Imperial War Cabinet

The Imperial War Cabinet in 1917

The Imperial War Cabinet was created by British Prime Minister David Lloyd George in the spring of 1917 as a means of co-ordinating the British Empire's military policy during the First World War. The body met through 1917 and 1918 and consisted of Lloyd George, Prime Minister of Canada Sir Robert Borden, Prime Minister Louis Botha and Jan Smuts of South Africa, Prime Minister Billy Hughes of Australia, Prime Minister William Massey of New Zealand, the Secretary of State for India and other senior ministers from Britain and the dominions.

Winston Churchill revived the Imperial War Cabinet during the Second World War at the insistence of Australian Prime Minister John Curtin. Canadian Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King declined to join the body and Churchill was unenthusiastic about sharing power with the dominions so the Imperial War Cabinet's role in the Second World War was greatly diminished in comparison with the previous war. .