History

• Asia and the West: Diplomacy and Cultural Exchange (NCCO) 

fully searchable in EBSCO Discovery

Most of the manuscript collections in this archive consist of the British Foreign Office and United States consular and diplomatic records for China and Japan in the 19th century. These records were generally maintained in the local consular or diplomatic posts and reflect the day-to-day accounting of the activities of the indigenous populations and their national governments, the expansion of trade, and the exercise of extraterritorial rights and treaty provisions. In addition, a selection of missionary correspondence and journals has been included, as missionaries usually provided some of the earliest contact in various Asian locales with Western ideals.

• China: Trade, Politics & Culture 1793 - 1980 

fully searchable in EBSCO Discovery

This resource collects sources from nine archives to give an incredible insight into the changes in China between 1793 and 1980, including the birth and early years of the People’s Republic. You will find a wide variety of primary source material detailing China’s interaction with the West from Macartney’s first Embassy to China in 1793, through to the Nixon/Heath visits to China in 1972-74. It provides multiple perspectives – from politicians, diplomats, missionaries, business people and tourists – and documents many key events.

Watch this 23 minute webinar to understand how this archive could help you.

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• Confidential print: Middle East, 1839-1969 

fully searchable in EBSCO Discovery

This collection consists of the Foreign and Colonial Office Confidential Print for the countries of the Levant and the Arabian peninsula, Iran, Turkey, Egypt and Sudan digitised from The National Archives, UK. Beginning with the Egyptian reforms of Muhammad Ali Pasha in the 1830s, the documents trace the events of the following 150 years, including the Middle East Conference of 1921, the mandates for Palestine and Mesopotamia, the partition of Palestine, the 1956 Suez Crisis and post-Suez Western foreign policy, and the Arab-Israeli conflict.

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• Foreign Office files for China, 1930-1948 

fully searchable in EBSCO Discovery

The six parts of this collection make available all British Foreign Office files dealing with China, Hong Kong and Taiwan between 1919 and 1980 but our access covers 1930-1948. The revolution which overthrew the millennia-old imperial system heralded a period of turmoil in China which would last for the best part of forty years. Encapsulated by the rivalry between the Nationalist Chiang Kai-shek and the Communist Mao Zedong, the turmoil of warlordism, competing governments, civil wars and Japanese invasion ended only when the Communist Party emerged as masters of a reunified China in 1949. Throughout most of this period the major European powers, the United States and Japan maintained considerable political and economic interests in China, most notably in the foreign concessions in Shanghai and other ‘treaty ports’. Due to the long-unique nature of the relationship between Britain and China, these formerly restricted British government documents, consisting of diplomatic dispatches, letters, newspaper cuttings, maps, reports of court cases, biographies of leading personalities, summaries of events and diverse other materials, provide unprecedented levels of detail into one of the most turbulent centuries of Chinese history.

Please note that we have only been able to buy 2 parts: Part 2 = 1930-1937: The Long March, civil war in China and the Manchurian Crisis. Part 3 = 1938-1948: Open Door, Japanese war and the seeds of communist victory.

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• Foreign Office Files for Japan, 1919-1952 

Published in three parts, this collection makes available extensive coverage of British Foreign Office files dealing with Japan between 1919 and 1952: Japan and Great Power Status, 1919-1930; Japanese Imperialism and the War in the Pacific, 1931-1945; Occupation of Japan, 1946-1952.

Incorporating the Taishō to the Shōwa periods, these papers throw light on Anglo-Japanese ties in a time of shifting alliances. Documenting Japan’s journey to modernity, the files discuss a period in which the country took on an increasingly bold imperialist agenda. Strong relations following the signing of the Treaty of Versailles were tested then ultimately destroyed, and by December 1941, Japan and the United Kingdom were on opposing sides of the Second World War.

These Foreign Office files cover British concerns over colonial-held territory in the Far East, as well as Japanese relations with China, Russia, Germany and the United States. Following surrender at the end of the Second World War, Japan was occupied by foreign forces for the first time in its history. The occupation resulted in disarmament, liberalisation and a new constitution as the country was transformed into a parliamentary democracy.

Consisting of diplomatic dispatches, correspondence, maps, summaries of events and diverse other material, this collection from the rich FO 371 and FO 262 series unites formerly restricted Japan-centric documents, and is enhanced by the addition of a selection of FO 371 Western and American Department and Far Eastern sub papers.

Watch this 25 minute webinar to discover more about making the most of this archive.

• The Minutes of the Shanghai Municipal Council, 1854-1943 

fully searchable in EBSCO Discovery

This collection replicates all the minutes of meetings held by the Board of Directors of the Shanghai Municipal Council from July 1854 to December 1943. A wide range of topics were discussed at these board meetings, such as sanitation, transportation, telecommunication and postal service, taxation, urban planning, gas supply, street lighting, rickshaw operator management, animal protection, and police system. The minutes taken from July 1854 to December 1906 are handwritten while the rest are typewritten.

• Papers of Old Shanghai: Social Shanghai 

fully searchable in EBSCO Discovery

Social Shanghai was a magazine founded by Mina Shorrock in Shanghai in early 1906. It began as a monthly publication for "ladies" and expanded over time to cover all aspects of social life in Shanghai and other Chinese treaty ports, including fashions, sports and recreation, weddings, gardening, home furnishings, school education, infrastructure, travels, municipal council departments, shows and exhibitions, literature, book reviews, music, and personal sketches. It was the first foreign-language magazine published in China that reproduced substantially photographs in its pages.

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• Shanghai Municipal Council: The Municipal Gazette, 1908-1940. 

fully searchable in EBSCO Discovery

The Municipal Gazette provides a unique window into the workings of the Shanghai International Settlement during the period of revolution, the Republic, internationalization of Shanghai, national uprising, and world war.