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THE FIRST WORLD WAR: A DOCUMENTARY RECORD

Series One: European War 1914-1919, the War Reserve Collection (WRA-WRE) from Cambridge University Library

Part 1: The Card Catalogue and Manuscript Listings

Editorial Introduction by Dr. J.M. Winter

Between 1914 and 1918 the University of Cambridge was a hollow institution. Its primary raison d’etre – the education of undergraduate men – was eclipsed, and even though women and foreigners were still taught and examined, the University virtually came to a halt during the dark years of war. Education mattered less than military service, an unavoidable fact which rendered marginal most of the teaching, research and pastoral work of senior resident members of the University.

Some filled the void by engaging in war-related work, or by writing patriotic tracts, sermons or poems. Others spoke out against the war, or tried to find a way forward through activity related to post-war reconstruction. Some tried to keep in touch with former students in uniform and their families, and to help in any way possible console those whose sons, husbands, brothers and fathers were killed in the war.

Another task was to ensure that a documentary record of these momentous days was kept and preserved for posterity. This aim was the origin of the War Reserve Collection of Cambridge University, as it was of similar collections in Paris (the Bibliothèque du documentation internationale contemporaine at the University of Paris X at Nanterre); in Stuttgart (Kriegsbibliothek, now the Bibliothek fUr Zeitgeschichte); and in California (at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University).

In each case one individual was instrumental in providing the vision and stamina necessary to create a full documentary record of the war. In Cambridge it was Francis Jenkinson, Fellow of Trinity College, and University Librarian. Jenkinson decided in 1915 to write to every conceivable public and institutional office or personal contact, asking friends and colleagues if they would care to deposit official and ephemeral material on the war in the Cambridge University Library.

The outcome of his efforts is the collection here preserved and available for the first time in microfilm. It is an extraordinary record of the voices of ordinary people swept up in the whirlwind of the war. Anyone interested in the attempts of soldiers, civilians, and neutrals to understand or make sense of the war will profit from using this resource.

The material in it is strongest in what may be called the cultural history of the war. By that I mean first the struggle of governments to present the war as a conflict of good versus evil, of higher versus lower values, of one civilization versus another. The history of wartime propaganda can be written from this collection alone. Secondly, the cultural history of the war is here disclosed in its unofficial aspects. That is, most propaganda was not commissioned or produced by governments, but came from the private sector or from private initiatives. Civilian voices are here in abundance. Thirdly, and perhaps most originally, the cultural history of the men in uniform is described here in their own words. There is a rich, and to a degree, unparalleled collection of trench journals, flysheets and papers produced by men in uniform, most of the time at or near the front line. These newspapers provided evidence of soldiers’ attitudes and anger, at the enemy, at civilian ignorance of their hardships, and at the seemingly endless nature of the war itself.

The military, economic, diplomatic and political history of the war is also abundantly documented. Much material contained here is very rare. The official history of the blockade of Germany was not circulated; neither was the history of the Ministry of Munitions. Both can be read in their entirety in this collection. The complex diplomatic record associated with the war crisis of 1914, with attempts at mediation during the conflict, and with peacemaking is similarly preserved in easily usable form.

In sum, Jenkinson succeeded in providing ‘an essential record and a particularly valuable tool for the study of the Great War, at school, at university or research levels. It will remain for years to come a rich resource for anyone interested in twentieth century history, in the history of international conflict, or simply in the capacity of ordinary people to survive and transcend the disasters of this century’.

J M Winter
Pembroke College, Cambridge

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