Royal Commission on the Private Manufacture of and Trading in Arms (Bankes Commission):...

T 181

1919-1936

The records consist largely of evidence submitted to the Royal Commission on the Private Manufacture of and Trading in Arms (Bankes Commission) by various bodies and individuals.

Public Record(s)

English

117 file(s)

The Royal Commission on the Private Manufacture of and Trading in Arms was appointed by Royal Warrant of February 20, 1935, under the chairmanship of Sir John Bankes, with the following terms of reference: To consider and report upon the practicability and desirability (both from the national and international point of view) of the adoption (a) by the United Kingdom alone, (b) by the United Kingdom in conjunction with the other countries of the world, of a prohibition of private manufacture of and trade in arms and munitions of war, and the institution of a State monopoly of such manufacture and tradeTo consider and report whether there are any steps which can usefully be taken to remove or minimize the kinds of objections to which private manufacture is stated in Article 8 (5) of the Covenant of the League of Nations to be openTo examine the present arrangements in force in the United Kingdom relative to the control of the export trade in arms and munitions of war, and to report whether these arrangements require revision, and if so, in what directions.

The report of the commission was published in October 1936.