EDITOR’S PREFACE 
facts of national history could be ascertained, it would be impossible 
to proceed with comparative analysis; and the different national 
histories were themselves of almost baffling intricacy and variety. 
Consequently the former European Committee of Research was dis- 
solved, and in its place it was decided to erect an Editorial Board 
in each of the larger countries and to nominate special editors in 
the smaller ones, who should concentrate, for the present at least, 
upon their own economic and social war history. 
The nomination of these boards by the General Editor was the 
first step taken in every country where the work has begun. And if 
any justification were needed for the plan of the Endowment, it at 
once may be found in the lists of those, distinguished in scholarship 
or in public affairs, who have accepted the responsibility of editor- 
ship. This responsibility is by no means light, involving as it does 
the adaptation of the general editorial plan to the varying demands 
of national circumstances or methods of work; and the measure of 
success attained is due to the generous and earnest cooperation of 
those in charge in each country. 
Once the editorial organization was established, there could be 
little doubt as to the first step which should be taken in each instance 
toward the actual preparation of the History. Without documents 
there can be no history. The essential records of the War, local as 
well as central, have therefore to be preserved and to be made avail- 
able for research in so far as is compatible with public interest. But 
this archival task is a very great one, belonging of right to the Gov- 
ernments and other owners of historical sources and not to the his- 
torian or economist who proposes to use them. It is an obligation of 
ownership; for all such documents are public trust. The collabora- 
tors on this section of the War History, therefore, working within 
their own field as researchers, could only survey the situation as they 
found it and report their findings in the forms of guides or manuals; 
and perhaps, by stimulating a comparison of methods, help to fur- 
ther the adoption of those found to be most practical. In every coun- 
try, therefore, this was the point of departure for actual work; al- 
though special monographs have not been written in every instance. 
The first stage of the work upon the War History, dealing with 
little more than the externals of archives, seemed for a while to 
exhaust the possibilities of research, and had the plan of the History 
been limited to research based upon official documents, little more 
vil