This collection, reproduced from the Royal Archives, reflect Queen Victoria's active role in foreign affairs. It includes the principal papers of state forwarded to the Queen, her related correspondence with her ministers, and correspondence with other sovereigns and members of families. Also included are reports and memoranda that were attached to correspondence for the Queen's information. These documents contain statistics, eyewitness accounts and intelligence reports from foreign office officials stationed throughout the continent. In addition, it contains extracts or abstracts of many papers of state submitted to the Queen in order to bring specific information to her attention.
Only the first part of six pertains to Russia and Eastern Europe. This part includes material from 1846 to 1900 and contains correspondence with her ministers and with the tsars of Russia along with state documents and reports from embassies abroad. These files cover such themes as the succession of Tsar Alexander II; the emancipation edict of 1861; the second Polish revolution, 1863-1864; Russian expansionism, 1860-1900; the London Conference of 1871; the Alliance of the Three Emperors, 1881; the Franco-Russian Alliance of 1893; and the First Hague Peace Conference (1899).