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Primary Sources Access – Foundation (Plan E): Documents on British Policy Overseas

Description

This history database contains tens of thousands of U.K. government documents relating to Britain’s international relations, including foreign policy instructions, letters and memos, business reports, and more. These primary source materials have been selected by the official historians of Britain’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and, in many cases, have been declassified at their request for inclusion in this series.

With Documents on British Policy Overseas, researchers gain a more complete understanding of the tensions, motivations, politics, and relationships that shaped Europe and the world throughout the twentieth century.

This easily searchable database is the online version of three print content sets:

  • British Documents on the Origins of War (1898-1914), which includes documents related to the Anglo-German tensions leading to World War I
  • Documents on British Foreign Policy (1918-1939), which addresses post-war settlement, re-armament, and growing tensions in Europe, Africa, and the Far East
  • Documents on British Policy Overseas (1946-present), which covers topics such as atomic energy, the Korean Conflict, and the Cold War

Documents on British Policy Overseas is updated regularly with newly selected materials on additional topics, and supports other ProQuest government resources, including 20th Century House of Commons Parliamentary Papers and Digital National Security Archive. Diplomatic historians, international relations scholars, British Studies specialists, war researchers, and educators in many disciplines will find this collection an indispensable resource.

Content Types: annual report extracts, dispatches and letters, diplomatic correspondence, government documents, government memorandum, meeting minutes, reports, speeches, telegrams, and more. 

Subjects and Keyword Search Examples: atomic energy, Balkan War, British Embassy, foreign relations, Hague Peace Conference, Munich Agreement, Potsdam Conference, Russo-Japanese War, Sino-Japanese Conflict, Soviet Union, treaties, United Nations, Warsaw Pact, World War I, World War II, and more. 
 

Content Highlights

Brief for the U.K. Delegation No. 1: The United Kingdom and The United Nations

Brief for the U.K. Delegation No. 1: The United Kingdom and The United Nations

Memorandum by Mr. P. Dean on Trials of Major War Criminals

Memorandum by Mr. P. Dean on Trials of Major War Criminals

Minutes of a Meeting of the British Chiefs of Staff Committee held at 39/41 Ringstrasse, Babelsberg, on Monday, 23 July 1945 at 10.30 a.m.

Minutes of a Meeting of the British Chiefs of Staff Committee held at 39/41 Ringstrasse, Babelsberg, on Monday, 23 July 1945 at 10.30 a.m.

Memorandum by Mr. Attlee on the Atomic Bomb

Memorandum by Mr. Attlee on the Atomic Bomb

Telegram: Mr. Bevin to Sir R. Leeper (Buenos Aires) No. 173

Telegram: Mr. Bevin to Sir R. Leeper (Buenos Aires) No. 173