Imperial Armies in the Period of Rearmament and Appeasement, 1933–1939

European and Far Eastern threats made the 1930s more serious for the armies of the British Empire. In 1934, the Defence Requirements Sub-Committee (DRC) of the Committee of Imperial Defence recommended British measures to rearm and put the prospect of a continental commitment back to a place of prominence in British Army planning. But manpower problems continued to figure prominently in any general staff appreciation of possible army commitments, so Britain still looked to India and the dominions. The problem was that they were of very different attitudes politically, and generally unwilling to make commitments in advance of hostilities. Even so, generals across the empire had to plan for worst cases and they continued to pursue measures that would ensure reasonable cooperation when war came. Dominion and Indian officers still attended the staff colleges and the Imperial Defence College, and exchanges of periodical letters continued with renewed vigour.