Research Guides: Primary Sources: Military Life and War

Sources on Military Life and War

General
World War I
World War II
Korean War
Vietnam
Cold War
Conflict in the Middle East

U.S. Declassified Documents Online
U.S. Declassified Documents Online provides immediate access to a broad range of previously classified federal records spanning the twentieth and twenty first centuries. The collection brings together the most sensitive documents from all the presidential libraries and numerous executive agencies in a single, easily searchable database. The search and discovery interface for the collection allows researchers to locate the full text of documents and quickly filter their search results by document type, issue date, source institution, classification level, and date declassified as well as other document characteristics.

CIA Historical Collections
Here you can view documents released through the FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) and other CIA release programs. You can search all the documents by using the search bar at the top of the page, or you can browse individual collections of documents on historically significant topics compiled by our office.
Veteran's History Project (Library of Congress)
The Veterans History Project of the American Folklife Center collects, preserves, and makes accessible the personal accounts of American war veterans so that future generations may hear directly from veterans and better understand the realities of war. *Not all items are accessible. Click on "Digitized" items.

American Leaders Speak: Recordings from World War I (Library of Congress)
A collection of speeches given by prominent Americans between 1918 and 1920, focused largely around World War I. *The search bar is located at the top of the page. Click "Collection Items" to browse.
British Library's World War One Collection
Just over 500 historical sources examining key themes in the history of World War I. *Best used by browsing the themes on the left side of the page. The search feature will include articles that are not primary sources.
Europeana 1914-1918
Resources from libraries and archives across Europe, focused on exploring the stories and histories of World War I.

First World War
A collection of primary source material documenting the First World War. In three parts, Personal Experiences, Propaganda and Recruitment, and Visual Perspectives and Narratives. The collection consists of diaries, letters, photographs, personal narratives, and other primary sources, complemented by secondary resources including essays, chronologies, and glossaries.

George S. Patton Papers: Diaries, 1910 to 1945 (Library of Congress)
Collection that illustrates Patton's activities during the Mexican Punitive Expedition, World War I, and World War II.
German World War I Photographic Postcards (NYPL)
German photographic postcards made during 1914-1918, primarily views of military operations, troop movements, and military life.
The National WWI Museum and Memorial
A collection consisting of mainly photographs at the moment. *When searching, check the 'Items with Images Only' box to assure that the item has been digitized.
Newspaper Pictorials: World War I Rotogravures, 1914 to 1919 (Library of Congress)
The images in this collection track American sentiment about the war in Europe, week by week, before and after the United States became involved. Events of the war are detailed alongside society news and advertisements touting products of the day, creating a pictorial record of both the war effort and life at home. *The search bar is located at the top of the page. Click "Collection Items" to browse.
Over Here, Over There: Tennesseans in the First World War
A Tennessee State Library & Archives project to digitize, preserve and present the World War I memorabilia of Tennessee families.
Stars and Stripes: The American Soldiers' Newspaper of World War I, 1918 to 1919 (Library of Congress)
A newspaper written by servicemen abroad in France during WWI. *The search bar is located at the top of the page. Click "Collection Items" to browse.

Air Scoop
The Air Scoop weekly newsletter informed and entertained members of the 63rd College Training Detachment based at the University of Tennessee during World War II. The detachment’s goal was to run a publication for and by aviation students in the detachment in order to unify the organization and to share news related to military training and social events occurring on and around the Knoxville campus.
Archivio Luce
An Italian archive of War Department photographs. Only in Italian, but works well with Google translate.
Das Bundesarchiv (Germany's Federal Archive)
Approx. 11 million still pictures, aerial photographs and posters from modern German history. First photographs date from the 1860s. Most pictures show events and/or persons, in particular from the WWII era.
*Information and description of photographs is in German. This resource is best used by searching particular names, places, or events.
Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Black-and-White Negatives (Library of Congress)
Photographs documenting American life between 1935 and 1944. Includes photos of factory workers supporting the war effort, American propaganda, soldiers at home, and much more. *Use the search bar, or select "View All" on the left to browse.
George S. Patton Papers: Diaries, 1910 to 1945 (Library of Congress)
Collection that illustrates Patton's activities during the Mexican Punitive Expedition, World War I, and World War II.
National WWII Museum Digital Collections
The National World War II Museum is home to thousands of oral histories and hundreds of thousands of photographs.
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
The Museum’s Collections document the fate of Holocaust victims, survivors, rescuers, liberators, and others through artifacts, documents, photos, films, books, personal stories, and more.
UTK WWII Oral History Digitization Project
300 hours of Oral History interviews focusing on Veterans' experiences before the war, during combat, and while returning home.
World War II Military Situation Maps
This collection contains maps showing troop positions beginning on June 6, 1944 to July 26, 1945. Starting with the D-Day Invasion, the maps give daily details on the military campaigns in Western Europe, showing the progress of the Allied Forces as they push towards Germany. *The search bar is located at the top of the page. Click "Collection Items" to browse.
Yad Vashem - The World Holocaust Remembrance Center
Multiple collections that document Jewish life before, during, and after the war, the victims of the Holocaust, and the Righteous Among the Nations. Includes photographs, documents/records, and oral histories.

Eisenhower Foundation Items on the Korean War
A small collection of documents and images. The main page of information is NOT a primary source, but the items linked below are.
Korean War Propaganda Leaflets (NDSU)
This collection contain propaganda leaflets produced by the United States Army as well as leaflets produced by the communist forces in Korea.
Korean War Veterans Digital Memorial
A digital memorial consisting of oral histories and artifacts that document the Korean War.
Wilson Center Digital Archive (Korean War)
A collection of primary source documents related to the Korean War. Obtained largely from Russian archives, the documents include reports on Chinese and Soviet aid to North Korea, allegations that America used biological weapons, and the armistice.

John F. Kennedy Presidential Library Digital Collections
The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum acquires, preserves, arranges and describes, and provides access to primary-source materials in all formats that document the life, political career, and times of John F. Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States. *Not all materials have been fully digitized.
Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library Collections
A collection of materials from LBJ's presidency. Includes photographs, oral histories, LBJ's daily dairy, and phone records. *Limit to "digital item" to assure access.

Sixties : Primary Documents and Personal Narratives 1960-1974
Primary source material, including diaries, letters, autobiographies and other memoirs, written and oral histories, manifestos, government documents, memorabilia, and scholarly commentary, on the 1960s in the United States. Topics include the civil rights movement, the Vietnam War and the associated protest movement, radical movements, and counter-culture.

The Pentagon Papers
"Report of the Office of the Secretary of Defense Vietnam Task Force" commissioned in 1967 and recently declassified.
Texas Tech University Vietnam Center and Archive
The mission of the OHP is to create and preserve a more complete record of the wars in Southeast Asia by preserving, through recorded interviews, the recollections and experiences of all who were involved in those wars.
Wilson Center Digital Archive (Vietnam War)
These telegrams, minutes, and discussion notes range from the mid-1950s to the end of the 1970s, and most come from Chinese and Albanian archives. There are many documents from Albania archives on Vietnam-Albanian relations. The collection also includes several Chinese telegrams and memorandums on foreign and economic relations with Indochina, as well as discussions with Zhou Enlai and Mao Zedong.

The Avalon Project "The Cold War" (Yale)
Transcriptions of law and diplomacy documents relating to The Cold War.
CIA Historical Collections
Interesting collection of declassified documents from the CIA. *The small search bar under 'Search Query for FOIA ERR:' searches the collection.
Making the History of 1989
A collection of primary sources from the year the Berlin Wall came down. Easily browsable by country and topic, as well as fully searchable.
Wilson Center Digital Archive (Cold War History)
A tremendous collection of archival documents on the Cold War era from the once secret archives of former communist countries.

Since many of the wars and conflicts in the Middle East have happened relatively recently, primary sources for them can be found in most collections and databases. That can make this a difficult search for many students. If you have any questions on whether a source qualifies as a primary source for your topic, please contact Research Assistance.

Carnegie Council - The Iraq War: Primary Sources
A small collection of articles and opinion pieces written about and during the Iraq War.
Clinton Digital Library
Online collection that documents the Clinton presidency. Browse by collection or use the small search bar in the upper-right corner to search all materials.
George H.W. Bush Presidential Library & Museum: Public Papers
Collected papers and speeches of President George Bush from the period 20 January 1989 to 19 January 1993. *These are searchable, but do not provide a preview. Open the items that come up, then use your computer's search function to search again in the document to jump to the right place.
The National Security Archive - Operation Desert Storm: Ten Years Later
This briefing book primarily focuses on the intelligence, space operations, and Scud-hunting aspects of the war. It also includes a report describing how Desert Storm affected China's view of future warfare, a document that raises questions as to what lessons other nations have drawn from U.S. military engagements in the Middle East and the Balkans.
Wilson Center - Iran-Iraq War
Collection of Iraqi documents translated and made available by the Conflict Records Research Center about the 1980 to 1988 conflict also known as the First Persian Gulf War.
Wilson Center - Israeli Nuclear History
Documents on the history of Israeli nuclear development.
Wilson Center- Saddam Hussein's Iraq
This collection contains a wide range of Iraqi government files including transcripts of high-level meetings, speeches by Saddam and senior officials, correspondence between ministries, and records of the Presidential Diwan.