World War I

Founded in the aftermath of the First World War, the Hoover Institution has always placed special emphasis on collecting and preserving materials related to the conflict that shaped the 20th century. The perspective has always been truly international, as Hoover’s Russian holdings on the war, for example, outshine its American holdings in both volume and significance. The papers of General N.N. Golovin are of singular importance for the study of the Eastern front. The Kraftwagen Park 2 war journal shows the war from the perspective of a German mechanized unit. Numerous writings – both published and unpublished - document the war from the perspective of economics, finances, industry, civil society, humanitarian aid, relief organizations, gender, class and race. The World War I subject and pictorial collections are rich in documents and illustrative material on all geographic areas and all aspects of the war. Additional illustrative material may be found in the Imperial War Museum photographs and poster collection, although there are many other photographs available in the papers of individual units, participants and collectors. The library also holds an extensive and rare collection of delegation propaganda and other publications related to the Paris Peace Conference that ended the war.