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WWII Research Guide

History - World War II
by Kimberly Foster Last Updated Sep 3, 2024 11 views this year

This guide contains extensive links to primrary and secondary source digital materials on World War II in a global context.

Military Archives and Publications

Combined Arms Research Library Digital Library
Search World War II Operational Documents for histories, original maps, copies of orders, and declassified documents. Mix of primary and secondary materials. Full text documents from the US Army Command and General Staff College.
World War II Materials
Online books and archives from the U.S. Army Center for Military History.
Foreign Relations of the United States (1861-2000)
Foreign Relations Series is the official documentary historical record of major U.S. foreign policy decisions and significant diplomatic activity.from Lincoln to Clinton.

Digital National Security Archive This link opens in a new window
Consists of nearly 50 themed collections of more than 650,000 declassified and FOIA'd documents that led to U.S. policy decisions. Also includes collections on Afghanistan, Chile, China, Colombia, El Salvador, Iran, Japan, Korea, Nicaragua, Peru, the Philippines, South Africa, and the Soviet Union.
History Vault This link opens in a new window
International Relations and Military Conflicts subcollection
Office of Strategic Services (OSS)-State Department Intelligence and Research Reports, 1941-1961
De-classified reports on major areas of the world from 1941 to 1961, written by the OSS in conjunction with the State Department. Topics include WWII, communism, and economics.

Primary Newspaper and Magazine Sources

New York Times, Historical, 1851-2020 This link opens in a new window
Full text of the newspaper from 1851-2017.
Times of London Digital Archive, 1785-1985 This link opens in a new window
Full text coverage of the newspaper from 1785-1985.
Illustrated London News This link opens in a new window
Online access to the entire run of the ILN. Each page has been digitally reproduced in full color. Articles and captions are full-text searchable. Dates of coverage: 1842-2003.
Daily Mail Historical Archive This link opens in a new window
Full-text articles and images from the Daily Mail (1896-2004) and the Daily Mail Atlantic edition (1923-1931).

Life Magazine
Complete run of all issues from the 1930's to 1970's of the pictorial news magazine. Extensive coverage of battlefront and home front during World War II, here and abroad.

World War II Primary Source materials

World War II Materials: Library of Congress Collections
Guide to diverse primary source material in the Library of Congress related to all aspects the conflict from the home front to overseas.
World War II: Resources
Primary resources on the second World War
Experiencing War: Stories from The Veterans History Project
Focused on World War II veterans and first person accounts from all theatres and all branches of the service.

Veteran's History Project

The Veterans History Project of the American Folklife Center collects, preserves, and makes accessible the personal accounts of American war veterans. .

The Project collects first-hand accounts of
U.S. Veterans from the following wars:

World War I (1914-1920)
World War II (1939-1946)
Korean War (1950-1955)
Vietnam War (1961-1975)
Persian Gulf War (1990-1995)
Afghanistan and Iraq conflicts (2001-present)

Source: Library of Congress, Veteran's History Project,