| Date | Type | Event |
|---|---|---|
| 1931-12-11 | In 1931 the Statute of Westminster gave legal independence to Canada, Australia, the Irish Free State, Newfoundland, New Zealand and South Africa. These nations all joined the British Commonwealth of Nations as it was then known. In 1884 during the era of the British Empire, some of the countries under British rule became self-governing but still retained the British monarch as their heads of state. These countries were known as the British Commonwealth of Nations. In 1926 at the Imperial conference, the UK and its dominions agreed that they were "equal in status, in no way subordinate one to another in any aspect of their domestic or external affairs, though united by common allegiance to the Crown, and freely associated as members of the British Commonwealth of Nations". 1930 saw the first version of the Commonwealth Games (then called the British Commonwealth Games) held in Canada. In 1931 ‘the statute of Westminster’ gave legal Independence to Canada, Australia, the Irish Free State, Newfoundland, New Zealand and South Africa. Canada, South Africa and the Irish Free State quickly enacted the statute becoming Independent, the other countries waited over a decade to become independent (Australia in 1942, New Zealand in 1947 and Newfoundland was reincorporated into Canada in 1949). All these countries joined the British Commonwealth of Nations in 1931 after the statute of Westminster was agreed. |
