<P> A similar struggle began in India when the Government of India Act 1919 failed to satisfy demand for independence . Concerns over communist and foreign plots following the Ghadar Conspiracy ensured that war - time strictures were renewed by the Rowlatt Acts . This led to tension, particularly in the Punjab region, where repressive measures culminated in the Amritsar Massacre . In Britain public opinion was divided over the morality of the massacre, between those who saw it as having saved India from anarchy, and those who viewed it with revulsion . The subsequent Non-Co - Operation movement was called off in March 1922 following the Chauri Chaura incident, and discontent continued to simmer for the next 25 years . </P> <P> In 1922, Egypt, which had been declared a British protectorate at the outbreak of the First World War, was granted formal independence, though it continued to be a British client state until 1954 . British troops remained stationed in Egypt until the signing of the Anglo - Egyptian Treaty in 1936, under which it was agreed that the troops would withdraw but continue to occupy and defend the Suez Canal zone . In return, Egypt was assisted in joining the League of Nations . Iraq, a British mandate since 1920, also gained membership of the League in its own right after achieving independence from Britain in 1932 . In Palestine, Britain was presented with the problem of mediating between the Arabs and increasing numbers of Jews . The 1917 Balfour Declaration, which had been incorporated into the terms of the mandate, stated that a national home for the Jewish people would be established in Palestine, and Jewish immigration allowed up to a limit that would be determined by the mandatory power . This led to increasing conflict with the Arab population, who openly revolted in 1936 . As the threat of war with Germany increased during the 1930s, Britain judged the support of Arabs as more important than the establishment of a Jewish homeland, and shifted to a pro-Arab stance, limiting Jewish immigration and in turn triggering a Jewish insurgency . </P> <P> The right of the Dominions to set their own foreign policy, independent of Britain, was recognised at the 1923 Imperial Conference . Britain's request for military assistance from the Dominions at the outbreak of the Chanak Crisis the previous year had been turned down by Canada and South Africa, and Canada had refused to be bound by the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne . After pressure from the Irish Free State and South Africa, the 1926 Imperial Conference issued the Balfour Declaration of 1926, declaring the Dominions to be "autonomous Communities within the British Empire, equal in status, in no way subordinate one to another" within a "British Commonwealth of Nations". This declaration was given legal substance under the 1931 Statute of Westminster . The parliaments of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Union of South Africa, the Irish Free State and Newfoundland were now independent of British legislative control, they could nullify British laws and Britain could no longer pass laws for them without their consent . Newfoundland reverted to colonial status in 1933, suffering from financial difficulties during the Great Depression . The Irish Free State distanced itself further from the British state with the introduction of a new constitution in 1937, making it a republic in all but name . </P> <P> Britain's declaration of war against Nazi Germany in September 1939 included the Crown colonies and India but did not automatically commit the Dominions of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Newfoundland and South Africa . All soon declared war on Germany, but Ireland chose to remain legally neutral throughout the war . </P>

When did the british empire become the british commonwealth