right and become 1,230,400, while −4.0321×10−3 would have its decimal separator moved 3 digits to the left and be −0.0040321.
Exponential
Conversion
between different scientific notation representations of the same
number with different exponential values is achieved by performing
opposite operations of multiplication or division by a power of ten on
the significand and an subtraction or addition of one on the exponent
part. The decimal separator in the significand is shifted x places to the left (or right) and x is added to (or subtracted from) the exponent, as shown below.
Addition and subtraction
require the numbers to be represented using the same exponential part,
so that the significand can be simply added or subtracted:
and with
Next, add or subtract the significands:
An example:
Other bases
While base ten is normally used for scientific notation, powers of other bases can be used too, base 2 being the next most commonly used one.
For example, in base-2 scientific notation, the number 1001b in binary (=9d) is written as
1.001b × 2d11b or 1.001b × 10b11b using binary numbers (or shorter 1.001 × 1011 if binary context is obvious). In E notation, this is written as 1.001bE11b (or shorter: 1.001E11) with the letter E now standing for "times two (10b)
to the power" here. In order to better distinguish this base-2 exponent
from a base-10 exponent, a base-2 exponent is sometimes also indicated
by using the letter B instead of E, a shorthand notation originally proposed by Bruce Alan Martin of Brookhaven National Laboratory in 1968, as in 1.001bB11b (or shorter: 1.001B11). For comparison, the same number in decimal representation: 1.125 × 23
(using decimal representation), or 1.125B3 (still using decimal
representation). Some calculators use a mixed representation for binary
floating point numbers, where the exponent is displayed as decimal
number even in binary mode, so the above becomes 1.001b × 10b3d or shorter 1.001B3.
This is closely related to the base-2 floating-point representation commonly used in computer arithmetic, and the usage of IEC binary prefixes (e.g. 1B10 for 1×210 (kibi), 1B20 for 1×220 (mebi), 1B30 for 1×230 (gibi), 1B40 for 1×240 (tebi)).
Similar to B (or b), the letters H (or h) and O (or o, or C) are sometimes also used to indicate times 16 or 8 to the power as in 1.25 = 1.40h × 10h0h = 1.40H0 = 1.40h0, or 98000 = 2.7732o × 10o5o = 2.7732o5 = 2.7732C5.
Another similar convention to denote base-2 exponents is using a letter P (or p,
for "power"). In this notation the significand is always meant to be
hexadecimal, whereas the exponent is always meant to be decimal. This notation can be produced by implementations of the printf family of functions following the C99 specification and (Single Unix Specification) IEEE Std 1003.1POSIX standard, when using the %a or %A conversion specifiers. Starting with C++11, C++
I/O functions could parse and print the P notation as well. Meanwhile,
the notation has been fully adopted by the language standard since C++17. Apple's Swift supports it as well. It is also required by the IEEE 754-2008 binary floating-point standard. Example: 1.3DEp42 represents 1.3DEh × 242.
In the human brain, the cerebral cortex consists of the larger neocortex and the smaller allocortex. The neocortex is made up of six layers, labelled from the outermost inwards, I to VI.
Etymology
The term is from cortex, Latin, "bark" or "rind", combined with neo-, Greek, "new". Neopallium is a similar hybrid, from Latin pallium, "cloak". Isocortex and allocortex are hybrids with Greek isos, "same", and allos, "other".
Of all the mammals studied to date (including humans), a species of oceanic dolphin known as the long-finned pilot whale has been found to have the most neocortical neurons.
Geometry
The neocortex is smooth in rodents and other small mammals, whereas in elephants, dolphins and primates and other larger mammals it has deep grooves (sulci) and ridges (gyri).
These folds allow the surface area of the neocortex to be greatly
increased. All human brains have the same overall pattern of main gyri
and sulci, although they differ in detail from one person to another.
The mechanism by which the gyri form during embryogenesis is not
entirely clear, and there are several competing hypotheses that explain
gyrification, such as axonal tension, cortical buckling or differences in cellular proliferation rates in different areas of the cortex.
Layers
The neocortex contains both excitatory (~80%) and inhibitory (~20%) neurons, named for their effect on other neurons. The human neocortex consists of hundreds of different types of cells.
The structure of the neocortex is relatively uniform (hence the
alternative names "iso-" and "homotypic" cortex), consisting of six
horizontal layers segregated principally by cell type and neuronal connections. However, there are many exceptions to this uniformity; for example, layer IV is small or missing in the primary motor cortex.
There is some canonical circuitry within the cortex; for example,
pyramidal neurons in the upper layers II and III project their axons to other areas of neocortex, while those in the deeper layers V and VI often project out of the cortex, e.g. to the thalamus, brainstem, and spinal cord. Neurons in layer IV receive the majority of the synaptic connections from outside the cortex (mostly from thalamus), and themselves make short-range, local connections to other cortical layers.
Thus, layer IV is the main recipient of incoming sensory information
and distributes it to the other layers for further processing.
Cortical columns
The neocortex is often described as being arranged in vertical structures called cortical columns,
patches of neocortex with a diameter of roughly 0.5 mm (and a depth of
2 mm, i.e., spanning all six layers). These columns are often thought of
as the basic repeating functional units of the neocortex, but their
many definitions, in terms of anatomy, size, or function, are generally
not consistent with each other, leading to a lack of consensus regarding
their structure or function or even whether it makes sense to try to
understand neocortex in terms of columns.
Function
The neocortex is derived embryonically from the dorsal telencephalon, which is the rostral part of the forebrain. The neocortex is divided, into regions demarcated by the cranial sutures in the skull above, into frontal, parietal, occipital, and temporal lobes, which perform different functions. For example, the occipital lobe contains the primary visual cortex, and the temporal lobe contains the primary auditory cortex. Further subdivisions or areas of neocortex are responsible for more specific cognitive processes. In humans, the frontal lobe
contains areas devoted to abilities that are enhanced in or unique to
our species, such as complex language processing localized to the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (Broca's area). In humans and other primates, social and emotional processing is localized to the orbitofrontal cortex.
The neocortex has also been shown to play an influential role in sleep, memory and learning processes. Semantic memories appear to be stored in the neocortex, specifically the anterolateral temporal lobe of the neocortex. It is also involved in instrumental conditioning; responsible for transmitting sensory information and information about plans for movement to the basal ganglia. The firing rate of neurons in the neocortex also has an effect on slow-wave sleep. When the neurons are at rest and are hyperpolarizing, a period of inhibition occurs during a slow oscillation, called the down state. When the neurons of the neocortex are in the excitatory depolarizing phase and are firing briefly at a high rate, a period of excitation occurs during a slow oscillation, called the up state.
Clinical significance
Lesions that develop in neurodegenerative disorders, such as Alzheimer's disease,
interrupt the transfer of information from the sensory neocortex to the
prefrontal neocortex. This disruption of sensory information
contributes to the progressive symptoms seen in neurodegenerative
disorders such as changes in personality, decline in cognitive
abilities, and dementia. Damage to the neocortex of the anterolateral temporal lobe results in semantic dementia, which is the loss of memory of factual information (semantic memories). These symptoms can also be replicated by transcranial magnetic stimulation of this area. If damage is sustained to this area, patients do not develop anterograde amnesia and are able to recall episodic information.
The neocortex is the newest part of the cerebral cortex to evolve (hence the prefix neo meaning new); the other part of the cerebral cortex is the allocortex.
The cellular organization of the allocortex is different from the
six-layered neocortex. In humans, 90% of the cerebral cortex and 76% of
the entire brain is neocortex.
For a species to develop a larger neocortex, the brain must
evolve in size so that it is large enough to support the region. Body
size, basal metabolic rate and life history are factors affecting brain evolution and the coevolution of neocortex size and group size.
The neocortex increased in size in response to pressures for greater
cooperation and competition in early ancestors. With the size increase,
there was greater voluntary inhibitory control of social behaviors
resulting in increased social harmony.
The six-layer cortex appears to be a distinguishing feature of
mammals; it has been found in the brains of all mammals, but not in any
other animals. There is some debate, however, as to the cross-species nomenclature for neocortex. In avians,
for instance, there are clear examples of cognitive processes that are
thought to be neocortical in nature, despite the lack of the distinctive
six-layer neocortical structure. In a similar manner, reptiles, such as turtles, have primary sensory cortices. A consistent, alternative name has yet to be agreed upon.
Neocortex ratio
The
neocortex ratio of a species is the ratio of the size of the neocortex
to the rest of the brain. A high neocortex ratio is thought to correlate
with a number of social variables such as group size and the complexity of social mating behaviors.
Humans have a large neocortex as a percentage of total brain matter
when compared with other mammals. For example, there is only a 30:1
ratio of neocortical gray matter to the size of the medulla oblongata in the brainstem of chimpanzees, while the ratio is 60:1 in humans.
"Dominion status" was first accorded to Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Newfoundland, South Africa, and the Irish Free State at the 1926 Imperial Conference through the Balfour Declaration of 1926,
recognising Great Britain and the Dominions as "autonomous communities
within the British Empire, equal in status, in no way subordinate one to
another in any aspect of their domestic or external affairs, though
united by a common allegiance to the Crown and freely associated as
members of the British Commonwealth of Nations". Their full legislative independence was subsequently confirmed in the 1931 Statute of Westminster. Later India, Pakistan, and Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) also became dominions, for short periods of time.
With the transition of the British Empire into the Commonwealth of Nations after World War II, it was decided that the term Commonwealth country should formally replace dominion for official Commonwealth usage. This decision was made during the 1949 Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference
when India was intending to become a republic, so that both types of
governments could become and remain full members of the Commonwealth,
and this term hence refers to the autonomous dominions and republics.
After this, the term dominion without its legal dimension stayed
in use for thirty more years for Commonwealth countries which had the
crown as head of state, before gradually, particularly after 1953, being
replaced by the term realm, as equal realms of the crown of the Commonwealth.
Definition
Map of the British Empire under Queen Victoria at the end of the nineteenth century. "Dominions" refers to all territories belonging to the Crown.
The term dominion means "that which is mastered or ruled". It was used by the British to describe their colonies or territorial possessions.
Use of dominion to refer to a particular territory within the British Empire dates back to the 16th century and was sometimes used to describe Wales from 1535 to around 1800: for instance, the Laws in Wales Act 1535 applies to "the Dominion, Principality and Country of Wales". Dominion, as an official title, was conferred on the Colony of Virginia about 1660 and on the Dominion of New England in 1686.
King George V (front, centre) and his Prime Ministers at the 1926 Imperial Conference.
Dominion status was formally accorded to Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Newfoundland, South Africa, and the Irish Free State at the 1926 Imperial Conference
to designate "autonomous communities within the British Empire, equal
in status, in no way subordinate one to another in any aspect of their
domestic or external affairs, though united by a common allegiance to
the Crown and freely associated as members of the British Commonwealth
of Nations".
The British Government of Lloyd George had emphasised the use of the capital "D" when referring to the Irish Free State in the Anglo-Irish Treaty
to assure it the same constitutional status in order to avoid confusion
with the wider term "His Majesty's dominions", which referred to the
British Empire as a whole. At the time of the founding of the League of Nations in 1924, the League Covenant made provision for the admission of any "fully self-governing state, Dominion, or Colony", the implication being that "Dominion status was something between that of a colony and a state".
With the adoption of the Statute of Westminster 1931, Britain and the Dominions (except Newfoundland) formed the British Commonwealth of Nations.
Dominions asserted full legislative independence, with direct access to
the Monarch as Head of State previously reserved only for British
governments. It also recognised autonomy in foreign affairs, including
participation as autonomous nations in the League of Nations with full power over appointing ambassadors to other countries.
Following the Second World War,
the changes in the constitutional relationship between the countries
that continued to share a common sovereign with the United Kingdom led
to the upper case term 'Dominion' falling out of use.
"His/Her Majesty's dominions"
The
status of "Dominion" established by the Statute of Westminster in 1931
was capitalised to distinguish it from the more general sense of "within
the crown's dominions".
The phrase the crown's dominions or His/Her Majesty's dominions
is a legal and constitutional phrase that refers to all the realms and
territories of the British sovereign, whether independent or not. These
territories include the United Kingdom, and its colonies, including
those that had become Dominions. Dependent territories that had never
been annexed and were not colonies of the Crown, were notionally foreign territory and not "within the crown's dominions". When these territories—including protectorates and protected states (a status with greater powers of self-government), as well as League of Nations mandates, which then became United Nations Trust Territories—were
granted independence, and at the same time recognised the British
monarch as head of state, the United Kingdom act granting independence
declared that such and such a territory "shall form part of Her
Majesty's dominions", and so become part of the territory in which the
Queen exercises sovereignty, not merely suzerainty.
The legal status of "Dominion" under British nationality law
ceased to exist from 1 January 1949, when it was determined each
Dominion would legislate for its own citizenship.
However, "Dominion status" itself never ceased to exist within the
greater scope of British law, because acts pertaining to "Dominion
status", such as the Statute of Westminster 1931, have not been repealed
in both the United Kingdom and historic Dominions such as Canada. The
term "within the crown's dominions" continues to apply in British law to
those territories in which the British monarch remains head of state,
and the term "self-governing dominion" is used in some legislation.
When a territory ceases to recognise the monarch as head of state, this
status is changed by statute. Thus, for example, the British Ireland Act 1949, recognised that the Republic of Ireland had "ceased to be part of His Majesty's dominions".
Historical development
Responsible government: precursor to Dominion status
The foundation of "Dominion" status followed the achievement of
internal self-rule in British Colonies, in the specific form of full responsible government (as distinct from "representative government"). Colonial responsible government began to emerge during the mid-19th century. The legislatures
of Colonies with responsible government were able to make laws in all
matters other than foreign affairs, defence and international trade,
these being powers which remained with the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
The conditions under which the four separate Australian colonies—New South Wales, Tasmania, Western Australia, South Australia—and New Zealand could gain full responsible government were set out by the British government in the Australian Constitutions Act 1850. The Act also separated the Colony of Victoria (in 1851) from New South Wales. During 1856, responsible government was achieved by New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, and Tasmania,
and New Zealand. The remainder of New South Wales was divided in three
in 1859, a change that established most of the present borders of NSW;
the Colony of Queensland, with its own responsible self-government, and the Northern Territory (which was not granted self-government prior to federation of the Australian Colonies). Western Australia did not receive self-government until 1891, mainly because of its continuing financial dependence on the UK Government.
After protracted negotiations (that initially included New Zealand),
six Australian colonies with responsible government (and their dependent
territories) agreed to federate, along Canadian lines, becoming the Commonwealth of Australia, in 1901.
In South Africa, the Cape Colony became the first British self-governing Colony, in 1872. (Until 1893, the Cape Colony also controlled the separate Colony of Natal.) Following the Second Boer War (1899–1902), the British Empire assumed direct control of the Boer Republics, but transferred limited self-government to Transvaal in 1906, and the Orange River Colony in 1907.
Canadian Confederation and evolution of the term Dominion
In connection with proposals for the future government of British North America, use of the term "Dominion" was suggested by Samuel Leonard Tilley at the London Conference of 1866 discussing the confederation of the Province of Canada (subsequently becoming the provinces of Ontario and Quebec), Nova Scotia and New Brunswick into "One Dominion under the Name of Canada", the first federation internal to the British Empire.[25] Tilley's suggestion was taken from the 72nd Psalm, verse eight, "He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth", which is echoed in the national motto, "A Mari Usque Ad Mare".[26] The new government of Canada under the British North America Act, 1867
began to use the phrase "Dominion of Canada" to designate the new,
larger nation. However, neither the Confederation nor the adoption of
the title of "Dominion" granted extra autonomy or new powers to this new
federal level of government.[27][28] Senator Eugene Forsey wrote that the powers acquired since the 1840s that established the system of responsible government in Canada would simply be transferred to the new Dominion government:
By the time of Confederation in
1867, this system had been operating in most of what is now central and
eastern Canada for almost 20 years. The Fathers of Confederation simply
continued the system they knew, the system that was already working, and
working well.
The constitutional scholar Andrew Heard argues that Confederation did
not legally change Canada's colonial status to anything approaching its
later status of a Dominion.
At its inception in 1867, Canada's
colonial status was marked by political and legal subjugation to British
Imperial supremacy in all aspects of government—legislative, judicial,
and executive. The Imperial Parliament at Westminster could legislate on
any matter to do with Canada and could override any local legislation,
the final court of appeal for Canadian litigation lay with the Judicial
Committee of the Privy Council in London, the Governor General had a substantive role as a representative of the British government, and ultimate executive power was vested in the British Monarch—who
was advised only by British ministers in its exercise. Canada's
independence came about as each of these sub-ordinations was eventually
removed.
When the Dominion of Canada was
created in 1867, it was granted powers of self-government to deal with
all internal matters, but Britain still retained overall legislative
supremacy. This Imperial supremacy could be exercised through several
statutory measures. In the first place, the British North America Act of 1867
provided in Section 55 that the Governor General may reserve any
legislation passed by the two Houses of Parliament for "the
signification of Her Majesty's pleasure", which is determined according
to Section 57 by the British Monarch
in Council. Secondly, Section 56 provides that the Governor General
must forward to "one of Her Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State" in
London a copy of any Federal legislation that has been assented to.
Then, within two years after the receipt of this copy, the (British)
Monarch in Council could disallow
an Act. Thirdly, at least four pieces of Imperial legislation
constrained the Canadian legislatures. The Colonial Laws Validity Act of
1865 provided that no colonial law could validly conflict with, amend,
or repeal Imperial legislation that either explicitly, or by necessary
implication, applied directly to that colony. The Merchant Shipping Act
of 1894, as well as the Colonial Courts of Admiralty Act of 1890
required reservation of Dominion legislation on those topics for
approval by the British Government. Also, the Colonial Stock Act of 1900
provided for the disallowance of any Dominion legislation the British
government felt would harm British stockholders of Dominion trustee
securities. Most importantly, however, the British Parliament could
exercise the legal right of supremacy that it possessed over common law
to pass any legislation on any matter affecting the colonies.
For decades, the Dominions did not have their own embassies or consulates
in foreign countries. International travel and commerce were transacted
through British embassies and consulates. For example, matters
concerning visas and lost or stolen passports
of Dominion citizens were carried out at British diplomatic offices. In
the late 1930s and early 1940s, Dominion governments established their
own embassies, the first two of which were established by Australia and
Canada in Washington, D.C., in the United States.
As Heard later explained, the British government seldom invoked
its powers over Canadian legislation. British legislative powers over
Canadian domestic policy were largely theoretical and their exercise was
increasingly unacceptable in the 1870s and 1880s. The rise to the
status of a Dominion and then full independence for Canada and other
possessions of the British Empire did not occur by the granting of
titles or similar recognition by the British Parliament but by
initiatives taken by the new governments of certain former British
dependencies to assert their independence and to establish
constitutional precedents.
What is remarkable about this whole
process is that it was achieved with a minimum of legislative
amendments. Much of Canada's independence arose from the development of
new political arrangements, many of which have been absorbed into
judicial decisions interpreting the constitution—with or without
explicit recognition. Canada's passage from being an integral part of
the British Empire to being an independent member of the Commonwealth
richly illustrates the way in which fundamental constitutional rules
have evolved through the interaction of constitutional convention,
international law, and municipal statute and case law.
What was significant about the creation of the Canadian and
Australian federations was not that they were instantly granted wide new
powers by the Imperial centre at the time of their creation; but that
they, because of their greater size and prestige, were better able to
exercise their existing powers and lobby for new ones than the various
colonies they incorporated could have done separately. They provided a
new model which politicians in New Zealand, Newfoundland, South Africa,
Ireland, India, Malaysia could point to for their own relationship with
Britain. Ultimately, "[Canada's] example of a peaceful accession to
independence with a Westminster system of government came to be followed
by 50 countries with a combined population of more than 2-billion
people."
Colonial Conference of 1907
Issues of colonial self-government spilled into foreign affairs with The Second Boer War
(1899–1902). The self-governing colonies contributed significantly to
British efforts to stem the insurrection, but ensured that they set the
conditions for participation in these wars. Colonial governments
repeatedly acted to ensure that they determined the extent of their
peoples' participation in imperial wars in the military build-up to the First World War.
The assertiveness of the self-governing nations was recognised in the Colonial Conference of 1907,
which implicitly introduced the idea of the Dominion as a
self-governing nation by referring to Canada and Australia as Dominions.
It also retired the name "Colonial Conference" and mandated that
meetings take place regularly to consult Dominions in running the
foreign affairs of the empire.
The Colony of New Zealand, which chose not to take part in Australian federation, became the Dominion of New Zealand on 26 September 1907; Newfoundland became a Dominion on the same day. The Union of South Africa was referred to as a Dominion upon its creation in 1910.
First World War and Treaty of Versailles
The Parliamentary Recruiting Committee produced this First World War poster. Designed by Arthur Wardle, the poster urges men from the Dominions of the British Empire to enlist in the war effort.
The initiatives and contributions of British colonies to the British
war effort in the First World War were recognised by Britain with the
creation of the Imperial War Cabinet in 1917, which gave them a say in
the running of the war. Dominion status as self-governing states, as
opposed to symbolic titles granted various British colonies, waited
until 1919, when the self-governing Dominions signed the Treaty of
Versailles independently of the British government and became individual
members of the League of Nations. This ended the purely colonial status
of the Dominions.
The First World War ended the purely colonial period in
the history of the Dominions. Their military contribution to the Allied
war effort gave them claim to equal recognition with other small states
and a voice in the formation of policy. This claim was recognised within
the Empire by the creation of the Imperial War Cabinet in 1917, and
within the community of nations by Dominion signatures to the Treaty of
Versailles and by separate Dominion representation in the League of
Nations. In this way the "self-governing Dominions", as they were
called, emerged as junior members of the international community. Their
status defied exact analysis by both international and constitutional
lawyers, but it was clear that they were no longer regarded simply as
colonies of Britain.
Irish Free State
The Irish Free State, set up in 1922 after the Anglo-Irish War, was the third Dominion to appoint a non-UK born, non-aristocratic Governor-General when Timothy Michael Healy, following the tenures of Sir Gordon Drummond in Canada and of Sir Walter Davidson and Sir William Allardyce in Newfoundland, took the position in 1922. Dominion status was never popular in the Irish Free State where people saw it as a face-saving measure for a British government unable to countenance a republic in what had previously been the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
Successive Irish governments undermined the constitutional links with
the United Kingdom. In 1937 Ireland, as it renamed itself, adopted a new
republican constitution that included powers for a president of Ireland. At the same time, a law
delegating functions to the King, not as King in Ireland but as the
symbol of the co-operation amongst Commonwealth countries with which
Ireland associated itself, continued to apply in external relations. The
last statutory functions of the King with respect to Ireland were
abolished in 1949.
Balfour Declaration of 1926 and Statute of Westminster
Until 1931, Newfoundland was referred to as a colony of the United Kingdom, as for example, in the 1927 reference to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council to delineate the Quebec-Labrador boundary. Full autonomy was granted by the United Kingdom parliament with the Statute of Westminster
in December 1931. However, the government of Newfoundland "requested
the United Kingdom not to have sections 2 to 6[—]confirming Dominion
status[—]apply automatically to it[,] until the Newfoundland Legislature
first approved the Statute, approval which the Legislature subsequently
never gave".
In 1934, following Newfoundland's economic collapse, and with the
approval of its own legislature, Britain suspended self-government in
Newfoundland and instituted a "Commission of Government", which continued until Newfoundland became a province of Canada in 1949.
White Dominions
Canada,
Australia, New Zealand, the Irish Free State, Newfoundland and South
Africa (prior to becoming a republic and leaving the Commonwealth in
1961), with their large populations of European descent, were sometimes
collectively referred to as the "White Dominions".
Continues as a Commonwealth realm and member of the Commonwealth of
Nations. 'Dominion' was conferred as the country's title in the 1867 constitution, as a substitute for the title of "kingdom".
The colony of Newfoundland enjoyed responsible government from 1855 to 1907 when it became a Dominion.
Following the recommendations of a Royal Commission, parliamentary
government was suspended in 1934 due to severe financial difficulties
resulting from the depression and a series of riots against the Dominion
government in 1932. In 1949, it joined Canada and the legislature was restored.
Continued as a monarchy until it became a republic in 1961 under the
Republic of South Africa Constitution Act 1961, passed by the
Parliament of South Africa, long title "To constitute the Republic of
South Africa and to provide for matters incidental thereto", assented to
24 April 1961 to come into operation on 31 May 1961.
Continued as a monarchy until 1972 when it became a republic under the name of Sri Lanka.
There
was no single constitutional or legislative change that abolished the
status of "dominions". The accession proclamation of 1952 referred to
"realms", and the Royal Style and Titles Acts of 1953 changed references to "dominions" in the monarch's titles in the various Dominions to "realms", after which the term dominion generally fell into disuse, and the countries sharing the same monarch as the United Kingdom came to be referred to as realms (with the possible exception of Canada; see also Name of Canada).
The Irish Free State was renamed Éire in Irish or Ireland in English in 1937. In 1937–1949, the Dominion was referred to as "Eire" by the British government. See also Names of the Irish state.
Australia
Four
colonies of Australia had enjoyed responsible government since 1856:
New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia. Queensland had responsible government soon after its founding in 1859.
Because of ongoing financial dependence on Britain, Western Australia
became the last Australian colony to attain self-government in 1890. During the 1890s, the colonies voted to unite and in 1901 they were federated under the British Crown as the Commonwealth of Australia by the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act. The Constitution of Australia
had been drafted in Australia and approved by popular consent. Thus
Australia is one of the few countries established by a popular vote. Under the Balfour Declaration of 1926,
the federal government was regarded as coequal with (and not
subordinate to) the British and other Dominion governments, and this was
given formal legal recognition in 1942 (when the Statute of Westminster was adopted retroactively to the commencement of the Second World War in 1939). In 1930, the Australian prime minister, James Scullin, reinforced the right of the overseas Dominions to appoint native-born governors-general, when he advised King George V to appoint Sir Isaac Isaacs
as his representative in Australia, against the wishes of the
opposition and officials in London. The governments of the states
(colonies before 1901) remained under the Commonwealth but retained
links to the UK until the passage of the Australia Act 1986.
The term Dominion is employed in the Constitution Act, 1867 (originally the British North America Act, 1867),
and describes the resulting political union. Specifically, the preamble
of the act states: "Whereas the Provinces of Canada, Nova Scotia, and
New Brunswick have expressed their Desire to be federally united into
One Dominion under the Crown of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, with a Constitution similar in Principle to that of the United
Kingdom..." Furthermore, Sections 3 and 4
indicate that the provinces "shall form and be One Dominion under the
Name of Canada; and on and after that Day those Three Provinces shall
form and be One Dominion under that Name accordingly".
According to the Canadian Encyclopedia (1999), "The word
came to be applied to the federal government and Parliament, and under
the Constitution Act, 1982, 'Dominion' remains Canada's official title."
Usage of the phrase Dominion of Canada was employed as the country's name after 1867, predating the general use of the term Dominion as applied to the other autonomous regions of the British Empire after 1907. The phrase Dominion of Canada does not appear in the 1867 act nor in the Constitution Act, 1982, but does appear in the Constitution Act, 1871, other contemporaneous texts, and subsequent bills. References to the Dominion of Canada in later acts, such as the Statute of Westminster, do not clarify the point because all nouns were formally capitalised
in British legislative style. Indeed, in the original text of the
Constitution Act, 1867, "One" and "Name" were also capitalised.
Frank Scott theorised that Canada's status as a Dominion ended when Canadian parliament
declared war on Germany on 9 September 1939, separately and distinctly
from the United Kingdom's declaration of war six days earlier.
By the 1950s, the term Dominion of Canada was no longer used by the
United Kingdom, which considered Canada a "Realm of the Commonwealth". The government of Louis St. Laurent ended the practice of using Dominion in the statutes of Canada in 1951. This began the phasing out of the use of Dominion,
which had been used largely as a synonym of "federal" or "national"
such as "Dominion building" for a post office, "Dominion-provincial
relations", and so on. The last major change was renaming the national
holiday from Dominion Day to Canada Day in 1982. Official bilingualism laws also contributed to the disuse of Dominion, as it has no acceptable equivalent in French.
While the term may be found in older official documents, and the Dominion Carillonneur still tolls at Parliament Hill,
it is now hardly used to distinguish the federal government from the
provinces or (historically) Canada before and after 1867. Nonetheless,
the federal government continues to produce publications and educational
materials that specify the currency of these official titles. The Constitution Act, 1982 does not mention and does not remove the title, and therefore a constitutional amendment may be required to change it.
The word Dominion has been used with other agencies, laws, and roles:
Dominion Carillonneur: official responsible for playing the carillons at the Peace Tower since 1916
Dominion Stores, a supermarket chain founded in 1927; following a series of acquisitions the last Dominion stores were renamed as Metro stores in 2008
The Dominion Institute, created in 1997 to promote awareness of Canadian history and national identity
The Historica-Dominion Institute, its successor following a 2009 merger with the Historica Foundation; renamed Historica Canada in 2013
Ceylon
Ceylon,
which, as a Crown colony, was originally promised "fully responsible
status within the British Commonwealth of Nations", was formally granted
independence as a Dominion
in 1948. In 1972 it adopted a republican constitution to become the
Free, Sovereign and Independent Republic of Sri Lanka. By a new
constitution in 1978, it became the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri
Lanka.
India, Pakistan and Bangladesh
British India acquired a partially representative government in 1909, and the first Parliament was introduced in 1919.
Discussions on the further devolution of power, and granting of
Dominion status, continued through the 1920s, with the Commonwealth of
India Bill 1925, Simon Commission 1927–1930, and Nehru Report 1928 being often cited proposals. Further powers were eventually devolved, following the 1930–1932 Round Table Conferences, to the locally elected legislatures, via the Government of India Act 1935. The Cripps Mission
of 1942 proposed the further devolution of powers, within Dominion
status, to the political leadership of British India. Cripps's plan was
rejected and full independence was sought.
Pakistan (including Muslim-majority East Bengal forming East Pakistan) seceded from India at the point of Indian Independence with the passage of the Indian Independence Act 1947 and ensuing partition, resulting in two dominions. For India, dominion status was transitory until its new republican constitution was drafted and promulgated in 1950. Pakistan remained a dominion until it became an Islamic republic under its 1956 constitution. East Pakistan gained independence from Pakistan through Liberation War, as Bangladesh, in 1971.
Irish Free State / Ireland
The Irish Free State (Ireland from 1937) was a British Dominion between 1922 and 1949. As established by the Irish Free State Constitution Act of the United Kingdom Parliament on 6 December 1922 the new state—which had Dominion status in the likeness of that enjoyed by Canada within the British Commonwealth of Nations—comprised the whole of Ireland. However, provision was made in the Act for the Parliament of Northern Ireland
to opt out of inclusion in the Irish Free State, which—as had been
widely expected at the time—it duly did one day after the creation of
the new state, on 7 December 1922.
Following a plebiscite of the people of the Free State held on 1 July 1937, a new constitution came into force on 29 December of that year, establishing a successor state
with the name of "Ireland" which ceased to participate in Commonwealth
conferences and events. Nevertheless, the United Kingdom and other
member states of the Commonwealth continued to regard Ireland as a
Dominion owing to the unusual role accorded to the British Monarch under the Irish External Relations Act of 1936. Ultimately, however, Ireland's Oireachtas passed the Republic of Ireland Act
1948, which came into force on 18 April 1949 and unequivocally ended
Ireland's links with the British Monarch and the Commonwealth.
Newfoundland
In
1934, after a series of financial difficulties (owing in part to
Newfoundland's railway debt from the 1890s, and its debt from the First World War, both of which were exacerbated by the collapse of fish prices during the Great Depression) and a riot against the elected government, Newfoundland voluntarily relinquished its elected parliament
and autonomy, becoming a dependent territory of the British Empire
until 1949. During these 15 years, Newfoundland was ruled by the Newfoundland Commission of Government, an unelected body of civil servants who were directly subordinate to the British Government in London, under the authority of a British statute, the Newfoundland Act, 1933.
Despite the suspension of its legislature, and its formal loss of
Dominion status, Newfoundland continued to be regarded during these 15
years as a de facto Dominion - evidently shown by the fact that Newfoundland continued to be a responsibility of the Dominions Office in London
- the intention of its commission of government not only to deal with
Newfoundland's affairs, and dire economic situation, but to prepare the
populace for the day that the legislature would be reconvened, and
nationhood thus resumed. After two referendums in 1948,
Newfoundlanders rejected both the continuance of the Newfoundland
Commission of Government and return to responsible government, voting
instead to join the Canada as its 10th province. This was achieved
under the British North America Act, 1949 (now known as the Newfoundland Act), which was passed in the Parliament of the United Kingdom on 23 March 1949, prior to the London Declaration of 28 April 1949.
New Zealand
The New Zealand Constitution Act 1852 gave New Zealand its own Parliament (General Assembly) and home rule in 1852. In 1907 New Zealand was proclaimed the Dominion of New Zealand.[63] New Zealand, Canada, and Newfoundland used the word Dominion in the official title of the nation, whereas Australia used Commonwealth of Australia and South Africa Union of South Africa. New Zealand adopted the Statute of Westminster in 1947
and in the same year legislation passed in London gave New Zealand full
powers to amend its own constitution. In 1986, the New Zealand
parliament passed the Constitution Act 1986,
which repealed the Constitution Act of 1852 and the last constitutional
links with the United Kingdom, formally ending its Dominion status.
South Africa
The Union of South Africa was formed in 1910 from the four self-governing colonies of the Cape Colony, Natal, the Transvaal, and the Orange River Colony (the last two were former Boer republics). The South Africa Act 1909
provided for a Parliament consisting of a Senate and a House of
Assembly. The provinces had their own legislatures. In 1961, the Union
of South Africa adopted a new constitution, became a republic, left the
Commonwealth (and re-joined following end of Apartheid rule in 1994),
and became the present-day Republic of South Africa.
Southern Rhodesia
Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe since 1980), coloured red on a map of Africa
Southern Rhodesia (renamed Zimbabwe in 1980) was a special case in the British Empire.
Although it was never a Dominion de jure, it was treated as a Dominion
in many respects, and came to be regarded as a de facto Dominion. Southern Rhodesia was formed in 1923 out of territories of the British South Africa Company
and established as a self-governing colony with substantial autonomy on
the model of the Dominions. The imperial authorities in London retained
direct powers over foreign affairs, constitutional alterations, native
administration and bills regarding mining revenues, railways and the
governor's salary.
Southern Rhodesia was not one of the territories that were mentioned in the 1931 Statute of Westminster although relations with Southern Rhodesia were administered in London through the Dominion Office, not the Colonial Office.
When the Dominions were first treated as foreign countries by London
for the purposes of diplomatic immunity in 1952, Southern Rhodesia was
included in the list of territories concerned. This semi-Dominion status
continued in Southern Rhodesia between 1953 and 1963, when it joined Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland in the Central African Federation,
with the latter two territories continuing to be British protectorates.
When Northern Rhodesia was given independence in 1964 it adopted the
new name of Zambia, prompting Southern Rhodesia to shorten its name to Rhodesia, but Britain did not recognise this latter change.
Rhodesia unilaterally declared independence from Britain in 1965 as a result of the British government's insistence on no independence before majority rule (NIBMAR). London regarded this declaration as illegal, and applied sanctions and expelled Rhodesia from the sterling area.
Rhodesia continued with its Dominion-style constitution until 1970, and
continued to issue British passports to its citizens. The Rhodesian
government continued to profess its loyalty to the Sovereign, despite
being in a state of rebellion against Her Majesty's Government in
London, until 1970, when it adopted a republican constitution following a
referendum the previous year. This endured until the state's reconstitution as Zimbabwe Rhodesia in 1979 under the terms of the Internal Settlement; this lasted until the Lancaster House Agreement
of December 1979, which put it under interim British rule while fresh
elections were held. The country achieved independence deemed legal by
the international community in April 1980, when Britain granted
independence under the name Zimbabwe.
Initially, the Dominions conducted their own trade policy, some limited foreign relations and had autonomous armed forces, although the British government claimed and exercised the exclusive power to declare wars. However, after the passage of the Statute of Westminster
the language of dependency on the Crown of the United Kingdom ceased,
where the Crown itself was no longer referred to as the Crown of any
place in particular but simply as "the Crown". Arthur Berriedale Keith,
in Speeches and Documents on the British Dominions 1918–1931, stated
that "the Dominions are sovereign international States in the sense that
the King in respect of each of His Dominions (Newfoundland excepted) is
such a State in the eyes of international law".
After then, those countries that were previously referred to as
"Dominions" became Commonwealth realms where the sovereign reigns no
longer as the British monarch, but as monarch of each nation in its own
right, and are considered equal to the UK and one another.
The Second World War,
which fatally undermined Britain's already weakened commercial and
financial leadership, further loosened the political ties between
Britain and the Dominions. Australian Prime Minister John Curtin's unprecedented action (February 1942) in successfully countermanding an order from British Prime Minister Winston Churchill that Australian troops be diverted to defend British-held Burma
(the 7th Division was then en route from the Middle East to Australia
to defend against an expected Japanese invasion) demonstrated that
Dominion governments might no longer subordinate their own national
interests to British strategic perspectives. To ensure that Australia
had full legal power to act independently, particularly in relation to
foreign affairs, defence industry and military operations, and to
validate its past independent action in these areas, Australia formally
adopted the Statute of Westminster in October 1942 and backdated the adoption to the start of the war in September 1939.
When the British Nationality Act 1948
entered into force on 1 January 1949, the former Dominions became fully
independent, and adopted their own legislation governing nationality.
In British nationality law, the Dominions were then referred to as
"independent Commonwealth countries"; other former British dependencies
that joined the Commonwealth were added to the list of "independent
Commonwealth Countries" as they gained independence.
Ireland ceased to be a member of the Commonwealth on 18 April 1949, upon the coming into force of the Republic of Ireland Act 1948.
This formally signalled the end of the former dependencies' common
constitutional connection to the British Crown. India also adopted a
republican constitution in January 1950. Unlike many dependencies that
became republics, Ireland never re-joined the Commonwealth, which agreed
to accept the British monarch as head of that association of
independent states (although most of the individual countries had become
republics).
The independence of the separate realms was emphasised after the accession of Queen Elizabeth II in 1952, when she was proclaimed not just as Queen of the United Kingdom, but also Queen of Canada, Queen of Australia, Queen of New Zealand, Queen of South Africa, and of all her other "realms and territories" etc. This also reflected the change from Dominion to realm; in the proclamation of Queen Elizabeth II's new titles in 1953,
the phrase "of her other Realms and Territories" replaced "Dominion"
with another mediaeval French word with the same connotation, "realm"
(from royaume).
Thus, recently, when referring to one of those fifteen countries within
the Commonwealth of Nations that share the same monarch, the phrase Commonwealth realm has come into common usage instead of Dominion to differentiate the Commonwealth nations that continue to share the monarch as head of state (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Jamaica, etc.) from those that do not (India, Pakistan, South Africa, etc.). The term "Dominion" is still found in the Canadian constitution where it appears numerous times, but it is largely a vestige of the past, as the Canadian government does not actively use it (see Canada section). The term "realm" does not appear in the Canadian constitution.
The practice of designating a diplomatic representative named
"High Commissioner" (instead of "ambassador") for communication between
the government of a Dominion and the British government in London
continues in respect of members of the Commonwealth, including those
that were never Dominions and those that have become republics.
Newly independent territories sometimes referred to as Dominions
The
term "Dominion" remained in informal use for some years when relating
to newly independent territories and was sometimes used to refer to the
status of former British territories during an immediate
post-independence period while the British monarch remained head of
state, and the form of government a Westminster-style parliamentary
democracy. The legal status of Dominion in British nationality law had
ceased to exist on 1 January 1949. However, leaders of the independence
movements sometimes called for Dominion status as one stage in the
negotiations for independence (for example, Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana).
Moreover, while these independent states retained the British monarch
as head of state, they remained "within the Crown's dominions" in
British law, leading to the confusion of terminology. These constitutions were typically replaced by republican constitutions within a few years.
After World War II, Britain
attempted to repeat the Dominion model in decolonising the Caribbean.
... Though several colonies, such as Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago,
maintained their formal allegiance to the British monarch, they soon
revised their status to become republics. Britain also attempted to
establish a Dominion model in decolonising Africa, but it, too, was
unsuccessful. ... Ghana, the first former colony declared a Dominion in
1957, soon demanded recognition as a republic. Other African nations
followed a similar pattern throughout the 1960s: Nigeria, Tanganyika,
Uganda, Kenya, and Malawi. In fact, only Gambia, Sierra Leone, and
Mauritius retained their Dominion status for more than three years.
As the above quote indicates, the term Dominion was sometimes applied in Africa to Ghana (formerly the Gold Coast) during the period from 1957 until 1960, when it became the Republic of Ghana; Nigeria from 1960 until 1963, when it became the Federal Republic of Nigeria; Uganda from 1962 to 1963; Kenya, from 1963 to 1964; Tanganyika from 1961 to 1962, after which it became a republic and then merged with the former British protectorate of Zanzibar to become Tanzania; Gambia from 1965 until 1970; Sierra Leone from 1961 to 1971; and Mauritius from 1968 to 1992. Malta also retained the Queen as head of state from 1964 to 1974 under the name of State of Malta. The term was also applied to Fiji
upon independence. Similar occasional references to Barbados (which
retained the Queen as head of state from 1966 to 2021) as a "dominion"
can be found in publications as late as the 1970s.
