History: Primary Sources: Military, Intelligence, and Agency Records, Collections, and Documents

a large variety of collections from the U.S. National Archives, a series of collections from the Chicago History Museum, as well as selected first-hand accounts on Indian Wars and westward migration. One of the highlights of this module is its focus on American Indians in the first half of the 20th Century, a period that has not been studied in as much detail as the calamitous 19th Century. The two major collections on the 20th Century in this module are Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and records from the Major Council Meetings of American Indian Tribes. In addition to these 20th Century records, American Indians and the American West, 1809-1971, features a number of excellent collections on American Indians in the 19th Century, with a focus on the interaction among white settlers, the U.S. federal government, and Indian tribes. For related collections, see the Records of the National Council on Indian Opportunity and the FBI Files on the American Indian Movement in the American Politics from Kennedy to Watergate module.

Confederate Military Manuscripts sourced by ProQuest from the holdings of Virginia Historical Society; the Louisiana and Lower Mississippi Valley Collections, Louisiana State University; the Center for American History, University of Texas at Austin; and the University of Virginia. The collections in the Confederate Military Manuscripts cover the perspective of an army commander or an administrative department down to the level of the private soldier, covering all aspects of their military service and experience, while also offering glimpses of life on the home front. Several previously unpublished collections of records of the Union Army are also integral to this module. Highlights include papers of spies, scouts, guides and detectives, including a series on Allan Pinkerton; records on military discipline from courts-martial, courts of inquiry and investigations by military commissions; and records of the U.S. Colored Troops.

An important source of American diplomatic reporting on political, military, social, and economic developments throughout the world in the 20th century. They contain a wide range of materials from U.S. diplomats in foreign countries: reports on political, military, and socioeconomic matters; interviews and minutes of meetings with foreign government officials; important letters, instructions, and cables sent and received by U.S. diplomatic personnel; and reports and translations from foreign journals and newspapers.

An important source of American diplomatic reporting on political, military, social, and economic developments throughout the world in the 20th century. They contain a wide range of materials from U.S. diplomats in foreign countries: reports on political, military, and socioeconomic matters; interviews and minutes of meetings with foreign government officials; important letters, instructions, and cables sent and received by U.S. diplomatic personnel; and reports and translations from foreign journals and newspapers.

An important source of American diplomatic reporting on political, military, social, and economic developments throughout the world in the 20th century. They contain a wide range of materials from U.S. diplomats in foreign countries: reports on political, military, and socioeconomic matters; interviews and minutes of meetings with foreign government officials; important letters, instructions, and cables sent and received by U.S. diplomatic personnel; and reports and translations from foreign journals and newspapers.

Early records in the collection focus on events in Palestine, Britain's policy toward Palestine, and how the situation in Palestine affected relations with other nations. The files also survey the contours of Arab politics in the wider Middle East. Since the interests, rivalries, and designs of various Arab leaders were often played out with reference to Palestine, the documents provide insight into the complex and sometimes bloody Arab world. In the 1947-1948 period, this module explores the tensions within Anglo-American relations over the creation and recognition of Israel as a sovereign state. A large section of the material is devoted to United Nations deliberations on the Palestine question. The records also illuminate the political, philosophical, and personal fractures within and between both the Jewish and Arab communities from 1940-1948.

During World War II and the first decade and a half of the Cold War, the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) and the State Department assigned leading scholars to write special, classified reports about Asia, Europe, the Soviet Union, Latin America, and Africa. At the time, the reports helped to shape U.S. foreign policy decisions, and, now, as part of History Vault, the over 3,500 reports in this module provide an excellent source for studying the major areas of the World during the period from 1941 to 1961. These reports are not contained in the State Department's foreign relations series or the armed forces' official histories. Reports on Asia focus on political, industrial, and military affairs of wartime Japan, the occupation of Japan by the U.S. following World War II, and the beginnings of the economic revitalization of Japan in the mid-1950s; the Nationalist-Communist struggle for China and Mao's consolidation of power in the 1950s, independence for India; the Korean War; and the outbreak of war in Indochina. Topics covered in the reports on Europe include the German war effort, occupation and division of Germany, reconstruction of Europe under the Marshall Plan, de Gaulle and the Fifth Republic, formation of the Common Market, and Soviet control of Eastern Europe. A series of reports on the Soviet Union for 1941 to 1961 covers Soviet participation in World War II; the cold war with the West; the death of Stalin; and the formation of the Warsaw Pact. There are also numerous reports on the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America from 1941 through 1961. Major developments covered include Palestine, African nationalism as well as economic stagnation and famine, Communist movements in South America and U.S. intervention in Central America.

From heart-wrenching personal letters to bills of lading for office supplies, this module offers remarkable insight into the early Reconstruction period in the American South. The correspondence of the U.S. Army's Office of Civil Affairs reveal efforts to foster democracy and rebuild communities in the divided and war-torn former Confederate states. The files include letters, petitions, court proceedings and internal documents related to elections. Another prominent subject is the fair administration of the election process. Troubles often arose as African Americans prepared to exercise their newly won rights to vote and run for office; many letters in the collection call for military intervention to secure these rights. Also included in this module are Letters Received by the Attorney General pertaining to law and order in southern states from 1871-1884 and records of the Freedmen's Hospital and the Freedman's Savings and Trust Company.

The State Department Diplomatic Post Records consist of correspondence and reports from American diplomats stationed around the world. Diplomatic post records are those kept at the embassies or legations rather than those kept in Washington. Diplomatic post records contain the incoming messages from Washington, retained copies of outgoing dispatches, locally gathered information, and background material on decision making. The following countries or cities are represented in this module: Japan; Cuba; El Salvador; Honduras; Nicaragua; Iran; Iraq; Beirut; Jerusalem; Aden; Lebanon; Russia and the Soviet Union.

Comprehensive documentation of developments and events in the key nations of the world during the period from World War I to the final campaigns of World War II. After World War I, the U.S. military developed a sophisticated intelligence gathering capability. Concerned with much more than strictly military intelligence, American military attaches and their staffs reported on a wide range of topics, including the internal politics, social and economic conditions, and foreign affairs of the countries in which they were stationed. This module contains the U.S. Military Intelligence reports for China, Japan, France, Germany, Italy, Argentina, Mexico, Soviet Union, Biweekly Intelligence Summaries, and Combat Estimates.

U.S. involvement in the region from the early days of the Kennedy administration, through the escalation of the war during the Johnson administration, to the final resolution of the war at the Paris Peace Talks and the evacuation of U.S. troops in 1973. Along the way, documents in this module trace the actions and decisions at the highest levels of the U.S. foreign policy apparatus, as well as events on the ground in Vietnam, from the perspective of State Department officials, Associated Press reporters, and members of the U.S. Armed forces, including the Marines and the Military Assistance Command Vietnam. The strong collections also highlight all of the most important foreign policy issues facing the U.S. between 1960 and 1975. An important feature of this module is the records of the Associated Press's Saigon Bureau. Over 40 years ago, as Saigon was falling to the communists and the U.S. was evacuating Vietnam, Peter Arnett saved the records of the AP's Saigon Bureau and brought them back to the United States. Until ProQuest scanned them and digitized them in History Vault, they were never before available to the public. Other key collections in this module include records of the Military Assistance and Advisory Command, Vietnam (MACV); General William Westmoreland Papers, and National Security Files from the Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, and Ford administrations.

Contains the working papers of the British Foreign Office used in the development of British foreign policy. The information contained in these documents was often classified and was not made available for study outside of the British government until many years after the documents were created. This collection consists of records relating to the diplomatic business of the Foreign Office, which includes not only the formal relations between two countries but also the information needed by the British government in order to conduct diplomatic relations. This includes the domestic political, economic, social, and cultural relations of another country plus that country's relations with other nations, as well as British internal political concerns.

Extensive documentation on the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) during World War I as well as materials on U.S. intelligence operations and the post-war peace process. AEF documents consist of correspondence, cablegrams, operations reports, statistical strength reports and summaries of intelligence detailing troop movements and operations of Allied and enemy forces. The vast majority of the AEF documents date from April 26, 1917-July 2, 1919. Other notable collections include Select Reports of the American Commission to Negotiate Peace and Reparations Papers of the Allied Powers Reparations Commission, and Records of the Conference on Limitation of Armament, 1921-1922. Finally, this module includes an important collection on diplomacy and the intelligence work of the U.S. State Department during World War I and in the decade after: State Department Collection of Intelligence, 1915-1927: Records of the Office of the Counselor, Undersecretary of State, and the Chief Special Agent.

Includes President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Map Room Files, Records of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Records of the War Department Operations Division, U.S. Navy Action and Operational Reports, Records of the Office of War Information, Papers of the War Refugee Board, George C. Marshall Papers, and numerous other collections. Taken together, these collections provide many different views of World War II. Firsthand accounts of the innermost workings of the top level of military planning during World War II can be found in President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Map Room Files and Records of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The Office of War Information Papers contain information on the U.S. homefront, as do records on the internment of Japanese civilians. World War II Combat Interviews offer firsthand accounts from the perspective of the individual soldiers who participated in the D-Day invasion. The Papers of the War Refugee Board provide documentation on the fate of civilians in Europe with a special focus on Jewish refugees. Other collections in this module include FBI Files on Tokyo Rose, Manhattan Project documents, Potsdam Conference Documents, and records on lend-lease.