On 4 August 1914 at 11pm, Britain declared war on Germany, responding to their violation of Belgium neutrality.

How had Europe got to this point? What impact would the conflict have on the belligerent and neutral nations? The answers to these questions can be researched using LSE Library’s collections.

Het toppunt der beschaving: 1914

Europe’s journey into the abyss was the culmination of years of foreign policy; some of this journey is described in the first series of Documents on British Policy Overseas (DBPO), which covers 1898-1914. This information is supported by a selection of newspapers from the time: The Times; Daily Mail; Guardian; and the New York Times. The documents in DBPO are a selection of the political material available, with many more accessible through the Library’s online resources.

The political record of events can also be found in the House of Commons Parliamentary Papers and Hansard, the latter being the written record of the verbatim debates in the Houses of Parliament. Delving deeper into the Library’s holdings, it is also possible to find the microfilm holdings of  the Eastern Front reports to the War Cabinet.

But the political record of the conflict is only a small part of the story. As the conflict developed, its effects on society and the challenging questions it raised began to surface. This is reflected in the pamphlets collected during this period, which examine: economics; the origins of the war; international law; morality; and humanitarian relief.

E.D Morel, ca. 1900-1915.

One person who was interested in the origins of the war was E. D. Morel. One of the leading investigative journalists of his era, Morel discussed this question with the Birkenhead Liberal Association in 1914, and went on to collect material relating to this topic, as his personal papers demonstrate.

The economic effects of the conflict were widespread, a fact reflected in the archival collections. One of the most important of these is the papers of William Beveridge, the former director of LSE. His papers include information about the Ministry of Munitions and the Ministry of Reconstruction. He was joined in the national war effort by others connected with LSE, including Hugh Dalton and Beatrice Webb. Beatrice served on the Committee of Women in Industry as labour shortages meant an increasing number of women undertook war work, as detailed in the Women at Work microfilm collection that forms part of of the Women’s Library collection. This collection also contains a range of photos depicting the increasing contribution women made in the workplace, including some rare ones from Germany.

X-ray ambulance on the Western Front, c.1916

The suffering and casualties caused by the conflict led to widespread humanitarian efforts.  One of the most prominent of these was the Scottish Women’s Hospital, who undertook work in a number of countries, notably Serbia.  Another country affected heavily by the war was Belgium. Several local relief committee emerged as a result including one at Beckenham.  Some of those who received help showed their appreciation in artistic form.

The legacy of the Great War was also one of the prime causes of the Second World War. The after-effects of the conflict were of interest to organisations such as the Royal Institute for International Affairs (Chatham House). In the period between the wars, they collected a large number of publications, which now form part of our collection of Chatham House pamphlets, though much of this collection remains uncatalogued.  Many of the topics discussed there were also of interest to the League of Nations Union, whose collection we hold.

This summary of LSE Library’s collections is a tiny portion of the range of material related to the conflict we hold.  You can discover thousands of resources that will help you understand the myriad of factors that led the to the conflict using Library Search.

And you can discover more about LSE Library’s First World War archives with this exclusive online exhibition- World War One at LSE: a common cause.

Paul Horsler

About Paul Horsler

Paul Horsler is the Academic Support Librarian for the Economic History, Government and International History departments. He is currently undertaking research on the subject of British foreign policy and public opinion 1937-1939