Çanak (Chanak) crisis (1922)

In September 1922 the Turkish government, in repudiation of a treaty it had signed with the allied powers, threatened to reoccupy the neutral zone of Çanak on the Dardanelles strait (Çanakkale Boğazi). Britain was determined to block this action, by force if necessary. With no prior consultation it appealed to the prime ministers of the dominions to provide military support. Canadian Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, after meeting with the cabinet, refused any participation without the consent of parliament. This assertion of autonomy was in sharp contrast to Conservative leader Arthur Meighen’s statement that Canada should have replied to Britain “Ready, aye ready; we stand by you.” Turkey fortunately backed down, but the implications of the Çanak (Chanak) crisis could not be ignored. There would be no common imperial foreign policy if each dominion decided its own course of action.