War cabinet

A war cabinet is a committee formed by a government in a time of war. It is usually a subset of the full executive cabinet of ministers. It is also quite common for a war cabinet to have senior military officers and opposition politicians as members.

The War Cabinet is an English idea. When authority over the appointment of a Prime Minister shifted from the King to The House of Commons in 1782, coupled with the Reform Act of 1832, England entered the age of democracy.[1] Consequently, the number of cabinet agencies began to grow. Due to dissatisfaction with the Crimean War in 1855, Prime Minister Disraeli proposed that the number of cabinet agencies never exceed 10 (he had 12 at the time). However, this didn't happen, and the number of agencies continued to grow: 15 in 1859, 21 in 1914, and 23 in 1916.[2] Despite talk of, "inner circles" within the Asquith Administration, all committees reported to the 23 cabinet heads, whose priorities were all civil and diverse in nature, and who had final say over war policy formation for the first two years of World War I. This cumbersome arrangement could not stand; a more efficient way of prosecuting the war was needed.

United Kingdom

First World War
Main article: Lloyd George ministry
The 1916 War Cabinet

The British War Cabinet

During the First World War, lengthy cabinet discussions came to be seen as a source of vacillation in Britain's war effort. In December 1916 it was proposed that the Prime Minister H. H. Asquith should delegate decision-making to a small, three-man committee chaired by the Secretary of State for War, David Lloyd George. Asquith initially agreed (provided he retained the right to chair the committee if he chose) before changing his mind after being infuriated by a news story in The Times which portrayed the proposed change as a defeat for him. The political crisis grew from this point until Asquith was forced to resign as Prime Minister; he was succeeded by David Lloyd George who thereupon formed a small war cabinet. The original members of the war cabinet were:[3]

Lloyd George, Curzon and Bonar Law served throughout the life of the war cabinet. Later members included:

Unlike a normal peacetime cabinet, few of these men had departmental responsibilities – Bonar Law, and then Chamberlain, served as chancellors of the exchequer, but the rest had no specific portfolio. The title of, "Minister Without Portfolio" was important. It allowed total devotion to war duties, without the distraction of civil cabinet responsibilities. Among others, the Foreign Secretary, Arthur Balfour, was never a member of the war cabinet, nor were the service ministers Lord Derby (Army) and Sir Edward Carson (Navy). The latter did join, but only after leaving the Admiralty.[4] Whenever these specialties were needed by the war cabinet, they were summoned. The functioning of the war cabinet is best summed up by Lord Hutchison during a Parliamentary debate held on 14 March 1934.

The legality of the war cabinet was brought into question in 1917. Previously, all cabinet members were paid based upon their cabinet status. With the creation of Ministers Without Portfolio, it was suggested that these positions go unpaid. Indeed, Lord Lansdowne, a millionaire, while a member without portfolio in Prime Minister Asquith's government, received no pay. The debate, which took place in the House of Commons on 13 February 1917, was decided in the new government's favor.[5] Appropriations of £5,000 a year (£350,000 in 2020) were made.[6]

The British War Cabinet marked the first time minutes were recorded of official meetings.[7] This innovation set the trend for all important corporate and governmental meetings since.[8]

With the World War over, and the two main peace treaties signed, Lloyd George decided to discontinue the War Cabinet. Its last meeting was held on 27 October 1919.[9]

The Imperial War Cabinet
Imperial War Cabinet, 22 Mar 1917
Imperial War Cabinet, June 1918

From the spring (in the northern hemisphere) of 1917, the Imperial War Cabinet was formed. Its goal was to strengthen imperial federation by upgrading the status of the Dominions and India to an equal footing with that of England when coordinating war strategy. The Imperial War Cabinet met three times: from March to May 1917, from June to August 1918, and from August to December 1918. Its original members included:

To strengthen ties between countries, the writing of an Imperial Constitution was a significant priority in 1917. However, the delegates postponed the matter for another time, and they failed to take it up later.

Minutes to the Imperial War Cabinet meetings are held at the National Archives (Kew), and are available online.

Second World War

Germany invaded Poland early on 1 September 1939, and after to-ing and fro-ing with French Foreign Minister Georges Bonnet, an ultimatum was presented to the Germans and on its expiry war was declared at 11am on 3 September 1939.

Chamberlain war ministry
Main article: Chamberlain war ministry

On 3 September 1939, Neville Chamberlain announced his War Cabinet.

Dominated largely by Conservative ministers who served under Chamberlain's National Government between 1937 and 1939, the additions of Lord Hankey (a former Cabinet Secretary from the First World War) and Winston Churchill (strong anti-appeaser) seemed to give the Cabinet more balance. Unlike Lloyd George's War Cabinet, the members of this one were also heads of Government Departments.

In January 1940, after disagreements with the Chiefs of Staff, Hore-Belisha resigned from the National Government, refusing a move to the post of President of the Board of Trade. He was succeeded by Oliver Stanley.

It was originally the practice for the Chiefs of Staff to attend all military discussions of the Chamberlain War Cabinet. Churchill became uneasy with this, as he felt that when they attended they did not confine their comments to purely military issues. To overcome this, a Military Co-ordination Committee was set up, consisting of the three Service ministers normally chaired by Lord Chatfield. This together with the Service chiefs would co-ordinate the strategic ideas of 'top hats' and 'brass' and agree strategic proposals to put forward to the War Cabinet. Unfortunately, except when chaired by the Prime Minister, the Military Co-ordinating Committee lacked sufficient authority to override a Minister "fighting his corner". When Churchill took over from Chatfield, whilst continuing to represent the Admiralty, this introduced additional problems, and did little to improve the pre-existing ones. Chamberlain announced a further change in arrangements in the Norway debate, but this (and the Military Co-ordination Committee) was overtaken by events, the Churchill War Cabinet being run on rather different principles.[10]

Churchill war ministry
Main article: Churchill war ministry

When he became Prime Minister during the Second World War, Winston Churchill formed a war cabinet, initially consisting of the following members:

Churchill strongly believed that the War Cabinet should be kept to a relatively small number of individuals to allow efficient execution of the war effort. Even so, there were a number of ministers who, though they were not members of the war cabinet, were "Constant Attenders".[11] As the War Cabinet considered issues that pertained to a given branch of the service or government due input was obtained from the respective body.

The War Cabinet would undergo a number of changes in composition over the next five years. On 19 February 1942 a reconstructed War Cabinet was announced by Churchill consisting of the following members:[12]

This War Cabinet was consistent with Churchill's view that members should also hold "responsible offices and not mere advisors at large with nothing to do but think and talk and take decisions by compromise or majority"[13] The War Cabinet often met within The Cabinet War Rooms, particularly during The Blitz of London.[14]

Falklands War

Thatcher chose not to include any representation of Her Majesty's Treasury on the advice of former Prime Minister Harold Macmillan (who had been British Minister Resident in the Mediterranean Theatre for the second half of the Second World War), that the security and defence of the armed forces and the war effort should not be compromised for financial reasons.

Persian Gulf War

Australia
War Cabinet meeting in Melbourne in 1943. Left to right: John Curtin, Sir Frederick Sheddon, Ben Chifley, 'Doc' Evatt, Norm Makin, Arthur Drakeford

At the Imperial Conference in London in 1937, the Australian government had agreed to form a War Cabinet on the outbreak of war.[16] The Full Cabinet approved the formation of the War Cabinet on 26 September 1939.[17] As neither Earle Page's Country Party nor John Curtin's Australian Labor Party would join in a coalition government with Menzies' United Australia Party,[18] the War Cabinet initially consisted of:

In November 1939, the Department of Defence was split up. Street became Minister for the Army, Menzies also became Minister for Defence Coordination, and three more ministers joined the War Cabinet:

Following the deaths of Fairbairn and Gullett in the Canberra air disaster, 1940 and the loss of seats in the 1940 Australian federal election the War Cabinet of October 1940 consisted of:

The government was replaced by a Labor one on 3 October 1941. A new War Cabinet was formed, consisting of:

Frederick Shedden, the Permanent Secretary of the Department of Defence, served as secretary of the War Cabinet,[23] which met regularly throughout the war. It held its last meeting in Canberra on 19 January 1946.[24]

While the Australian war cabinets included only members of the governing party, the Advisory War Council which was established in October 1940 included members of the opposition as well. This body did not have executive powers, but from the formation of the Labor Government in October 1941 it was agreed that its decisions would be treated as War Cabinet decisions, with only some issues being formally referred to the War Cabinet for separate decision. As a result, the Advisory War Council had significant influence on Australia's war effort.[25]

United States

In response to the September 11 attacks, President George W. Bush created a War Cabinet. They met at Camp David on the weekend of 15 September to shape what became the War on Terrorism. The membership was mostly, but not entirely, identical to that of the United States National Security Council.

The Cabinet comprised:

During the October 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, President John F. Kennedy's EXCOMM had some characteristics of a War Cabinet.

Sources
  1. Britannica online, English democracy
  2. Schuyler, The British War Cabinet, pg. 380
  3. LeMay, British Government, pg. 233
  4. "Edward Carson joins cabinet after reshuffle - Century Ireland". Rte.ie. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
  5. Schuyler, Political Science Quarterly, pg. 384
  6. CPI index
  7. UK Gov. blog, 9 December 1916
  8. UK National Archives, World War I war cabinet minutes
  9. CAB 23-12, pg. 91 of 105
  10. Martin Gilbert, Finest Hour, Winston S Churchill 1939–1941, Book Club Associates, London 1983 page 40
  11. Winston Churchill, The Hinge of Fate, p.78. Boston, Houghton Mifflin 1950. ISBN 0-395-41058-4
  12. Winston Churchill,The Hinge of Fate, p.76. Boston, Houghton Mifflin Company 1950. ISBN 0-395-41058-4
  13. Winston Churchill, The Hinge of Fate, p.75. Boston, Houghton Mifflin Company 1950. ISBN 0-395-41058-4
  14. Imperial War Museum. "The Cabinet War Rooms". iwm.org.uk. Retrieved 10 March 2013.
  15. Rouvez, Alain (1994). Disconsolate Empires: French, British and Belgian Military Involvement in Post-Colonial Sub-Saharan Africa. University Press of America. p. 196. ISBN 978-0-8191-9643-9.
  16. Horner 1996, p. 2
  17. Horner 1996, p. 3
  18. Hasluck 1952, pp. 112–113
  19. Horner 1996, pp. 2–3
  20. Horner 1996, p. 4
  21. Hasluck 1952, p. 574
  22. Hasluck 1952, p. 577
  23. Hasluck 1952, pp. 421–422
  24. Horner 1996, p. 197
  25. Campbell, Heather (2004). "The War Cabinet & Advisory War Council". Doing the Best for the Country : Behind the scenes of Australia's wartime decision making 1939-45. John Curtin Prime Ministerial Library. Retrieved 9 January 2018.

References

Further reading
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