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.