Digital collection now complete for: British Foreign Office Files for China: 1919-1980

Adam Matthew makes available the final section (covering 1938-1948)

Marlborough, England - Adam Matthew announced today that they have released 1938-1948: Open Door, Japanese War and The Seeds of Communist Victory, the final section of Foreign Office Files for China, Hong Kong and Taiwan: 1919-1980. All materials are sourced from The National Archives, UK.

These formerly restricted documents consisting of diplomatic dispatches, letters, maps, reports of court cases, biographies of leading personalities, eye-witness accounts, summaries of events and other key materials, are available, providing an unprecedented level of detail into one of the most turbulent periods of Chinese history.

In this final section researchers will be able to examine content covering:

• Japanese atrocities in Nanjing (the “Rape of Nanjing”) and elsewhere in China, well documented by European and American witnesses.
• The wartime situation in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Beijing.
• Chinese Communist Party (CCP) exploitation of the power vacuum left after the Japanese military advance, especially in northern China.
• Response of the western powers to events in China.
• The feeble nature of the League of Nations and its pronouncements on China.
• US efforts after 1941, coordinated initially by General Joseph Stilwell, to provide aid to the Kuomintang.
• Mineral deposits and coal resources in Manchuria, vital to the Japanese war effort in the Pacific.
• The US nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, ending the Pacific war.

The addition of 1938-1948: Open Door, Japanese War and The Seeds of Communist Victory completes Foreign Office Files for China, Hong Kong and Taiwan: 1919-1980.

Foreign Office Files for China is an Archives Direct collection made available in six modules. Archives Direct is a suite of self-contained collections sourced from The National Archives, UK – the UK government's official archive – all of which are clustered in a portal for ease of cross-searching and browsing.

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Adam Matthew, an imprint of SAGE, is an award winning publisher of digital primary source collections for the humanities and social sciences. Sourced from leading libraries and archives around the world, their unique research and teaching collections cover a wide range of subject areas from medieval family life to 20th century history, literature and culture. www.amdigital.co.uk