Puppet state - Wikiwand

French revolutionary and Napoleonic clients

The Batavian Republic was established in the Netherlands under French revolutionary protection.

In Italy, the French First Republic encouraged a proliferation of small republics in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, known as sister republics.

In Eastern Europe, Napoleon's First French Empire established the Polish client state of the Duchy of Warsaw.^[9]

British Empire

In 1896, Britain established a state in Zanzibar.

Established by the German Empire

By others

Imperial Japan

During Japan's imperial period, and particularly during the Pacific War (parts of which are considered the Pacific theatre of World War II), the Imperial Japanese government established a number of dependent states.

Nominally sovereign states

• Azad Hind (1943–1945), officially known as Provisional Government of Free India – established by Indian nationalists in Singapore in October 1943 by Subhas Chandra Bose and was in charge of Indian expatriates and military personnel in Japanese Southeast Asia. It had nominal sovereignty over Axis controlled Indian territories and would enjoy the prospective control of Indian territory to be captured in a future invasion of British India. Of the territory of post-independence India, the government took charge of Kohima (after it fell to the Japanese-INA offensive), parts of Manipur that fell to both the Japanese 15th Army and the INA, and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The government had diplomatic relationships with eleven countries including Germany, Italy, Japan, Philippines, and the Soviet Union. It was headed by Subhas Chandra Bose, who was the Head of the State and Prime Minister, who was also the Supreme Commander of the Indian National Army. The government had its own cabinet and banks.
• State of Burma (1942–1945) – Head of State: Ba Maw
• Second Philippine Republic (1943–1945) – Headed by Jose P. Laurel as President
• Empire of Vietnam (1945) – Emperor Bảo Đại's regime with Trần Trọng Kim as Prime Minister after proclaiming independence from France
• Kingdom of Kampuchea (1945) – King Norodom Sihanouk's regime with Son Ngoc Thanh as Prime Minister after proclaiming independence from France
• Kingdom of Luang Prabang (1945) – King Sisavang Vong's regime with Prince Phetsarath as Prime Minister after proclaiming independence from France

In China

Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy

Several European governments under the domination of Germany and Italy during World War II have been described as "puppet régimes". The formal means of control in occupied Europe varied greatly. These states fall into several categories.

Puppet states later absorbed into the Soviet Union

Soviet satellite states in Eastern Europe

As Soviet forces prevailed over the German Army on the Eastern Front during World War II, the Soviet Union supported the creation of communist governments throughout Eastern Europe. Specifically, the People's Republics in Poland, Romania, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Hungary, and Albania were dominated by the Soviet Union. While all of these People's Republics did not "officially" take power until after WWII ended, they all have roots in pro-communist wartime governments.

Soviet puppet states in Central Asia

Other states under Soviet influence

Yugoslavia was a communist state closely linked to the Soviet Union, but Yugoslavia retained autonomy within its own borders. After the Tito–Stalin split in 1948, the relationship between the two countries deteriorated significantly. Yugoslavia was expelled from the international organisations of the Eastern Bloc. After Stalin's death and a period of de-Stalinization by Nikita Khrushchev, peace was restored, but the relationship between the two countries was never completely mended. Yugoslavia continued to pursue independent policies and became the founding member of the Non-Aligned Movement.^{[citation needed]}

The Soviet Union continued to exert some influence over the People's Republic of China before the Sino-Soviet split in 1961. Some other countries which once were Soviet puppet governments included Mongolia, North Korea, North Vietnam, the reunified Vietnam and Cuba, all of which had substantial dependence on the Soviet economy, military, science, and technology. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, most of its former satellites moved towards democratisation. Only China, Cuba, Laos, North Korea and Vietnam remain one-party communist states.

Dutch East Indies

The Netherlands formed several puppet states in the former Dutch East Indies as part of its effort to quell the Indonesian National Revolution.^{[citation needed]}

Congo crisis

Following the Belgian Congo's independence as Congo-Leopoldville in 1960, Belgian interests supported the short-lived breakaway State of Katanga (1960–1963).^[27]

East Timor

Indonesia established a Provisional Government of East Timor following its invasion of East Timor in December 1975.^[28][29][30]

South Africa's Bantustans

During the 1970s and 1980s, four ethnic Bantustans - some of which were extremely fragmented - called "homelands" by the government of the time, were carved out of South Africa and given nominal sovereignty. Mostly Xhosa people resided in the Ciskei and Transkei, Tswana people in Bophuthatswana, and Venda people in the Venda.^{[31][unreliable source?]}

The principal purpose of these states was to remove South African citizenship from the Xhosa, Tswana, and Venda peoples, and so provide grounds for denying them their democratic rights. All four Bantustans were reincorporated into a democratic South Africa on 27 April 1994, under a new constitution.^{[citation needed]}

The South African authorities established ten Bantustans in South West Africa (present-day Namibia), then illegally occupied by South Africa, in the late 1960s and early 1970s in accordance with the Odendaal Commission. Three of them were granted self-rule. These Bantustans were replaced with separate ethnicity-based governments in 1980.^{[citation needed]}

Republic of Kuwait

The Republic of Kuwait was a short-lived pro-Iraqi state in the Persian Gulf that only existed three weeks before it was annexed by Iraq in 1990.

Republic of Serbian Krajina

The Republic of Serbian Krajina was a self-proclaimed territory ethnically cleansed^{[clarification needed]} by Serbian forces during the Croatian War (1991–95). It was completely dependent on the Serbian regime of Slobodan Milošević,^[32] and was not recognised internationally.

United States

•  Republic of Iraq (Interim Government and Coalition Provisional Authority) – Critics of the Iraqi Interim Government argued that it existed only at the pleasure of the United States and other coalition countries and considered it a U.S. puppet government.^[33] This criticism was also extended to politicians active within the Interim Government, with the media suggesting that Ayad Allawi, was Washington's puppet.^[34][35] The CPA's economy was dominated by American influence. The CPA began to dismantle Iraq's centrally planned economy. Paul Bremer, chief executive of the CPA, planned to restructure Iraq's state owned economy with free market thinking. Bremer dropped the corporate tax rate from around 45% to a flat tax rate of 15% and allowed foreign corporations to repatriate all profits earned in Iraq. Opposition from senior Iraqi officials, together with the poor security situation, meant that Bremer's privatisation plan was not implemented during his tenure,^[36] though his orders remained in place. CPA Order 39 laid out the framework for full privatisation in Iraq and permitted 100% foreign ownership of Iraqi assets and strengthened the positions of foreign businesses and investors. Critics like Naomi Klein argued that CPA Order 39 was designed to create as favourable an environment for foreign investors as possible, which would allow U.S. corporations to dominate Iraq's economy.^[37] Also controversial was CPA Order 17 which granted all foreign contractors operating in Iraq immunity from "Iraqi legal process," effectively granting immunity from any kind of suit, civil or criminal, for actions the contractors engaged in within Iraq.^[38] CPA Order 49 also provided significant tax cuts for corporations operating within Iraq by reducing the rate from a maximum of 40% to a maximum of just 15% on income. Furthermore, corporations who collaborated with the CPA were exempted from having to pay any tax.^[39]

Armenia

•  Artsakh – A former self-declared independent state heavily populated by Armenians, it was internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan. Russian peacekeepers controlled the Lachin corridor that allowed traffic to reach Armenia, on which it was heavily dependent.^[40][41]

China

•  Wa State – The de facto independent Wa State in Myanmar is considered a puppet state linked to China.^[42][43]

Russia

•  Abkhazia is considered a puppet state that is dependent on Russia.^[44][45] The economy of Abkhazia is heavily integrated with Russia and uses the Russian ruble as its currency. About half of Abkhazia's state budget is financed with aid money from Russia.^[46] Most Abkhazians have Russian passports.^[47] Russia maintains a 3,500-strong force in Abkhazia with its headquarters in Gudauta, a former Soviet military base on the Black Sea coast^[48] and the borders of Abkhazia are protected by Russian paratroopers.^[49]
•  South Ossetia has declared independence but its ability to maintain independence is solely based on Russian troops deployed on its territory. As South Ossetia is landlocked between Russia and Georgia, from which it seceded, it has relied on Russia for economic and logistical support, as all of its exports and imports and air and road traffic is only with Russia. Former President of South Ossetia Eduard Kokoity claimed he would like South Ossetia eventually to become a part of the Russian Federation through reunification with North Ossetia.^[50]
• The  Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) and the  Luhansk People's Republic (LPR) were self-proclaimed republics in eastern Ukraine following the fallout from the Euromaidan protests and widely considered to be Russian puppet states.^[51][52] Russia annexed the DPR and LPR on September 30, 2022, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
•  Transnistria, a conservative holdover of pro-Soviet forces from the Transnistria War, is considered a puppet state sponsored by Russia.^{[53][54][55][56]}
•  Belarus forms a Union State with Russia. It has been described as a Russian puppet state or de facto Russian since 2022, following the crushing of the 2020–2021 Belarusian protests with Russian assistance and the staging of the Russian invasion of Ukraine from Belarus.^{[57][58][59][60]}

Israel

•  Palestinian Authority – The Palestinian Authority, an autonomous administration which exercises partial civil control over the Palestinian enclaves in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, was created in 1994 as a result of the Oslo Accords. It is widely viewed by Palestinians as subservient to Israel, and the two have coordinated security.^[61][62]

In Yemen

Turkey

United States

•  Islamic Republic of Afghanistan – Many, including the Taliban who now comprise the country's current government,^[79] considered the former Islamic Republic of Afghanistan to have been a U.S. puppet state.^[80]