LibGuides: European History: Modern Era (17th century onward)

Online Resources

Early English Books Online-- Text Creation Partnership (EEBO-TCP) This link opens in a new window
Searchable and downloadable handmade transcriptions of thousands of texts from the Early English Books Online database.
U.K. Parliamentary Papers This link opens in a new window
The U.K. Parliamentary Papers consists of the following modules:
● House of Commons Parliamentary Papers, 18th Century, 19th Century and 20th Century (1688-2004)
● House of Lords Parliamentary Papers (1800-1910)
● Hansard (1803-2005)
● Eighteenth Century Parliamentary Papers Collection, which is comprised of: 1) Harper Collection of Private Bills (1695-1814); 2) House of Commons Sessional Papers (1715-1800); 3) House of Lords Sessional Papers (1714-1805); 4) Journals of the House of Commons (1688-1834); 5) Journals of the House of Lords (1688-1834); 6) Local and Personal Acts (1797-1834); and 7) Parliamentary Register (1780-1796).
Making of the Modern World (the) This link opens in a new window
Contains over 61,000 books from the period 1460-1850, and 466 pre-1906 serials. In almost 12 million pages, it focuses on economics interpreted in the widest sense, including political science, history, sociology, and special collections on banking, finance, transportation and manufacturing.
The Making of the Modern World consists of:
● Part 1: The Goldsmiths'-Kress Collection, 1450-1850, "this collection provides full-text searching of many rare primary source materials: monographs, serials, political pamphlets and broadsides, proclamations, and more;"
● Part II: 1851-1914, this collection is "comprised mainly of monographs, reports, correspondence, speeches, and surveys, this collection broadens Gale's international coverage of social, economic, and business history as well as political science, technology, industrialization, and the birth of the modern corporation;"
● Part III: 1890-1945, "this collection is comprised largely of monographs and periodicals, offering transnational coverage in an area of vital interest to historians: political economy. The archive supports research on critical topics, such as world trade, finance and capital formation, transportation and the growth of cities, industrialization, imperialism and colonialism, socialism, labor and poverty, and other areas of study;" and
● Part IV: 1800-1890, "offers definitive coverage of the 'Age of Capital,' the industrial revolution, and the High Victorian Era, when the foundations of modern-day capitalism and global trade were established (Gale)."
Global Commodities This link opens in a new window
"This resource brings together manuscript, printed and visual primary source materials for the study of global commodities in world history. The commodities featured in this resource have been transported, exchanged and consumed around the world for hundreds of years. They helped transform societies, global trading operations, habits of consumption and social practices (Adam Matthew)."

Avalon Project -- Documents in Law, History and Diplomacy
From antiquity to the present. "The Avalon Project will mount digital documents relevant to the fields of Law, History, Economics, Politics, Diplomacy and Government. We do not intend to mount only static text but rather to add value to the text by linking to supporting documents expressly referred to in the body of the text. The Avalon Project will no doubt contain controversial documents. Their inclusion does not indicate endorsement of their contents nor sympathy with the ideology, doctrines, or means employed by their authors. They are included for the sake of completeness and balance and because in many cases they are by our definition a supporting document. "

C19: The Nineteenth Century Index This link opens in a new window
C19 Index is the bibliographic spine of 19th century research, providing integrated access to the most important finding aids for books, periodicals, official publications, newspapers and archives.

British Library -- World War One
Supported by over 500 historical sources from across Europe, this resource examines key themes in the history of World War One. Explore a wealth of original source material, over 50 newly-commissioned articles written by historians, teachers' notes and more to discover how war affected people on different sides of the conflict.

Post-War Europe: Refugees, Exile and Resettlement, 1945-1950 This link opens in a new window
This online archive delivers essential primary sources for the study and understanding of the challenges facing the European peoples in the aftermath of World War II. It covers the politics and administration of the refugee crisis in Europe after World War II as well as the day-to-day survival of the refugees themselves.
Refugees, Relief, and Resettlement:Forced Migration and World War II This link opens in a new window
This database "chronicles the plight of refugees and displaced persons across Europe, North Africa, and Asia from 1935 to 1950 through correspondence, reports, studies, organizational and administrative files, and much more (Gale)."
This database includes the following modules

• Refugee Records from the General Correspondence Files of the Political Departments of the Foreign Office, Record Group 371, 1938-1950
• Refugee Files from the Records of the Foreign Office, 1938-1950
• Refugee Records from the War Cabinet, the Colonial Office, the Home Office and the War Office, 1935-1939
The Early Cold War and Decolonization

Holocaust Collection
Search over one million Holocaust-related records - including millions of names and 26000 photos from the National Archives and US Holocaust Memorial Museum.

Hitler. Quellen 1924-45 This link opens in a new window
"Hitler’s written legacy as contained in the database [Hitler: Sources, 1924–45] represents a unique source for studying Hitler’s world-view and his political ambitions."

Steven Spielberg Film and Video Archive
The Archive serves as a comprehensive informational and archival resource worldwide for moving image materials pertaining to the Holocaust and related aspects of World War II. Staff continue to locate, acquire, preserve, and document historical film footage from sources throughout the United States and abroad.

Cold War: Voices Of Confrontation And Conciliation This link opens in a new window
This collection provides "a unique opportunity to read the recollections of many of the players in the Cold War. These transcripts of oral recollections will assist scholars in understanding the motivations for conflict and conciliation (Gale)."

WW1 – The Definitive Collection, from British Pathé
British Pathé, a newsreel and documentary production company, holds an extensive collection of archival film footage from World War I. Now available online, the footage provides a rare glimpse into various aspects of life during the Great War. The films in this collection are international in scope and organized into categories such as political leaders including President Woodrow Wilson and Tsar Nicholas II, battles and types of warfare, and experiences of civilians during and after the war. Users can also search for films by keyword; the results are drawn not only from the World War I collection but also the entire catalog of British Pathé’s film archives. Each film includes a short summary and description with options to view the films in full screen or as individual stills. The website is an excellent source for researchers of any level interested in primary source materials on World War I and may be of particular interest to those in academic and research libraries. —Mackenzie Ryan, Texas State Library and Archives Commission, Austin, Texas

Oxford University Studies in the Enlightenment Online This link opens in a new window
This eBook collection includes "a wide range of books on all aspects of the Enlightenment, including history, cultural studies, literature, biography, religious studies, philosophy, and gender studies (Liverpool University Press)."
Electronic Enlightenment: Letters and Lives This link opens in a new window
Electronic Enlightenment is the most wide-ranging online collection of edited correspondence of the early modern period, linking people across Europe, the Americas and Asia from the early 17th to the mid-19th century — reconstructing one of the world's great historical “conversations”.
EE provides immediate access to 70,057 historical documents. Listen in on the first global social network as 8,560 historical figures discuss everything from religious tolerance to animal rights, vulcanology to classical archeology, economic modelling to celebrity culture.

Journals and Newspapers

Full Text of Historic European Newspapers, from Europeana

British Library Newspapers This link opens in a new window
These archives contain mid-eighteenth-to-mid-twentieth-century regional and local British newspapers from the British Library (Gale). Rice University owns access to: Part I: 1800-1900 (national and regional papers); Part II:1800-1900 (local newspapers); Part III: 1741-1950 (national and regional papers); Part IV: 1732-1950 (local newspapers); Part V: 1746-1950 (northern regional newspapers); and Part VI: 1783-1950 (Ireland).

Zeitschriften der Aufklärung -- Journals of the Enlightenment era
"Retrospektive Digitalisierung wissenschaftlicher Rezensionsorgane und Literaturzeitschriften des 18. und 19. Jahrhunderts aus dem deutschen Sprachraum" -- digital versions of German-language journals of the second half of 18th and early 19th centuries.
Enlightenment Journals
A large number of 18th and 19th century journals, ranging from Berlinische Monatsschrift to Thalia. Search and browse full text.

ANNO -- Austrian Newspapers Online This link opens in a new window
This is a virtual newspaper reading room hosted by the Austrian National Library. It makes available to readers hundreds of historical newspaper and magazine titles published in Austria from late 18th through early 20th century.
This is a virtual newspaper reading room hosted by the Austrian National Library. It makes available to readers hundreds of historical newspaper and magazine titles published in Austria from late 18th through early 20th century.

Maps and Atlases

Digital Atlas of European History since 1500
Combines thematic cartography with GIS-based mapping in order to create a visual and interactive history of the European state system since 1500.