Fighting for documents of political decisions
After the euphoria of obtaining the research grant has passed, the hard work began.
To keep it simple, we had decided to study foreign policy decisions of the Dutch government. For this research we needed the minutes of the discussions which took place in the Council of Ministers and written advices provided to the government. By law these documents were only accessible after 35 years. So in 1980 we only could obtain documents till 1955. Therefore we decided to look for decisions between 1900 and 1955.
The first problem I encountered was that there were no inventories in the different governmental departments about foreign policy decisions made in this period. So we had to look for decisions described in historical and political studies in such a manner that one could assume that documents existed, containing the relevant choice arguments. It was a quite time-consuming work to consult handbooks for an overview of the existing literature and then study the most recent papers relating to this period. Finally, I had found 9 decision situations for the period of 1900 till 1945 for which documents seemed to exist. They related to diverse topics like the maintenance of the Gold Standard, economic treaties, the maintenance of neutrality during World War I. etc. For the period after the World War II I detected 94 decision situations. The difference between the two periods was clearly based on the limited documentation before 1945. After 1945 the decisions were again related to various topics like the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the colonial wars in Indonesia, the recognition of the people´s Republic of China etc.
To keep it simple, we had decided to study foreign policy decisions of the Dutch government. For this research we needed the minutes of the discussions which took place in the Council of Ministers and written advices provided to the government. By law these documents were only accessible after 35 years. So in 1980 we only could obtain documents till 1955. Therefore we decided to look for decisions between 1900 and 1955.
The first problem I encountered was that there were no inventories in the different governmental departments about foreign policy decisions made in this period. So we had to look for decisions described in historical and political studies in such a manner that one could assume that documents existed, containing the relevant choice arguments. It was a quite time-consuming work to consult handbooks for an overview of the existing literature and then study the most recent papers relating to this period. Finally, I had found 9 decision situations for the period of 1900 till 1945 for which documents seemed to exist. They related to diverse topics like the maintenance of the Gold Standard, economic treaties, the maintenance of neutrality during World War I. etc. For the period after the World War II I detected 94 decision situations. The difference between the two periods was clearly based on the limited documentation before 1945. After 1945 the decisions were again related to various topics like the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the colonial wars in Indonesia, the recognition of the people´s Republic of China etc.
Authorization for collecting documents
Since only some documents of the period of World War I were published in historical source studies and the vast majority of my sample data were spread over archives of several departments, I had to get a lot of authorizations to consult them. For the authorization to study the minutes of the Council of Ministers I had to go to the department of General Affairs. When I arrived there some employees of my age received me very friendly, but when they heard that the Secretary General would come personally to talk with me, they got very uncomfortable and left the room. The Secretary General is the highest official in this department and responsible for the minutes of meetings of the Council of Ministers. Was he a very difficult person who could deny me the access to these documents? I also became nervous and breathed deeply to cope with the stress, when an elderly gentleman entered the room and enquired politely about the purpose of my research. I explained him the project and also showed him a case study which he examined with interest. Finally, he looked at me and said: “Recently some journalists consulted some minutes and wrote in newspapers scandalous stories about government officials, who are still alive. I don´t want that anymore!” I quickly replied:” Sir, I have a grant of the National Science Foundation to study political decision making. This is my only interest. If you wish, I can send you each paper before publishing it!” With a gracious smile the Secretary General stood up and shook my hand: “So we have an agreement! I will send you the authorization and if you need something you always can contact me!” Relieved I left the room. When I passed in the corridor one of the employees who had received me earlier, he looked at me and said: “So, you have convinced him! Congratulations!”
Since only some documents of the period of World War I were published in historical source studies and the vast majority of my sample data were spread over archives of several departments, I had to get a lot of authorizations to consult them. For the authorization to study the minutes of the Council of Ministers I had to go to the department of General Affairs. When I arrived there some employees of my age received me very friendly, but when they heard that the Secretary General would come personally to talk with me, they got very uncomfortable and left the room. The Secretary General is the highest official in this department and responsible for the minutes of meetings of the Council of Ministers. Was he a very difficult person who could deny me the access to these documents? I also became nervous and breathed deeply to cope with the stress, when an elderly gentleman entered the room and enquired politely about the purpose of my research. I explained him the project and also showed him a case study which he examined with interest. Finally, he looked at me and said: “Recently some journalists consulted some minutes and wrote in newspapers scandalous stories about government officials, who are still alive. I don´t want that anymore!” I quickly replied:” Sir, I have a grant of the National Science Foundation to study political decision making. This is my only interest. If you wish, I can send you each paper before publishing it!” With a gracious smile the Secretary General stood up and shook my hand: “So we have an agreement! I will send you the authorization and if you need something you always can contact me!” Relieved I left the room. When I passed in the corridor one of the employees who had received me earlier, he looked at me and said: “So, you have convinced him! Congratulations!”
Struggling for access to the necessary documents
From now on I went for a year almost every day to the archives in The Hague, searching documents for my decision study. The documents I wanted were photocopied in the archives so that we could code them later. When I made a break I strolled through the town and started liking this city with its monuments and international atmosphere. Occasionally I also went to the coffee shop “Wiener conditorei” which was run by an Austrian, who served the typical Viennese pastries.
From now on I went for a year almost every day to the archives in The Hague, searching documents for my decision study. The documents I wanted were photocopied in the archives so that we could code them later. When I made a break I strolled through the town and started liking this city with its monuments and international atmosphere. Occasionally I also went to the coffee shop “Wiener conditorei” which was run by an Austrian, who served the typical Viennese pastries.
My visit to the National Archive
I had to do a lot of work in the National Archive. In general they treated me correctly. Sometimes even an archivist brought some specific documents to my attention. But one day I got a sealed box with minutes of the Council of Ministers. When I asked the functionary to open it for me, he hesitated and went away. I waited and waited. Finally two archivists arrived and started to accuse me rudely of illegal use of documents. Since they did not let me explain the situation I raised my voice in the presence of all the other visitors and showed them my authorization of the Secretary General. But they still did not want to listen. So I shouted: “You hinder me in my study! I thought that archivists were there to help researchers.” The audience in the room started to laugh. “If I can´t consult the documents tomorrow morning, I will phone the Secretary General of General Affairs,!”
Then I left. The next day, the employee brought me the unsealed box of the minutes of the Council of Ministers.
I had to do a lot of work in the National Archive. In general they treated me correctly. Sometimes even an archivist brought some specific documents to my attention. But one day I got a sealed box with minutes of the Council of Ministers. When I asked the functionary to open it for me, he hesitated and went away. I waited and waited. Finally two archivists arrived and started to accuse me rudely of illegal use of documents. Since they did not let me explain the situation I raised my voice in the presence of all the other visitors and showed them my authorization of the Secretary General. But they still did not want to listen. So I shouted: “You hinder me in my study! I thought that archivists were there to help researchers.” The audience in the room started to laugh. “If I can´t consult the documents tomorrow morning, I will phone the Secretary General of General Affairs,!”
Then I left. The next day, the employee brought me the unsealed box of the minutes of the Council of Ministers.
Now up to the different ministeries
After this experience in the National Archive, I was wondering what would happen in the other archives. The strongest opposition to consult documents I met at the ministry of defence. The archivist was a military and seemed not to like visitors in his archive, especially not a young, foreign lady. Although there was an inventory of the documents, he frequently said that these files had disappeared. One day an employee who pitied me, said to come on a specific day, when his boss was absent. Then he brought me the records and photocopied them secretly. But also he did not understand, why I wanted to study “wars”, although I tried to explain it to him.
The archivist of the ministry of Foreign Affairs was a lady and I expected a better collaboration. But also she was not accustomed to visitors. So they photocopied a lot of documents where the secret codes, which were still in use, were not eliminated.
When she became aware about this severe mistake, she called me in her office and supplicated me to bring back the photocopies to eliminate the codes. I assured her that I would do this immediately and that nothing had happened with the codes. After this incident the atmosphere became friendlier and I could work normally.
After this experience in the National Archive, I was wondering what would happen in the other archives. The strongest opposition to consult documents I met at the ministry of defence. The archivist was a military and seemed not to like visitors in his archive, especially not a young, foreign lady. Although there was an inventory of the documents, he frequently said that these files had disappeared. One day an employee who pitied me, said to come on a specific day, when his boss was absent. Then he brought me the records and photocopied them secretly. But also he did not understand, why I wanted to study “wars”, although I tried to explain it to him.
The archivist of the ministry of Foreign Affairs was a lady and I expected a better collaboration. But also she was not accustomed to visitors. So they photocopied a lot of documents where the secret codes, which were still in use, were not eliminated.
When she became aware about this severe mistake, she called me in her office and supplicated me to bring back the photocopies to eliminate the codes. I assured her that I would do this immediately and that nothing had happened with the codes. After this incident the atmosphere became friendlier and I could work normally.
A house full of documents
After the work in the archives was finished sheets of minutes of the Council of Ministers, coded telegrams, letters and notes were spread over the floor in my study to be arranged to the different decision situations. I preferred to keep them at home rather than at the institute.
Since there were not too many documents for the period of 1900 till 1945 we decided to study all the available decisions. This would allow us later to see whether these arguments were different from the ones of the later period. For the period of 1946 till 1955 we had 94 decision situations with a lot of documents and therefore we draw a random sample of the decision situations. In total we had 59 decision situations containing 231 individual argumentations to code. Having the copies of all these decision documents in my possession, the scientific work could start!
After the work in the archives was finished sheets of minutes of the Council of Ministers, coded telegrams, letters and notes were spread over the floor in my study to be arranged to the different decision situations. I preferred to keep them at home rather than at the institute.
Since there were not too many documents for the period of 1900 till 1945 we decided to study all the available decisions. This would allow us later to see whether these arguments were different from the ones of the later period. For the period of 1946 till 1955 we had 94 decision situations with a lot of documents and therefore we draw a random sample of the decision situations. In total we had 59 decision situations containing 231 individual argumentations to code. Having the copies of all these decision documents in my possession, the scientific work could start!