Online resources for researching history

The links posted below came originally from the Online resources for researching history thread on Alternate Timelines and are useful online and offline resources that can help you study history or ponder alternate history while you are writing your timeline, scenario, story, etc., etc. To view the resources, click one of the links in the following sections and start searching for something that could prove useful to you and your writing/worldbuilding needs.

War of 1812

Guide to the War of 1812

Military Resources: War of 1812

Spanish–American War

Spanish American War - Naval History and Heritage Command: This extensive bibliography was created by the Naval History and Heritage Command. The purpose of this publication is to encourage understanding and further study of the naval aspects of the Spanish-American War.

Documenting United States Naval Activities During the Spanish-American War

The World of 1898: The Spanish-America War: Created by the Library of Congress Hispanic Division, this online presentation provides resources and documents about the Spanish-American War, the period before the war, and some of the fascinating people who participated in the fighting or commented about it. Information about Cuba, Guam, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Spain, and the United States is provided in chronologies, bibliographies, and a variety of pictorial and textual material from bilingual sources, supplemented by an overview essay about the war and the period.

The Spanish American War Centennial Website!: This site commemorates the centennial of the Spanish-American War. It contains a wide variety of information on the war, including an overview of the war, a chronology, action reports, diaries, unit profiles, rosters, photographs, and genealogy research tips.

The Library of Congress: A Guide to the Spanish-American War: The digital collections of the Library of Congress contain a wide variety of material associated with the Spanish-American War, including manuscripts, maps, broadsides, photographs, prints, sheet music, and films, it also provides links to external Web sites focusing on the Spanish-American War and a bibliography containing selections for both general and younger readers.

World War I

First Call: American Posters of World War One

FirstWorldWar.com

The First World War: Personal Experiences

Stars and Stripes: The American Soldiers' Newspaper of World War I, 1918-1919

World War I Document Archive

World War I: Trenches on the Web

Spanish Civil War (1936-1939)

About the Spanish Civil War: Organized by Cary Nelson, the site contains Modern American poetry on the Spanish Civil War, a generous selection of other texts, and images.

Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives: This site lists ALBA's ongoing projects, including the traveling exhibitions: a poster-collection section, Shouts from the Wall, and a photographic exhibit, The Aura of the Cause, with information about each show. Also has an extensive selection of links to related Web sites.

Asociación de Amigos de las Brigadas Internacionales: Dedicated to preserving the memory of the International Brigades. Includes maps, photographs, a traveling exhibit, and other texts.

Spanish Civil War (Archives Hub - U of Manchester): A gateway to thousands of the UK's richest archives on the Spanish Civil War.

Spanish Civil War Poster Collection--Brandeis University Spotlight: Like all posters, the Spanish Civil War posters in the Brandeis collection are public art with a focused agenda. These posters were meant to encourage support of and participation in the effort to resist a fascist takeover of Spain. Although other posters were created for commercial ends, these were created to serve a broader purpose, to make the viewer feel the importance of a strongly held belief—for thousands, a matter of life or death.

Spanish Civil War maps: Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona (in English and French)

Archivo Rojo: A remarkable collection of photographic images from the Spanish Civil War. Originally created by the Junta de Defensa de Madrid to document atrocities, later used by the Franco government to identify and repress "republicanos".

Spanish Civil War Footage: To commemorate the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, British Pathé has launched this definitive collection of films from that conflict.

History of the Spanish Civil War :With both primary and secondary sources, including photos.

World War II

The Atomic Bomb and the End of World War II: A Collection of Primary Sources

Historic Government Publications from World War II

Holocaust Encyclopedia

HyperWar: A Hypertext History of the Second World War

The Japanese Story of the Battle of Midway

Nuremberg War Crimes Trials

Oral Histories of World War II (NHHC)

uboat.net

World War II Poster Collection

ORBIS

ORBIS, a map of the ancient world with a calculator for travel times at that age. It actually is really useful.

Perseus Hopper (Perseus Digital Library)

Perseus Hopper, a web site that showcases collections and services developed as a part of Perseus Hopper research efforts over the years.

The History logbook

History logbook, a open archive for historical persons and events.

The Office of the Historian

Office of the Historian, site about history of U.S. foreign policy and the Department of State.

Best of History

Best of History Web

Medieval sourcebook online (links to hundreds of uploaded texts)

Internet Medieval Sourcebook

The Camelot Project (Arthurian; the legends, the literature)

The Camelot Project

Project Guttenburg (28,000 books, mostly classics and still growing rapidly)

Project Guttenburg

ETANA (Electronic Tools and Ancient Eastern Archives)

ETANA

British History Online (digital library containing some of the core printed primary and secondary sources for the medieval and modern history of the British Isles)

British History Online

Samurai Archives (Japanese Military history)

Samurai Archives

Office of the Historian

Historical web sites

Irish History Online Home

Dacian encyclopedia (ENDA - English translations)

Omniatlas Maps

Map of the Ancient World -- Ancient History Encyclopedia

The National Archives: A helpful guide to researching primary sources

American Memory Collection: The Library of Congress’s digitized collection of written and spoken words, sound recordings, still and moving images, prints, maps, and sheet music that document the American experience

The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History Collection: A collection of primary documents and exhibits, with special focus on the Revolutionary, Antebellum, Civil War, and Reconstruction periods

Constitution.org: A collection of primary source documents pertaining to early American history

100 Milestone Documents: A collection of 100 documents that chronicle United States history from 1776 to 1965

DMarie Time Capsule: Database of events in history between 1800 and 2002

CIA World Factbook: The CIA World Factbook provides limited commentary but a wealth of statistics and information on Geography, People, Government, Economy, Communication, Transportation, Military, and Transnational Issues of 266 “world entities.” It offers maps of major world regions, Flags of the World, a Physical Map of the World, a Political Map of the World, and a Standard Time Zones of the World map. The Factbook is a great starting point for amassing general information about individual countries.

QMUL Archives: Institutional records, personal archives and rare prints dating from the 17th century to the present day. The collections document the history of the College, and provide vital evidence for research in the arts, humanities and social science.

The Archives Hub: Provides a gateway to thousands of the UK's archives. Representing over 220 institutions across the country, the Archives Hub is an effective way to discover unique and often little-known sources to support your research.

British Pathé: A multimedia resource with a history stretching back over a century. Comprehensive archive of newsreels, video, film, footage and stills.

House of Commons Parliamentary Papers: A collection of over 200,000 House of Commons sessional papers from 1715 to the present. Includes useful guidance on the workings of the Commons and the records it produces.

The British National Archives: Has a collection of over 11 million historical government and public records, from Domesday Book to modern goverment papers and digital files. Materials include paper and parchment, electronic records and websites, photographs, posters, maps, drawings and paintings.

United States Navy

UNITED STATES NAVY DEPARTMENT, BUREAU OF CONSTRUCTION AND REPAIR

UNITED STATES NAVY DEPARTMENT BUREAU OF CONSTRUCTION AND REPAIR / BUREAU OF SHIPS

"Japanese War Plans against the Soviet Union"

Volume XIII: Studies of Strategical and Tactical Peculiarities of Far Eastern Russia and Soviet Far East Forces (132 pages)

Naval Weapons from 1850 (roughly) to the present (2019)

Naval Weapons, Naval Technology and Naval Reunions

Royal Navy

The untold story of the Royal Navy's struggle to invent carrier warfare

Online Resources | National Museum of the Royal Navy

Nuclear Warfare

The Effects of Nuclear Weapons(1977)

Capabilities of Nuclear Weapons DNA-EM-1(1972) Part 1

Capabilities of Nuclear Weapons DNA-EM-1(1972) Part 2

The Royal Canadian Navy

The Annapolis Riddle: Advocacy, Ship Design and the Canadian Navy’s Force Structure Crisis, 1957-1965