Guides: HIST 438: Topics in Cold War History: Home

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Library Catalogue

Find peer-reviewed articles

Historical Abstracts (EBSCO)
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This database contains references to journal articles, book reviews and some dissertations about the history of all parts of the world from 1450 on, EXCLUDING Canada and the United States. In the search options, select "Peer Reviewed" and enter "Historical Period" (e.g., Start Year: 1955 To End Year: 1975).
America: History and Life (EBSCO)
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Provides historical coverage of the United States and Canada from prehistory to the present. Includes information abstracted from over 2,000 journals published worldwide.

TIP: You can search both Historical Abstracts and America: History and Life simultaneously! After opening one of the databases, click "Choose Databases". In the pop-up window, click the other database. Now any search you conduct will occur on both platforms!

Find Government Documents and Newspapers

US Documents

Foreign Relations of the United States pre-1960
Foreign Relations of the United States post-1960
Documents to 1976 are available in full online.
Some documents from the Jimmy Carter administration (1977-1980) are still under declassification review.
Many documents from the Ronald Reagan administration (1981-1988) are under declassification review or currently being prepared.
Documents from the George H.W. Bush (1989-1992) and William J. Clinton (1993-2000) administrations are currently being researched or planned; no documents are published.
The National Security Archive

Digital National Security Archive (ProQuest)
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Includes the following subcollections:
-U.S. Policy in the Vietnam War, Part I, 1954-1968
-U.S. Policy in the Vietnam War, Part II, 1969-1975
-Kissinger Transcripts
-Kissinger Telephone Conversations

CIA FOIA Electronic Reading Room
The FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) Electronic Reading Room is provided as a public service by the Directorate of Digital Innovation's Information Management Services.
Presidential Recordings
The Presidential Recordings Project makes recordings of Presidents Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon available to researchers.
Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States

U.S. Declassified Documents Online (Gale Primary Sources)
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Access government documents covering major policy issues from before World War II into the twenty-first century. The content of this database is available for text-mining through Gale Digital Scholar Lab

British Documents

Documents on British Policy Overseas‎ (ProQuest)
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A fully searchable collection of primary source documents from Britain's Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), shedding light on diplomatic history throughout the 20th C.
Coverage: 1898 - 1990
The Nixon years, 1969-1974 (Adam Matthew)
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This collection provides complete FCO 7 and FCO 82 files for the entire period of Richard Nixon’s presidency. Top-level Anglo-American discussions and briefing papers dominate these papers.
Foreign Office Files for China 1919-1980 (Adam Matthew)
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Six-part collection containing British Foreign Office files dealing with China, Hong Kong and Taiwan between 1919 and 1980.
Text mining is permitted, but certain conditions apply. Please contact Digital Scholarship Hub
Foreign Office Files for Southeast Asia (Adam Matthew)
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Published in two parts, this extensive collection of Foreign Office Files explores South East Asia between 1963 and 1980 in a time of conflict, growth and change. Consisting of correspondence, maps, government dispatches and press releases from the FO 371, DO 169, DO 187, FCO 15 and FCO 24 series, this resource offers an unparalleled insight into the political and economic challenges faced during this period as the region moved towards industrialisation and establishing the foundations for economic growth.
Text mining is permitted, but certain conditions apply. Please contact Digital Scholarship Hub
House of Commons Parliamentary Papers (ProQuest)
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As the working documents of government, ProQuest U.K. Parliamentary Papers encompass all areas of social, political, economic and foreign policy, showing how issues were explored and legislation was formed.
Library can facilitate negotiating text-mining rights for this database for McGill faculty and students wishing to acquire the rights with their own research funds. Please contact Digital Scholarship Hub
Cold War Eastern Europe, 1947-1982
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During the Cold War, the British Foreign Office was interested in every aspect of political, economic, cultural, social, and dissident life behind the Iron Curtain. They had embassies and consulates across the Eastern Bloc reporting on state leadership, party politics, protest movements, agricultural output, international trade agreements, scientific progress, minority populations, religion, sporting events, state-run media, and popular culture. And now, these previously secret files are available for teaching and scholarship.
The collection, sourced exclusively from The National Archives (UK), lets us look into the workings of every country in the Eastern Bloc during the post-Stalin era, through thousands of English-language insights written in the first person by officials of the time.

Canadian Documents

Documents on Canadian External Relations (1946-63)

Australian Documents

Australian National Archives
Select "Digital Copies Only" at the end of the Advanced Search form.

Newspapers & Magazines

English

ProQuest Historical Newspapers
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Gale Historical Newspapers

Readers' Guide Retrospective:1890-1982 (H.W. Wilson)
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French

ProQuest Historical Newspapers: Le Monde (1944 - 2000)
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Russian

Pravda Digital Archive Pravda ("Truth") was the official voice of Soviet communism and the Central Committee of the Communist Party between 1918 and 1991.
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Chinese

People's Daily - Renmin Ribao

Cold War Berlin

Databases, Archives, and Primary Source Websites

East Germany from Stalinization to the new economic policy, 1950-1963
Originally microfilmed as Records of the U.S. Department of State Relating to the Internal Affairs of East Germany, this digital collection provides an in-depth look into the creation of the East German state, living conditions, and its people. Documents included in this collection are predominantly instructions to and despatches from U.S. diplomatic, and consular personnel regarding political, military, economic, social, industrial, and other internal conditions and events in East Germany.

MacMillan Cabinet Papers, 1957-1963 (Adam Matthew)
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Macmillan Cabinet Papers, 1957-1963, sourced exclusively from The National Archives, the UK government's official archive, enables students and researchers better to understand the workings of British Government. Includes coverage of the Berlin Crisis, 1958-1961.
Socialism on Film (Adam Matthew)
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This collection of films from the communist world reveals war, history, current affairs, culture and society as seen through the socialist lens. It spans most of the twentieth century and covers countries such as the USSR, Vietnam, China, Korea, much of Eastern Europe, the GDR, Britain and Cuba.
Text mining is permitted, but certain conditions apply. Please contact Digital Scholarship Hub
1980s Culture and Society (Adam Matthew)
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An eclectic and multi-faceted resource compiled from archived zines, newspapers and ephemera, to oral histories, films and photographs, to showcase the key social, cultural, and political concerns of the decade.
To find useful documents, try "View All Documents" and then select countries of interest (e.g., Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany)).

NATO files on Cold War Berlin
This website includes several primary sources on Cold War Berlin including declassified NATO files and some audio excerpts. It also includes some suggestions for secondary source readings.
Berlin Wall (Wilson Center Digital Archive)
Documents on the history of the Berlin Wall, beginning with the conditions in Berlin and East Germany following WWII and the history of the wall's construction in 1961, and followed by the 1971 Four Power Negotiations on the status of Berlin, and the final tearing down of the Wall in 1989.
FOIA Electronic Reading Room: Berlin Wall Collection
Documents, essays, and overviews from the CIA that provide the background and the political ramifications of the Berlin Wall's construction.
Bundesarchiv (no PDFs)
Includes an up-to-date list of the German Federal Archives' holdings. The site does not have functional links to PDF scans.
Bundesarchiv (includes PDFs)
Links to the old system of the German Federal Archive (not updated since 2014), but includes working links to PDF scans.
East German Propaganda Archive
Part of Prof. Randall Bytwerk's (Calvin University) website archive of German propaganda, including speeches, essays, posters, and more.
Stasi Mediathek
Photographs and records from the Stasi of East Germany (in German).

Newspapers

Swiss National Library e-Newspapers
e-newspaperarchives.ch provides access to titles digitized by the Swiss National Library and its cantonal partners. Access is free; to download PDFs an account (free) is required.
Neues Deutschland (1948-49)
The Neues Deutschland is a newspaper that provided firsthand accounts of the 20th Century’s most momentous events from the Cold War’s epicenter, and today still continues publishing as one of Germany's national dailies. Online access is available from January 1948 - August 1949.

Vietnam Wars

U.S. Documents

Virtual Vietnam Archive
The Vietnam Center and Sam Johnson Vietnam Archive collects and preserves the documentary record of the Vietnam War, and supports and encourages research and education regarding all aspects of the American Vietnam Experience.
U.S. relations and policies in Southeast Asia, 1944-1958 records of the Office of Southeast Asian Affairs
This collection identifies the key issues, individuals, and events in the history of U.S.-Southeast Asia relations between 1944 and 1958, and places them in the context of the complex and dynamic regional strategic, political, and economic processes that have fashioned the American role in Southeast Asia.
Indochina, France, and the Viet Minh War, 1945-1954: Records of the U.S. State Department, Part 1: 1945-1949
Comprising records of the State Department’s Central Classified Files, this collection contains records relating to the internal affairs of Indochina, during the period 1945-49. The records include instructions sent to and correspondence received by the State Department; the State Department’s internal documentation, as well as correspondence between the Department and other federal departments and agencies, Congress, and private individuals and organizations; telegrams, airgrams, instructions, inquiries, studies, memoranda, situation reports, translations, special reports, plans, and official and unofficial correspondence.
Intelligence Reports from the National Security Council's Vietnam Information Group, 1967-1975
The Vietnam Information Group consisted of NSC staff members responsible for monitoring cable traffic from other agencies reporting on events in South and North Vietnam. The collection consists primarily of State Department cables and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) intelligence information cables. In addition, this collection includes a variety of reports, memoranda, and clippings.

Ambassador Graham Martin and the Saigon Embassy's Back Channel Communication Files, 1963-1975 (Archives Unbound)
Consists of State Department telegrams and White House backchannel messages between U.S. ambassadors in Saigon and White House national security advisers, talking points for meetings with South Vietnamese officials, intelligence reports, drafts of peace agreements, and military status reports. Subjects include the Diem coup, the Paris peace negotiations, the fall of South Vietnam, and other U.S./South Vietnam relations topics, 1963 to 1975.

The Pentagon Papers
The Pentagon Papers, officially titled "Report of the Office of the Secretary of Defense Vietnam Task Force", was commissioned by Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara in 1967. In June of 1971, small portions of the report were leaked to the press and widely distributed. However, the publications of the report that resulted from these leaks were incomplete and suffered from many quality issues. The complete Report is now available with no redactions compared to previous releases.

British Documents

Conflict in Indochina: Foreign Office Files for Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, 1959-1979 (Adam Matthew)
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Published in two sections, Conflict in Indochina explores the rising tension across Indochina after 1959. Comprising correspondence, maps, photographs and memoranda, this collection examines how the conflict crossed international borders and impacted the wider region. Text mining is permitted, but certain conditions apply. Please contact Digital Scholarship Hub
Foreign Office Files for Southeast Asia (Adam Matthew)
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Published in two parts, this extensive collection of Foreign Office Files explores South East Asia between 1963 and 1980 in a time of conflict, growth and change. Consisting of correspondence, maps, government dispatches and press releases from the FO 371, DO 169, DO 187, FCO 15 and FCO 24 series, this resource offers an unparalleled insight into the political and economic challenges faced during this period as the region moved towards industrialisation and establishing the foundations for economic growth.
Text mining is permitted, but certain conditions apply. Please contact Digital Scholarship Hub

Vietnamese Documents

Documents of an Elite Viet Cong Delta Unit: The Demolition Platoon of the 514th Battalion
Vietnamese materials collected by Jefferey Race
In Vietnamese. Photocopies and carbon copies of documents collected in Viet Nam during 1967 and 1968, along with interviews relating to the communist revolutionary movement in Long An Province.
Available through Interlibrary Loan (click "Request via Interlibrary Loan" and login with your McGill credentials.
Virtual Vietnam Archive
Contains some Vietnamese-language material in the Combined Document Exploitation Center collection.

Foreign-Language Documents in Translation

To find print and eBooks in our collection, search: su:Vietnam War, 1961-1975 Sources.

Cold War International History Project (Wilson Center)
Collections of archival documents on the Cold War era from the once secret archives of former communist countries. Scroll past dateline to see Featured Collections.
Indochinese War (Wilson Center)
Geneva Conference of 1954 (Wilson Center)
Vietnam War (Wilson Center)
Parallel History Project on Cooperative Security

Other Sources

Indochina War (UQAM)

The Columbia Guide to the Vietnam War by David Anderson
Call Number: DS557.5 .A54 2002

Other Cold War Databases

Cold War: Voices of Confrontation and Conciliation (Archives Unbound)
This database includes transcripts of oral recollections of key players in the global Cold War, including Valentin Berezhkov, Gerald Ford, Henry Kissinger, Robert S. McNamara, and Troy Wade, among others.
Cold War Eastern Europe, 1947-1982
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During the Cold War, the British Foreign Office was interested in every aspect of political, economic, cultural, social, and dissident life behind the Iron Curtain. They had embassies and consulates across the Eastern Bloc reporting on state leadership, party politics, protest movements, agricultural output, international trade agreements, scientific progress, minority populations, religion, sporting events, state-run media, and popular culture. And now, these previously secret files are available for teaching and scholarship.
The collection, sourced exclusively from The National Archives (UK), lets us look into the workings of every country in the Eastern Bloc during the post-Stalin era, through thousands of English-language insights written in the first person by officials of the time.

Citations

History as a discipline uses the Chicago Manual of Style (18th edition) for citations, and usually the Notes-Bibliography form. This requires creating properly formatted footnotes footnotes and a Bibliography for your assignments. Resources to understand the Chicago style of citations are included below.

Note: Chicago Manual of Style updated to the 18th edition in September 2024.

HCS Guide to the Chicago Manual of Style
A guide to the Chicago Manual of Style developed for students in History and Classics (18th edition).

The Chicago Manual of Style, 18th Edition
Publication Date: 2024
A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, Ninth Edition by Kate L. Turabian
Call Number: LB2369 T8 2018
Publication Date: 2018
A guide to Chicago Manual of Style with more information on hard-to-cite or unusual sources than the original manual.

Guides

Chicago Manual of Style Citation Quick Guide
McGill Library Citation Subject Guide
Under "citation styles by subject", select "History" for more resources on Chicago style.

Library Support

Chicago Workshops
McGill Librarians offer two virtual Chicago Citation Style workshops per term. Follow this link to find and register for upcoming workshops!
Citation Management
Attend a workshop to learn how to use Zotero or EndNote, useful citation management systems. Zotero is highly recommended for History students!

Liaison Librarian

Kristen Howard

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Subjects: Classical studies, History, Indigenous studies, Religious studies