![]() It is based in Marlborough House in London, where it remains to this day. ![]() The Commonwealth Secretariat, the association's principal intergovernmental agency, is founded in 1965. ![]() Winston Churchill (first row, center) poses with other Commonwealth leaders in 1945. In 1926, at the Imperial Conference, leaders of several countries-Australia, Canada, India, the Irish Free State, Newfoundland, New Zealand, and South Africa-agreed with Britain 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." This agreement was formalized in the Statute of Westminster in 1931, and agreed to by Canada, the Irish Free State, Newfoundland, and the Union of South Africa, but declined by Australia and New Zealand India is left out, after its relationship with Britain worsened. After some countries around the world began gaining some level of freedom from Britain, they became known as "dominions," and the leaders of dominions attended conferences beginning in 1887. The Commonwealth has its roots in the British Empire. Below, the colonial history of the voluntary association, its function today, and the British royal family's continued role in the institution. The Commonwealth may not be well-known stateside, but elsewhere, it's been a force in international relations for going on a century. ![]()
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