~July-Sept 1901: The conundrum of a white Australia
July 1901: Acutely aware how the Dreyfus Affair has weakened France and seeking to capitalise on the increase in hostility toward German in Britain due to the Second Naval Law, French Emperor Napoleon IV suggests a conference aimed at reducing colonial tensions between Britain and France. Lord Salisbury, himself aware of the shortcomings in Imperial defence revealed by the recent wars, eagerly agrees. The conference is scheduled for mid December in London.
July 1901: The Melbourne Imperial Conference is the first with Indian representation, the delegation consisting of Arthur Havelock and Maharajah Ganga Singh of Bikaner, along with Indian National Congress politicians Surendranath Banerjee and Allan Hume. The Conference is naturally dominated by the Boer War in South Africa, along with the Anglo-Ottoman War and the situation in China. A great deal of concern is expressed over the difficulty in finding troops to cover all three threats simultaneously, with many wondering if the Empire's has sufficient to face a major war and meet its existing commitments. In an effort to resolve this situation it is agreed the British and Dominion armies should be increased by 15% from their pre war strength. Also in order to be able to react any crisis, an Imperial Army Corps based in Egypt will be created. The new corps incorporate the existing Dominion troops forming part of the Egyptian garrison and is to be capable of being rapidly deployed anywhere in the Empire. Meanwhile the Dominions express disquiet at their being no Dominion representation of the Elgin Commission investigating potential reforms. In order to quiet this concern the British agree to form a second Commission to look at the wide questions of Imperial security. Regarding China, considerable concern is expressed over the split of the Qing into two competing groups and it is resolved to support the new reformist government of the Guangxu Emperor.
July 1901: With security matters dealt with is also considerable discussion at the Melbourne Imperial Conference regarding economic integration, with the Indian delegation particularly keen on including India in the new Imperial common market. While the Dominions are still reluctant to see India included, they do accept that tariffs on Indian goods should be lower than 'foreign' imports. Finally the matter of Australia's new 'White Australia' immigration policy is raised. Australian Premier Barton argues the policy is purely internal Australian matter and as such falls under the Sydney Doctrine of no Imperial interference with local affairs. The Indian and British delegations argue that it goes against the principle of free movement of labour within the Empire, and therefore the Sydney Doctrine does not apply. The debate becomes particularly heated and eventual Dominion Secretary Jan Hofmeyr proposes a compromise. He suggests the while each Dominion should be able to determine the ethnic make up of their permanent population, the free movement of labour within the Empire should no be interfered with and as such temporary residence should be granted to Imperial migrants. This will become known as the Melbourne Doctrine. Finally it agreed the next conference should be held in 1903 in Edinburgh.
August 1901: The National Defence Act is passed by the New Zealand Parliament. The act introduces compulsory military training for all men between 17 and 24, making it the first form of conscription in the British Empire. Under the act, all men will receive three months military training before returning to civilian life. Those who elect to join the volunteers will receive an additional two weeks training every year. While there is no compulsion in Volunteer service, many do, creating a pool of trained recruits for mobilisation in the event of war.
August 1901: Over the past decade naval artillery has been steadily increasing in range. This, along with the increasing effectiveness of modern armour has led many to question the value of the standard rapid firing 6" secondary armament of most battleships, with many nations now turning to a secondary battery of larger intermediate calibre weapons. In line with this trend the three King Edward VII battleships ordered include a secondary battery of four 9.2” guns in addition to the standard four 12” main battery guns and ten 6” guns as a tertiary battery. Also as the navy has been greatly impressed with the Canadian St Lawrence class destroyers, the new program abandons the previous ' 30 knotter' type in favour of a larger class patterned after the Canadian ships. The River class will prove to be far more effective than earlier destroyers. Finally the 1901/02 program includes one 2nd class cruiser, the Ceylon, to be constructed at the new Triconmalee Naval Dockyard in Ceylon in order to give the yard experience, with plans for additional orders in future years.
August 1901: With the Great Powers slowly withdrawing their troops from China, the Northern Qing launch an attack into Hubei Province under Dong Fuxiang. The offensive involves the use of a considerable number of European trained Chinese units from Gansu. While the Southern Qing's forces under Liu Kunyi move to oppose the attack they are outnumbered an initially unable to halt the attack. However the Guangxu Emperor orders reinforcements moved from neighbouring provinces, stabilising the situation. This attack will mark the beginning of the Chinese Civil War.
August 1901: In keeping with the agreement at the Melbourne Imperial Conference, the British Conservative government establish a second commission to investigate if reforms is required to wider aspects of Imperial defence in light of the recent wars in China, the Middle East and South Africa. The new commission will be headed by Liberal politician Lord Esher and include representatives from Canada, South Africa and the Pacific Dominions.
September 1901: With the outbreak of the Chinese Civil War, both sides have realised they will need to expand their forces, but both adopt very different approaches. While acknowledging the value of the well trained pre war New Armies, the Northern Qing elect to attempt to raise large numbers of new units as quickly as possible, with training limited to six to nine months and troops issued with whatever equipment is at hand. Recruitment is handled by simply issuing quotas to local officials, who are left to obtain the necessary numbers by whatever means they feel appropriate. This will result in a wide variety of personnel quality, with some officials simply resorting to press ganging, though a large number of highly motivated former Boxer will join initially, giving an almost fanatic quality to many early Northern Qing units. The Southern Qing's policy on the other hand is strongly influenced by the Emperor's experiences in the British Army. They choose to attempt to maintain or even improve the quality of the existing New Army, opting to rely on voluntary recruitment with recruits receiving between a year and fifteen months training. The Southern Qing will also attempt to ensure standardisation of equipment at least within units, though shortages often result in non-standard and even obsolete equipment being issued. This last problem will plague both sides, with European nations extremely reluctant to supply modern military equipment after the Boxer War.
September 1901: US President McKinley is shot by anarchist Leon Czolgosz at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo. Despite appearing to recover, McKinley dies eight days later with Vice President Roosevelt succeeding him. McKinley will be the third US President after Lincoln and Garfield to be assassinated. His assassination will lead to a major crackdown on anarchist groups throughout the US, with many leading anarchist arrested and Congress passing legislation charging the US Marshals Office with the protection of the President and other senior US officials.
September 1901: Despite the ongoing civil war in Hubei Province, the Eight Nation Alliance force the Guangxu Emperor to sign the Boxer Protocol to bring the occupation of China to an end. The Emperor however has been able to skilfully play the Great Powers off against each other, reducing the indemnity from 450 million taels of silver {£68,589,191} over 40 years to 350 million taels of silver {£53,806,608} over 60 years and avoid any military restrictions on the Chinese forces. He does however agree to punish and execute many leading supporters of the Boxers, most of whom have fled with Dowager Empress Cixi and are now supporting her Northern Qing, express his regrets and apologise to the Great Powers for the actions of the Boxers. While he has been successful in reducing the Alliance demands, these last conditions will significantly undermine his support in much of China. With the signing of the Protocol, the Great Powers will begin withdrawing their troops from China and the Southern Qing are allowed to return to Beijing. Though the Emperor had little choice in accepting the terms demanded by the Eight Nation Alliance and has successfully moderated them to a significant degree, his acceptance of the Protocol will result in the loss of much support in China.