Office of the Historian

List of Abbreviations and Symbols

Editor’s Note.—This list does not include standard abbreviations in common usage; unusual abbreviations of rare occurrence which are clarified at appropriate points; and those abbreviations and contractions which, although uncommon, are understandable from the context.

  • A–A, Office of Assistant Secretary of State Norman Armour
  • ACC, Allied Control Commission; Allied Control Council
  • AFHQ, Allied Force Headquarters (Mediterranean Theater)
  • AFL, American Federation of Labor
  • AGWar, Adjutant General, War Department
  • AMG, Allied Military Government
  • ASYG, Assistant Secretary General
  • BalCom, United States element on the United Nations Balkan Commission
  • BBC, British Broadcasting Corporation
  • BETFOR, Headquarters, British Element, Trieste Force
  • bn, battalion
  • C, Counselor of the Department of State
  • CBS, Columbia Broadcasting System
  • CCS, Combined Chiefs of Staff
  • CFM, Council of Foreign Ministers
  • CGIL, Confederazione Generate Italiana del Lavoro (General Confederation of Labor in Italy)
  • CGT, Confédération Générale du Travail (General Confederation of Labor in France)
  • cirtel, circular telegram
  • CMF, Central Mediterranean Force (British)
  • Cominform, the Communist Information Bureau, created at meeting in Poland (September 22–27, 1947), with headquarters soon established in Belgrade
  • Comintern, the Communist (Third) International, founded in Moscow in March 1919, abolished in June 1943
  • CONL/P, document designation for papers emanating from the Allied Control Council for Germany
  • CORC/M, document designation for minutes of the Coordinating Committee of the Allied Control Council for Germany
  • CP, Communist Party
  • coy, company
  • Delsec, indicator for telegrams from the United States Delegation for Council of Foreign Ministers business at meetings during 1947
  • Depcirtel, Department of State circular telegram
  • Dept, Department (usually the Department of State)
  • Deptel, Department’s telegram
  • Dip, diplomatic
  • DO, Disbursing Office, or Officer
  • DP(s), displaced person(s)
  • ECE, Economic Commission for Europe (of the United Nations)
  • EE, Division of Eastern European Affairs, Department of State
  • Embdes, Embassy’s despatch
  • Embrep, Embassy’s report
  • Embtel(s), Embassy’s telegram(s)
  • EUCOM, European Command
  • ExIm Bank (Eximbank), Export-Import Bank of Washington
  • Eyes Only, Communication indicator used on messages which were to receive extremely limited distribution
  • Fan, Naf, series indicator, telegram from (to) Combined Chiefs of Staff to (from) Supreme Allied Commander Mediterranean, AFHQ
  • f. a. s., free alongside ship
  • Fat, Taf, series indicator, messages from (to) the Combined Chiefs of Staff to (from) General Airey, Commanding General, Allied Forces in the Free Territory of Trieste
  • FF, Fatherland Front, the coalition of parties forming a government in Bulgaria
  • FLC, Foreign Liquidation Commission
  • FonAff, Foreign Affairs
  • FonOff, Foreign Office
  • ForMin, Foreign Minister
  • FPRY, Federative People’s Republic of Yugoslavia
  • FSC, Foreign Service Clerk
  • FTT, Free Territory of Trieste
  • G–1, –2, –3, –4, –5, sections of a military staff, in a division or larger unit
  • GA, General Assembly of the United Nations
  • GAO, General Accounting Office
  • GHQ, General Headquarters
  • GNA, Grand National Assembly, the Bulgarian Parliament
  • GOC, General Officer Commanding
  • Gosbank, State Bank (of the Soviet Union)
  • IBD, International Broadcasting Division, Office of International Information and Cultural Affairs, Department of State
  • IGCR, Inter-Governmental Committee on Refugees
  • infotel, information telegram
  • int, intelligence
  • IRO, International Refugee Organization
  • ITO, International Trade Organization
  • JCS, Joint Chiefs of Staff
  • JPRS, Joint Press Reading Service
  • kolkhoz, a collective farm in the Soviet Union
  • Kosmos, indicator for telegrams from the United States Delegation for non-Council of Foreign Ministers business at Fourth Session meetings in Moscow
  • KRRC, King’s Royal Rifle Corps (United Kingdom)
  • LCILs, landing craft, infantry
  • Le, Office of the Legal Adviser, Department of State
  • Le/E, Office of the Legal Adviser (Economic Affairs), Department of State
  • Le/P, Office of the Legal Adviser (Political Affairs), Department of State
  • Le/S, Office of the Legal Adviser (Special Affairs), Department of State
  • Legtel, Legation’s telegram
  • LP, Division of Lend-Lease and Surplus War Property Affairs, Department of State
  • MAORT, Magyar Amerikai Olajipari Reszvenytarsasag, an Hungarian oil company, a subsidiary of Standard Oil Company of New Jersey
  • MinFonAff, Minister (Ministry) of Foreign Affairs
  • Mistel, mission telegram
  • Moskco, indicator for telegrams to the United States Delegation for non-Council of Foreign Ministers business at Fourth Session meetings in Moscow
  • MSC, Military Staff Committee (United Nations)
  • MTOUSA, Mediterranean Theater of Operations, United States Army
  • mydes(p), my despatch
  • mytel(s), my telegram(s)
  • NAC, National Advisory Council on International Monetary and Financial Problems
  • Naf, see Fan
  • Narkomindel, People’s Commissariat for Foreign Affairs of the Soviet Union; the redesignation of Commissariats as ministries in March 1946 changed NKID to MID, Ministry for Foreign Affairs
  • Niact, Communications indicator requiring attention by the recipient at any hour of the day or night
  • NOE, Division of Northern European Affairs, Department of State
  • OFLC, Office of the Foreign Liquidation Commissioner, Department of State
  • OIC, Office of International Information and Cultural Affairs, Department of State
  • OIE, Office of Information and Educational Exchange, Department of State (formerly OIC)
  • OIR, Office of Intelligence Research, Department of State
  • OMGUS, Office of Military Government for Germany (United States)
  • OVIR, Bureau of Visas and Registration of Foreigners, in the Ministry for Internal Affairs of the Soviet Union
  • OWI, Office of War Information
  • OZNA, Yugoslav Department of National Security (Odeljenje za zastitu naroda)
  • PolAd, Political Adviser
  • PolGov, Polish Government
  • POW(s), prisoner(s) of war
  • PPS, Polish Socialist Party (Polska Partja Socjialistyczna)
  • PriMin, Prime Minister
  • PSL, Polish Peasant Party (Polskie Stronnictwo Ludowe)
  • PTs, motor torpedo boats
  • R–Day, ratification day (as applied to the Treaty of Peace with Italy)
  • reDeptel, regarding the Department of State’s telegram
  • reEmb, regarding Embassy’s (message)
  • reEmbtel, regarding Embassy’s telegram
  • refdes, despatch under reference
  • reftel, telegram, under reference
  • remy, regarding my (message)
  • reourtel, regarding our telegram
  • reurtel, regarding your telegram
  • RFN, rifleman
  • RSFSR, Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic
  • SAC, Supreme Allied Commander
  • SACMED, Supreme Allied Commander, Mediterranean
  • SC, Security Council of the United Nations
  • S–Day, signature day (as applied to the Treaty of Peace with Italy)
  • SE, Division of Southern European Affairs, Department of State
  • Secdel, indicator for telegrams to the United States Delegation for Council of Foreign Ministers business at meetings during 1947
  • SecState, Secretary of State
  • shpts, shipments
  • SovAmb, Ambassador of the Soviet Union
  • Sovreps, Soviet representatives
  • SPA, Office of Special Political Affairs, Department of State
  • S/S–PR, the Executive Secretariat, Protocol Staff
  • SYG, Secretary General
  • T–2 tankers, war-built tankers
  • Taf, see Fat
  • TANJUG, Telegraph Agency of Yugoslavia
  • Tass, Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union
  • tps, troops
  • TRUST, Trieste United States Troops
  • UB, Polish Security Police (Urzad Bezpieczenstwa)
  • UK, United Kingdom
  • UN, United Nations
  • UNRRA, United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Organization
  • ur, your
  • urdes, your despatch
  • URO, Central Trade Union Organization (Czechoslovakia)
  • urtel, your telegram
  • USDel, United States Delegation
  • USPolAd, United States Political Adviser (to the Supreme Allied Commander, Mediterranean Theater)
  • USreps, United States representatives
  • USUN, United States Mission to the United Nations
  • VA, Voice of America
  • VG, Venezia Giulia
  • V–J Day, the day of Japanese capitulation
  • VOA, Voice of America
  • VOKS, All Union Society for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries (Soviet Union)
  • VOUSA, Voice of America
  • WAA, War Assets Administration
  • WARCOS, War Department, Chief of Staff
  • WARX, War Department call sign, for messages emanating from the War Department or from Army Headquarters, Washington
  • WDSCA, War Department Staff, Civil Affairs
  • WFTU, World Federation of Trade Unions
  • X-ite Greek, a royalist terrorist organization in Greece
  • yrdes, your despatch
  • yrtel, your telegram
  • Zecho, Czechoslovakia