The European Central Inland Transport Organization (ECITOP) was a short-lived

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

agency founded in the immediate aftermath of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

to:

provide for the co-ordination both in the movement of traffic and in the allocation of transport equipment and material with a view to ensuring the best possible movement of supplies both for military forces and the civil population and the speedy repatriation of displaced persons, and also with a view to creating conditions in which the normal movement of traffic can be more rapidly resumed

upon both "the liberation of the territories of the United Nations" and "the occupation of the territories of the enemy" in Europe. The organization was the result of the October 1944 Conference on European Inland Transport in London. The conference was attended by delegations representing Belgium, Czechoslovakia, France, Greece, Luxembourg, Poland, the Netherlands, Norway, USSR, UK, USA and Yugoslavia (or their governments-in-exile) together with observers from Denmark,

Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF; ) was the headquarters of the Commander of Allies of World War II, Allied forces in northwest Europe, from late 1943 until the end of World War II. US General Dwight D. Eisenhower was the ...

(SHAEF), those from Field Marshal Sir Harold Alexander,

Supreme Allied Commander Supreme Allied Commander is the title held by the most senior commander within certain multinational military alliances. It originated as a term used by the Allies during World War I, and is currently used only within NATO for Supreme Allied Co ...

, Mediterranean (SACMED), and the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA), and was chaired by Lord Noel-Baker. The first Director-General was Charles Henry Alexandrowicz, with Major-General Rex Hewer as Deputy Director-General. The official French name of ECITOP was ''Organisation d'Europe centrale pour les transports intérieurs''. ECITOP ceased operations in 1947 when its activities were absorbed by the new Economic Commission for Europe, Inland Transport Committee, and was wound up by 1954. The organization's archives are held by the United Nations Archives in Geneva.

References

{{reflist Organizations established in 1945 Aftermath of World War II Allied occupation of Europe United Nations specialized agencies International organisations based in London Water transport organizations International rail transport organizations Road transport organizations 1954 disestablishments in Europe