Arcos

Commonly known name of the London-based network of Soviet foreign commercial organizations that existed from 1920 until World War II. The name is an acronym for the company’s full English name, the All-Russian Cooperative Society, Ltd. – Arcos, Ltd.

Arcos is generally associated with a diplomatic crisis which followed a police raid on its London headquarters on May 12, 1927. The goal of the raid was to obtain documents and accuse the USSR of using the organization as a cover for espionage and subversion. The raid and subsequent diplomatic crisis (during which diplomatic relations between the USSR and Great Britain were abruptly severed) is known as the Arcos Affair.