Future Project:
British Envoys to the Kaiserreich, 1871-1905/1914
An edition of official diplomatic reports from Germany
The favourable response to British Envoys to Germany, 1816-1866 has encouraged the German Historical Institute London to plan the extension of the series to the German Kaiserreich. Together the two series will cover almost 100 years of British diplomatic service in Germany. And for the first time it will be possible to study Anglo-German relations and the history of Germany in the long nineteenth century in a coherent and continuous edition of sources in the English language.
During the Epoch of the Kaiserreich it was not only the imperial court at Berlin that had an accredited British ambassador who filed reports. British envoys were also sent to the minor German courts. In addition to the correspondence from Berlin, diplomatic dispatches were sent from Munich (Bavaria), Stuttgart (Württemberg), Dresden (Saxony), Darmstadt (Hesse), Karlsruhe (Baden) and Coburg (Saxe-Coburg). This variety of correspondence and viewpoints is unique for official British observations of a foreign country before the First World War.
The reports by the 31 ambassadors, envoys extraordinary and ministers resident who - with various secretaries of legation and attachés - served as British representatives at the German courts between 1871 and 1914 are held at the Public Record Office, Kew in the Foreign Office series F.O. 9, F.O. 30, F.O. 64, F.O. 68, F.O. 82 and, from 1906, F.O. 371. As in the case of British Envoys to Germany, 1816-1866 the British Envoys to the Kaiserreich will draw exclusively on official political correspondence. The British perception of Germany and its regional states, the political, economic, social and cultural developments, as well as Anglo-German relations will be at the centre of interest.