A&M-SA Research Guides: 20th Century European History Research Guide: Primary Sources

Suggested Digital Collections

British Cartoon Archive
This archive was established in 1973, as a research centre and picture library, based upon a unique archive of over 85,000 pieces of cartoon artwork supported by a reference library of newspaper cuttings, books, catalogs and magazines.
Foreign Relations of the United States
The Foreign Relations of the United States series is the official documentary historical record of major U.S. foreign policy decisions that have been declassified and edited for publication. The series is produced by the State Department's Office of the Historian and printed volumes are available from the Government Printing Office.
German History in Documents and Images
German History in Documents and Images (GHDI) is a comprehensive collection of primary source materials documenting Germany's political, social, and cultural history from 1500 to the present. It comprises original German texts, all of which are accompanied by new English translations, and a wide range of visual imagery.
Germany Under Reconstruction
The Germany Under Reconstruction digital collection provides a varied selection of publications in both English and German from the period immediately following World War II. Many are publications of the U.S. occupying forces, including reports and descriptions of efforts to introduce U.S.-style democracy to Germany. Some of the other books and documents describe conditions in a country devastated by years of war, efforts at political, economic and cultural development, and the differing perspectives coming from the U.S. and British zones and the Russian zone of occupation. At the same time, the Germans themselves and the occupying forces look back at the National Socialist period and try to come to terms with what had happened.
National Archives Public Information Films (UK)
View all public information films published in the UK from 1945-2006.
Official Document System of the United Nations
This database has the full text of approximately 800,000 documents, most of them published since 1993. Thousands of documents are being added every year, including many published prior to 1993. Resolutions and Decisions from 1946-1993 are available in a separate Resolutions database, accessible through the advanced search screen.
Spanish Civil War Posters
Stalinka: Digital Library of Staliniana
The collection comprises visual materials and artifacts relating to Stalin: photographs, posters, paintings, banners, sculptures, chinaware, pins, etc.
The Cabinet Papers, 1915-1981
The British National Archives, British Cabinet, 1915-1978 series is fully visible online and searchable (with advanced search features). Major topic areas include: "The United Kingdom and the world"; "The economy, business and resources"; and "Society and the Welfare State."
PARES: Portal de Archivos Españoles - Portal of Spanish Archives
A portal and database created by Spain's Ministerio de Cultura containing more than twenty million documents and digital images from the principal Spanish archives, including the Archive of the Indies and Archive of the Spanish Civil War.
(Medieval to 20th century; facsimiles, transcriptions and commentaries) Website is in Spanish.

Primary versus Secondary

Primary Sources

Primary sources are records of events as they are first described, usually by witnesses or people who were involved in the event. Many primary sources were created at the time of the event but can also include memoirs, oral interviews, or accounts that were recorded later.

Visual materials, such as photos, original artwork, posters, and films are important primary sources, not only for the factual information they contain, but also for the insight they may provide into how people view their world. Primary sources may also include sets of data, such as census statistics, which have been tabulated but not interpreted. However, in the sciences or social sciences, primary sources report the results of an experiment.

Why are primary sources important?

Primary sources serve as the raw material to interpret the past, and when they are used along with previous interpretations by historians, they provide the resources necessary for historical research.

Primary vs. Secondary Sources

Secondary sources offer an analysis or a restatement of primary sources. They often attempt to describe or explain primary sources. Some secondary sources not only analyze primary sources, but also use them to argue a contention or persuade the reader to hold a certain opinion. Examples of secondary sources include dictionaries, encyclopedias, textbooks, books, and articles.

Using the Web

Generally, you should use library databases to find your articles, and the web to supplement your arguments with statistics, demographic information, reports or even to find digital collections. Things to keep in mind when searching the web:

Use websites only when appropriate and question their credibility. Remember, almost anyone can publish something online because it doesn't go through the same review process like books or articles.
Generally .gov, .edu, .org sites tend to be the most credible, though there are still exceptions. To limit your Google search to these domains, type in your search term followed by a colon with the domain name. Ex. population trends:.gov
Try using Google Scholar to search for scholarly literature on the web. See the box for more information about Google Scholar
When in doubt, ask your instructor if it’s okay to use a particular web source.