Archives of the Foreign Office of the NSDAP as a Source of Ideological Preparing for the Second World War

The purpose of the publication is to briefl y characterize the archive of the Foreign Policy Department of the National Socialist Workers' Party of Germany (Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei, NSDAP), its general structure and composition, as well as documents in the Archive related to the Department's participation in the development and dissemination in the 1930s ideological foundations of the future Second World War. The research methodology is based primarily on the principles of historicism, systematicity, objectivity, historicalcomparative and historical-archival methods. The novelty is due to the fact that the archive of the NSDAP Offi ce of Foreign Aff airs, both as an integral documentary array and groups of its documents refl ecting the contribution of the Offi ce to the creation and dissemination of the ideological component of Nazi Germany's preparation for the Second World War in the 1930s, have not yet been the subject of an analysis. Conclusions. The article highlights the composition of the archives of the NSDAP Offi ce of Foreign Aff airs, and generally characterizes those documents in its composition that cover the process of preparing the ideological basis for Nazi Germany's preparation for war. That included the study of political moods in diff erent European countries, preparation and distribution of periodicals and serial publications on various topics, establishing international contacts, providing information on the international political situation of the authorities and various German institutions, actively spreading propaganda of National Socialism by organizing exhibitions that were supposed to demonstrate the greatness of the Third Reich and its role in establishing the future new order in Europe, and justifying the concept of Germany's «historical rights» to the land. Among these documents were, fi rst of all, materials from the analysis of the international press and summary reports of employees, thematic series of publications («Bücherei des Ostraumes» or «Library of the Eastern Territories»), correspondence, materials of societies and organizations associated with A. Rosenberg, in particular, the Nordic Society (Nordische Gesellschaft). A signifi cant role in this process was played by the leading staff of the ARA, primarily A. Shiсkedanz, G. Leibbrandt, W. Daitz and others.