State Papers Online: Eighteenth Century, 1714-1782

State Papers Online: Eighteenth Century, 1714-1782 represents the final section of the State Papers series from the National Archives in the UK before the series was closed and replaced by the Home Office and Foreign Office series in 1782. Covering the reigns of the Hanover rulers George I (1714-1727) and George II (1727-1760) and part of the reign of George III (up to 1782), the series provides unparalleled access to thousands of manuscripts that reveal the behind-the-scenes, day-to-day running of the British Government during the eighteenth century. 

As such, State Papers Online: Eighteenth Century, 1714-1782 is vital to any understanding of the political, social, and economic history of the period and an essential resource for any scholar or student studying Britain and Europe the eighteenth century. The complete archive includes:

  • Part I: State Papers Domestic, Military and Naval and the Registers of the Privy Council
  • Part II: State Papers Foreign- Low Countries and Germany
  • Part III: State Papers Foreign: Western Europe
  • Part IV: State Papers Foreign: Scandinavia, Eastern Europe and Turkey [2018] 

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State Papers Online: State Papers Domestic: Military and Naval and the Registers

This collection focuses research on British domestic politics and society in an age punctuated by plots, rebellions, uprisings, and financial crises. Part I offers researchers online access to approximately 300,000 folios from the reigns of King George I, King George II, and part of the reign of King George III, plus military, naval, and plantation registers, sheriffs' lists, and State Papers of Scotland and Ireland.

State Papers Online: Eighteenth Century, 1714-1782: Part II: State Papers Foreign: Low Countries and Germany

State Papers Foreign: Low Countries and Germany expands on the domestic papers in Part I and presents the first section of the foreign papers during the reigns of George I, George II, and George III until 1782, when the State Papers series ends.

State Papers Online: Eighteenth Century, 1714-1782: Part III: Western Europe

Papers series relating to France, Portugal, Spain, Malta, the Italian States and Rome, Genoa, Tuscany, Venice, Savoy and Sardinia, Sicily and Naples. It also includes the Royal letters and Treaties series. These are the papers written or received by the secretaries of state in their conduct of British diplomacy and intelligence gathering. They document the relationship of the Hanoverian monarchs with the rulers, governments and commerce of Western Europe. Scholars will also find narratives of each country’s history running through the letters and reports as events, debates, discussions, conversations and gossip are relayed back to London.

State Papers Online: Eighteenth Century, 1714-1782: Part IV Scandinavia, Eastern Europe and Turkey

State Papers Online: Eighteenth Century Part IV covers nations and events at the borders of Europe and European power, through letters, memorials and treaties pertaining to Denmark, Sweden, Poland and Saxony, Prussia, Russia, Turkey and the Barbary States. It also includes papers sent to the British Secretaries of State from foreign ministers in England, and ‘confidential’ and intercepted letters, discussing wars, colonial ambitions and diplomatic alliances. These series of State Papers complete the picture of European statecraft and diplomacy presented throughout the State Papers Online: Eighteenth Century collection.

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