Round Table movement facts for kids

The Round Table movement was a group of organizations started in 1909. Their main goal was to bring Britain and its self-governing colonies, called Dominions, closer together. They wanted these parts of the British Empire to work more like a team.

How the Movement Started

The Round Table movement grew out of a group called "Lord Milner's Kindergarten." This group formed after the British government changed in 1905. They wanted to influence elections in the Transvaal and Orange River Colonies in South Africa.

They worked with F.S. Malan, an editor, to publish a paper called A Review of the Present Mutual Relations of the British South African Colonies. This paper discussed how Britain and its South African colonies could work together.

The group held meetings at a house in Johannesburg called 'Moot House'. These meetings were called 'moots', a name that came from old English meetings and also from the idea of discussing "moot points" (topics open for debate).

The Round Table movement officially began at a conference in Wales, at Plas Newydd, the estate of Lord Anglesey, in September 1909. The structure of the group was planned by Lionel Curtis, but the main idea came from Lord Milner. Philip Kerr, who had worked in South Africa, became the group's secretary.

In 1910, they started publishing a magazine called The Round Table Journal: A Quarterly Review of the Politics of the British Empire. At first, they wanted to create a closer union, almost like a single country, between Britain and its Dominions. This idea was called Imperial Federation. However, some members, like Leo Amery, thought it would be better to focus on simple cooperation.

In 1910 and 1911, Lionel Curtis traveled to the Dominions to set up local Round Table groups. These groups were formed in Canada, the Union of South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. A group was also started in Newfoundland in 1912.

Curtis wrote a series of "Round Table Studies" that were shared with all the groups. He hoped to write a book that would convince people to support imperial federation. But since everyone had different ideas, he published his own book in 1916, called The Problem of the Commonwealth.

Through his work, Curtis developed the idea of a "Commonwealth." This meant that the members of the British Empire would gradually gain more self-government. This idea became more popular among the Round Table groups than the idea of a full federation. A smaller group also looked at how India would fit into any future plans, deciding that India would need to be represented.

During the First World War, Philip Kerr helped shape the idea of a new "Commonwealth" that would replace the old empire. This new idea was different from how Germany viewed its empire. Alfred Zimmern joined the movement, which helped show that the group was not against Germans, especially during the war.

The Round Table movement supported free trade, even though some of its leaders, like Milner and Leo Amery, preferred a system where countries within the empire traded more with each other.

When the United States joined the First World War and the League of Nations was created, the Round Table movement changed its focus. Instead of a strict empire, they saw it as a "Commonwealth of Nations." They worked on improving communication and cooperation between Britain and the Dominions, which were becoming more independent. The movement had a big impact during the war.

Part of the money for The Round Table Journal came from the Rhodes Trust. In 1921, Lord Milner gave the journal a final gift of £2,500, which would be worth about £125,000 today.

Between the two World Wars, the Round Table groups continued to support cooperation among the Dominions of the British Empire. These included Canada, Newfoundland, Australia, New Zealand, the Union of South Africa, and the new Irish Free State. They also wanted to work with the United States.

Because they believed in the "Commonwealth" idea, they supported movements for self-government within the Empire. This included the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921 and the changes made for India in 1919 and 1935. In the late 1930s, members of the journal had different opinions on whether to support appeasement (giving in to demands to avoid war).

The Round Table continued as a group that discussed and influenced the Commonwealth. They looked at things like granting independence to countries and setting their borders. Even after most nations gained full independence by the 1980s, the movement still holds talks and forums. These meetings discuss the future shared activities and goals of the Commonwealth.

Important Members

Many important people were part of the Round Table 'moot' meetings.

Early 20th Century

Later 20th Century

Conspiracy Theory

An academic named Carroll Quigley believed that the Round Table Group was a public front for a secret society. He thought this secret group was started by Cecil Rhodes and called the Society of the Elect. Quigley believed their goal was to unite all English-speaking nations. He also thought that powerful people in the British Empire had too much influence over American leaders. However, Sir Ivison Macadam, a member of the Round Table, thought Quigley's ideas were "crazy."

See also

• Coefficients (dining club)