On trial: Paris Peace Conference and Beyond, 1919-1939

Thanks to a request from HCA staff the Library currently has trial access to Paris Peace Conference and Beyond, 1919-1939 from British Online Archives (BOA). The Paris Peace Conference was a meeting of Allied diplomats that took place in the aftermath of the First World War. Its purpose was to impose peace terms on the vanquished Central Powers and establish a new international order. This fascinating digital primary source database gives you access to official and personal papers relating to this conference and the treaties that came from it.

You can access this database from the E-resources trials page.
Access is available on and off-campus.

Trial access ends 17th March 2020.

The First World War gave rise to a complex system of alliances and antagonisms. The various treaties imposed by the Allied powers in its aftermath settled conflicts with Germany, Bulgaria, the Ottoman Empire (later Turkey), Austria, and Hungary. Paris Peace Conference and Beyond contains documents that cover the treaties of Versailles, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Neuilly-sur-Seine, Trianon, Sèvres, Lausanne, and Locarno, as well as the foundation of the League of Nations.

The intention of many of these treaties was to craft an international order based on the principles of multi-lateral arbitration and collective security. The files in this collection highlight the difficulties policymakers faced when trying to balance the logic of power politics with the ideals of internationalism.

The majority of the documents in the collection were produced by the British Government. Most come from the Foreign Office, but the Cabinet Office and War Office are both well-represented. The files also include a series of high-resolution maps detailing the changing boundaries of Europe and the Middle East (particularly in relation to the former territories of the Ottoman Empire) during the early inter-war years.

Empire and imperialism feature heavily, as do the League Nations, the wavering influence of the United States on the world stage, and reparations. Some of the documents hint at the shifting ideology of the post-war period, including references to the Bolshevik government in Russia and the emergence of fascism in Italy.

Paris Peace Conference and Beyond also includes the personal papers of Lord Robert Cecil and Sir Arthur Balfour which offer a different, though no less important, insight into the peace making process. Both played prominent roles in the Paris Peace Conference and the negotiations that followed.

You can access this database via E-resources trials.
Access is available on and off-campus.
Trial access ends 17th March 2020.
Feedback welcome.

Access is only available to current students and staff at University of Edinburgh.

Please note, trial access to a resource is an opportunity for our staff and students to try a resource out and give feedback on its quality and usefulness. However, if we trial a resource this is not an indication that we plan to or will be able to purchase or subscribe to the resource in the near future.

Caroline Stirling – Academic Support Librarian for History, Classics and Archaeology