Commonwealth Relations Office and Commonwealth Office: Security and Intelligence...

This collection of records was created by the groups of officials within the Commonwealth Relations Office (later Commonwealth Office) who were responsible for the department's relations with the UK security and intelligence services. Due to the sensitivity of the work, the existence of this unit was kept opaque even within the department, so at different times it was known as the Political Affairs Department or Communications Department.

The series includes files documenting security policy aspects of the historically important independence process in several countries including Kenya, Zimbabwe/Rhodesia, Malaysia/Malaya and Guyana/British Guiana, with much emphasis on countering the threat of communism in the developing world during the height of the Cold War.

• Commonwealth Office, 1966-1968
• Commonwealth Relations Office, 1947-1966
• Dominions Office, 1925-1947

From 2018 Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Topics

International

Asia

Conflict

Intelligence

Americas

Communism

Africa

The Commonwealth Relations Office (CRO) was formed in July 1947 from the former Dominions Office and the Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs became Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations. The CRO subsequently took over responsibility from the Colonial Office for relations with former colonial territories as they became independent members of the Commonwealth, mainly in the years between 1957 and 1964.

In August 1966 the CRO and the Colonial Office merged to form a single Commonwealth Office (CWO) under a Secretary of State for Commonwealth Affairs and the joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1968.