Imperial government determines who pays for defence

France's colonies remained dependent on decisions and funding from Paris, whereas Britain's dominions maintained governments, armed forces, budgets, and some industrial capacity of their own. British planners imagined the empire moving through dominion status toward a cooperative Commonwealth. Their project was financially and strategically self-interested: London wanted local governments to bear more of their own costs while preserving common foreign and defence arrangements. Democratic government also promised more predictable access to ports and resources than rule by force followed by an unstable power vacuum. This vision would probably have required more collective leadership and less British control than its architects expected.