Round Table movement

The Round Table movement, founded in 1909, was an association of organizations promoting closer union between Britain and its self-governing colonies. The movement began at a conference at Plas Newydd, Lord Anglesey's estate in Wales, over the weekend of 4-6 September. The framework of the organisation was devised by Lionel Curtis, but the overall idea was due to Lord Milner. Former South Africa administrator Philip Kerr became secretary to the organisation.

Organization

The groups are a collection of small discussion and lobbying groups in every major capital city of the world coordinated by a headquarters in London. In 1910, The Round Table Journal: A Quarterly Review of the Politics of the British Empire was founded by Lord Milner and members of Milner's Kindergarten (Lionel Curtis, Philip Kerr and Geoffrey Dawson) to unify the political thinking of the groups internationally. Other prominent non-Kindergarten members included F.S. Oliver, Professor Reginald Coupland, Leo Amery, Waldorf Astor, and Lord Robert Cecil. After World War II the journal was renamed The Round Table Journal: A Quarterly Review of British Commonwealth Affairs to reflect changing postwar realities.

By 1915 Round Table groups existed in seven countries, including Britain, South Africa, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India, and a rather loosely organized group in the United States (George Louis Beer, Walter Lippmann, Frank Aydelotte, Whitney Shepardson,...
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