College and Research Libraries By P H I L I P T . M c L E A N The Hoover Library on War, Revolution, and Peace The reference librarian of the Hoover Library describes that library as an exam- ple of the constructive use of the printed page. IN 1 9 1 4 , Herbert Hoover sensed the sig-nificance of the W o r l d W a r which was then beginning. He visualized its f a r reaching effects and resolved that the rec- ords of the crisis should be preserved and gathered together at Stanford University. M r . Hoover's widespread European activi- ties in the administration of relief both during and after the war provided unique opportunities for the development of such a project. Even during the period of hos- tilities he was able to assemble a large amount of war data. However, the main task of collecting was inaugurated at the close of the war, and it is being continued at the present time. As its name implies, the library has a threefold purpose: ( I ) its aim is to pre- sent an accurate historical picture of the causes, events, and results of the W o r l d W a r of 1 9 1 4 - 1 8 ; ( 2 ) it attempts to show how this conflict brought about chaotic conditions resulting in the present upheaval of the world today; ( 3 ) it makes available a study of the varied efforts which have been used or are being used to remedy such conditions. T h e materials concerning the underly- ing causes of the W o r l d W a r deal with the diplomatic alignments of the great powers since 1 8 7 1 , the question of eco- nomic imperialism, and the problems of nationalism. T h e records for the war period cover all political, economic, and social phases of the world conflict. For the period immediately following the war, research data have been gathered on the various treaties of peace, on the revolu- tionary movements resulting from the war, and on the various relief measures put into effect in post-war Europe. T h e library has been made as adequate as possible on the period of transition from war conditions to normal postwar condi- tions during the years 1 9 1 9 - 2 5 . T h e sub- jects for this general period of reconstruc- tion include the political and economic re- organization of the belligerent and neutral states, the political and social movements arising from the war, and the enforcement of the treaties of peace through the vari- ous organizations set up to carry out its provisions. M a n y phases of the late postwar period and problems of the present day can also be studied. T h e Hoover Library has gathered most valuable materials on the questions of inter-Allied debts, reparations, rehabilitation of currencies, and general fiscal conditions. T h e history and devel- opment of such international organizations as the League of Nations, the W o r l d Court, the International Labour Office, and the Institute of Pacific Relations can be investigated. T h e library offers un- 154 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES rivaled resources for research on the pres- ent situation in central and eastern Europe, through its unique collections which deal with the development of Communism in Russia, the rise of Fascism in Italy and the growth of National Socialism in Germany. Chiefly for Use of Historians T h e library has concentrated, however, upon the preservation of records for the use of the historian, and has given little notice to the acquisition of material com- monly found in museums. It contains approximately 25,000 volumes of govern- ment documents from 60 countries or states, 80,000 books and pamphlets, 3 1 , 0 0 0 posters and photographs, over 2 1 0 0 sheets of official maps, and 281,000 feet of 35 mm. film. T h e newspaper collection of the Hoover Library contains over 1 7 0 0 titles in 26 languages and covers the press of 40 countries. M a n y of the papers are to be found nowhere else in the United States. T h e collection of periodicals numbers over 7000 titles in 32 languages from 44 countries. In this paper I shall confine myself to that section of the library dealing with the actual World W a r , and describe the vari- ous types of material which facilitate the study of this great crisis. I shall discuss first the military data. Prominent in this section are the official military and naval histories published by the various governments in order to nar- rate and commemorate their own military and naval activity. T h e German govern- ment is at the present time publishing its official history under the title, Der Welt- krieg. T h e corresponding French official history has the title: Les Armees Fran- gaises dans la Grande Guerre, published by the French general staff. There are approximately one hundred volumes issued to date. T h e official work commemorat- ing Great Britain's military efforts bears the title: The History of the Great War Based on Official Documents. T h e por- tion of the work completed to date has been published in some fifty volumes. Supplementing these official records are the regimental histories of the various military units of the belligerent powers. T h e li- brary has over 1000 volumes of such rec- ords of France, Germany, Great Britain, and the United States. But the personal element has not been neglected. It is represented in the memoirs of such leaders as Ludendorff, Hindenburg, and Tirpitz for the Central Powers; and in the works of Foch, J o f f r e , Haig, Kitchener, and Pershing for the Al- lied Powers. T h e personal side of the war is also shown in the accounts of the infantryman, the cavalryman, the sailor, the aviator, and in the war narratives of the doctor, the nurse, and the ambulance driver. Secondary accounts of military campaigns and battles are numerous also. T h e catalog of the Hoover Library con- tains approximately 700 entries under the subject heading: European War—Cam- paigns with its various subdivisions. These studies and accounts of military operations are supplemented by maps and photographs. T h e maps are representa- tive of all countries and are both official and unofficial in character. For example, a study of American military operations can be facilitated by the use of United States general staff maps for the various regions of the western front in which American activitiescentered. These maps, consisting of over one thousand sheets, are of various scales. For British military operations there is a wide variety of maps issued by the geographical section of the British general staff. Also of special in- MARCH, 1940 12 7 terest are charts prepared by the British admiralty showing the position of Ger- man mine fields in the Baltic regions, the positions of American and British mines ir the North Sea area, and the mine clear- ance areas in these regions after the war. T h e activities of military forces in vari- ous regions are vividly portrayed in the proclamations issued in occupied terri- tories. T h e events of the German occu- pation of Belgium are recorded for future scholars in the Grace Davis Booth Col- lection of original proclamations issued by the German authorities during the years 1 9 1 4 - 1 8 . T h i s collection, organized in 77 specially made boxes, contains 2 1 3 2 items. Another similar collection con- tains about 2300 proclamations issued by civil and military authorities in the city of Berlin during the period of the war. T h e military journal plays an important part in the historical record and it has likewise been preserved. T h e Hoover Li- brary possesses over 200 files in the Ger- man language, 3 1 in English, 93 in French, as well as smaller groups in Russian, Italian, Polish, and other languages. These journals range from daily papers published in the field to hospital and pri- son camp papers. They were often issued as mimeographed sheets, and at times were even printed on wallpaper. But a history of the war cannot be limited to an account of military opera- tions. T h e political and economic aspects are of equal importance. In these fields the official documents play a prominent role. T h e Hoover Library collection of official documents may be divided into two general classes: ( 1 ) national, state, and municipal documents; and ( 2 ) docu- ments of national and international organi- zations having government connections. T h e national and state documents in- clude the legislative debates and official journals for all countries, belligerent and neutral. T h e publications of the various foreign offices contribute to a study of diplomatic negotiations, while the records of the ministries of agriculture, commerce, labor, and industry all make their contri- bution to the study of wartime economy. T h e records of international organizations include reports and minutes of various inter-Allied bodies of the war period, such as the Allied Blockade Committee, the Allied Maritime Transport Council, and the Inter-Allied Munitions Council. Out- standing in this field are the records of the Paris Peace Conference, a most extensive collection of mimeographed and printed documents of this great international body created at the close of the war. T h e rec- ords include the minutes of the plenary sessions, the proceedings of the various committee meetings, and the bulletins of the various delegations. Has Publications of More Than 3500 Societies But the social, economic, and political phases of the war are also reflected in the records of various nongovernmental or- ganizations. T h e reports of political par- ties, the pamphlets of special economic groups, the tracts of religious organiza- tions, and the publications of societies with special political or racial interests all make contributions to the study of the war. In the records of the American Bankers' As- sociation, the American Bible Society, the American Federation of Labor, the Ameri- can Red Cross, the National Security League, the Jewish W e l f a r e Board, the Catholic National Council, and the Y . M . C . A . the historian can trace the in- fluence of the war upon American na- tional life. T h e Hoover Library possesses 156 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES publications of over 3500 societies in vari- ous countries for the war and postwar periods. T h e newspaper is also an invaluable tool in a study of the war. For some countries, the newspaper holdings include all important groups of opinions and re- gions. For other countries there are one or two files only, but in such cases an effort has been made to secure one paper in sympathy with the government and one in opposition. T h e active role of the press in war time is probably nowhere shown to better ad- vantage than in a study of the newspaper and periodical press of Belgium during the period of German occupation, 1 9 1 4 - 18. From the very beginning of this oc- cupation, the importance of the press was acknowledged by the German authorities ; evidence of this is shown by their exten- sive efforts to supervise all papers and journals in existence, and to establish new publications in order to control thought and public opinion. T h e Hoover Library possesses war-time files of 50 Belgian newspapers; they were issued in both the occupied and unoccupied territories, and in various Allied countries in which Bel- gians had taken refuge. Clandestine Publications T h e curtailment of the freedom of the press by the German authorities naturally resulted in the appearance of a vast amount of clandestine material of all kinds: books, pamphlets, cartoons, post cards, and periodicals which appeared wherever and whenever possible. T h e publication of these periodicals began early in August 1 9 1 4 . By the summer of 1 9 1 5 , twenty-five such journals had made their appearance. A f t e r J u l y 1 9 1 5 new titles appeared less frequently, although they continued to appear until the armistice. T h e clandestine Belgian serial is repre- sented by a collection of about 55 titles, numbering over 1400 issues. These seri- als varied in size and appeared both in mimeographed and printed form. In a few instances these secret publications ap- peared throughout the period of the war. T h i s was true of the now famous Libre Belgique, which began in February 1 9 1 5 and made its last appearance on the day after the armistice, November 12, 1 9 1 8 . T h e Libre Belgique was primarily an or- gan of opinion and confined itself briefly to harassing the German authorities by satire and calumny. In jovial mood, its sponsors termed it " a bulletin of patriotic propaganda, regularly irregular." T h e library possesses a complete file of the original edition of 1 7 1 numbers. A check of the Union List of Serials discloses that, with the exception of the Libre Belgique, practically none of the clandestine titles are available in other libraries. It appears, therefore, that the Hoover Library collec- tion is unique in America and probably unique in the world. But any complete account of the war must give due consideration to the forces which controlled and affected the reaction of the individual toward the war. T h e successful prosecution of the war in every country necessitated the mobilization of the civilian mind. T h e efforts of govern- mental authorities to effect this mobiliza- tion resulted in the development of a phenomenon almost unknown until the beginning of the World W a r , namely, the extensive use of propaganda. A s used during the war, propaganda had three main objectives: ( 1 ) to arouse the domestic population in support of the w a r ; ( 2 ) to win the support of neutral na- tions; ( 3 ) to destroy the morale of the MARCH, 1940 12 7 enemy. Its methods in these three fields are exemplified by special materials in the Hoover Library. The methods of appeal to the domestic population for support of the war varied; much was accomplished by the newspaper, the periodical, and the pamphlet. But perhaps the most effective tool in prepar- ing the ground for the general support of the war was the pictorial poster. Its im- portant role is strikingly shown in the Hoover Library collections. Posters, placards, and proclamations from all the belligerent nations have been collected and organized. It is noteworthy that the post- ers of each country were based on identi- cal psychological appeals. The call to "save food" echoed in Germany as well as in France and America. The attempts of belligerents to win sup- port of neutrals is shown by hundreds of pamphlets and books in the library. This propaganda material was distributed by both the Allied and Central powers in an attempt to gain the sympathy and support of civilians in neutral countries. One col- lection in the library presents the materials distributed in South America by the Al- lied and Central powers to gain sympathy for their respective causes. Another ex- ample is furnished by a collection of Ger- man propaganda distributed in the United States prior to our entry into the World War in 1 9 1 7 . Still a third is a collection of British propaganda distributed in the United States during the same period. The third main objective of propaganda, that of destroying the morale of the enemy, can be studied by the use of a large collection of broadsides which were dropped over the German lines from Al- lied airplanes. The purpose of these broadsides was to arouse in the mind of the enemy a sense of unrest and despair. A few words concerning the policy of the Hoover Library may be of interest. The library is primarily a reference li- brary. Although books appearing in the current book trade are allowed to circu- late, all government documents, news- papers, periodicals, and materials in special collections are for reference use only. The facilities of the library are primarily for the faculty and graduate students of Stan- ford University. The library is open, however, to the faculty and graduate stu- dents of other universities and to other qualified investigators upon presentation of credentials. Plans are now progressing for the erec- tion of a new building to house the Hoover Library on War, Revolution, and Peace. Through the generosity of various private donors and foundations, a sum of $600,000 has been made available for this purpose. The new building will be constructed in tower form, and will rise 280 feet above the ground level. The architecture has been designed to harmonize with the exist- ing buildings of Stanford University. The Hoover Library may be called an international archive, comparable in scope to the archives of a great state. Its wide- spread use by local, national, and even in- ternational scholars testifies to its impor- tance in the field of historical research. The library is continually progressing along the lines laid down by its originators, and is already realizing the aims of its founder in presenting an interpretation of the past and present for the benefit and guidance of the future. With the increased facili- ties of the new building, which will make all the library's resources available to the scholar, the Hoover Library is destined to become a world center for research on the World War and the subsequent world order. 158 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES