The Balfour Declaration is accepted

The 1926 Imperial Conference, held in London from 25 October, accepted the Balfour Declaration, named after Lord Arthur Balfour who chaired the drafting Committee of the Declaration. It granted autonomous status to the communities within the British Empire. The Declaration stated that the United Kingdom and the Dominions were "autonomous Communities within the British Empire, equal in status, in no way subordinate one to another in any aspect of their domestic or external affairs, though united by a common allegiance to the Crown, and freely associated as members of the British Commonwealth of Nations". This was a diplomatic achievement for South African delegate and prime minister, General J.B.M. Hertzog, who steadfastly demanded to receive a clear statement concerning the status of the dominions and resisted attempts by other members to include such terms as "common citizenship" and "duties and obligations". It paved the way for the formal acceptance of the growing political and diplomatic independence of South Africa and other Dominions.