Catalogue description Foreign Office and Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Northern Department and East European and Soviet Department (and succeeding departments): Registered Files (N, EN and ES Series)

This series contains the records of the Northern Department of the Foreign Office and its successor in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Eastern European and Soviet Department, dealing with UK political and economic relations with the Soviet Union and the Baltic States, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, Poland, Albania and Yugoslavia.

For East-West Contact Department files see FCO 34

Foreign and Commonwealth Office, East European and Soviet Department, 1968-1983

Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Eastern European Department, 1984-1992

Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Soviet Department, 1984-1991

From 1998 Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The Northern Department, despite its name, had only dealt with relations with the Soviet Bloc during the later years of its existence in the Foreign Office, responsibility for Scandinavia having passed to another department. The name of the department was changed, to the Eastern European and Soviet Department, upon the formation of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in October 1968, but its functions were unaltered. Relations with East Germany and Berlin were handled by the Western Department and its successor, the Western European Department. Cultural relations with eastern European states were handled by the East-West Contacts Department. In 1984, The Department split into the Eastern European Department and the Soviet Department. In 1992 the department merged back as the Eastern Department.