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Puppet state
A puppet state is a state[1] [2] [3] that is nominally independent, but in reality, under the control of another power.[4] "Puppet state" is a term of political criticism, used to denigrate a current government which is perceived as unduly dependent upon an outside power. It implies that government's lack of legitimacy, in the view of those using the term. One example is Manchukuo, established under Japanese auspices in Manchuria in 1932. Although the term might reasonably be used to describe a significant number of states in the past, only Manchukuo is routinely designated as a "puppet state". The term has two distinct but related meanings. First, it refers to a state whose government depends on a foreign power for its existence and which closely follows the will of that foreign power in key policy issues; sometimes economic, sometimes strategic. Such a government is also known as a puppet régime. In this respect, "puppet state" is one of many terms that describe the subordination of one state to another in the international system. Second, the term refers to a state that has been created by the intervention of an external power in territory under the sovereignty of another state. In this respect, a puppet state is a secessionist state enabled and supported by an external power. Often puppet states often get absorbed by nations that are conducting the states. Under these definitions, a puppet state either lacks democratic legitimacy (because its policies are determined elsewhere) or it lacks sovereign legality (because it was created in breach of the rules of sovereign succession). For these reason, the term "puppet state" can be useful if applied only in the modern world, that is, the world in which states are presumed to be a reflection of the will of their people, and in which war has been outlawed as means of formal territorial acquisition. For subordinate relations in pre-modern times, the terms vassal state and tributary state are preferable. The concept of a "puppet state" implies some deliberate attempt to deceive. Either the citizens of the alleged puppet state or the international community are assumed to be deceived into believing that the puppet state is really independent when it is not. This presumption of deception makes the term a partisan one, prone to semantic disputes. Each side believes that it sees a reality which the other side cannot, or refuses to, see. The two main difficulties in deciding whether a particular regime constitutes a puppet state are (a) the difficulty of observing the process by which the external power transmits its will to the puppet and (b) the fact that those who act as puppets may see themselves sincerely as following their national interest. See also client state, satellite state and protectorate. The first puppet statesThe first puppet state, in the sense of a state which claimed popular legitimacy but which was significantly dependent on an external power, was the Batavian Republic, established in the Netherlands under French revolutionary protection. The first puppet states, in the sense of new states whose creation was made possible by the intervention of a foreign power, were the Italian republics created in the late 18th and early 19th centuries with the assistance and encouragement of Napoleonic France. See French client republics. Cuba and Panama separated from the sovereign power (respectively Spain and Colombia) by United States intervention were examples of states which began as puppets doing the will of an intervening hegemon but which developed into truly independent states. In 1895, Japan detached Korea from its tributary relationship with China, giving it formal independence which was in reality only a prelude to Japanese annexation. In 1896 Britain established a puppet state in Zanzibar. Puppet states in WWI
Puppet states of Imperial JapanDuring Japan's imperial period, and particularly during the Pacific War (parts of which are considered the Pacific theatre of World War II), Japan established a number of states that historians have come to consider puppet régimes. See also Axis powers of World War II Nominally sovereign states
Other plansJapan had plans for other puppet states. The Republic of the Far East was a Japanese puppet régime that never got beyond the planning stages. In addition to the Japanese, the Germans supported the formation of this state. In 1943, the plans for a White Russian state died for good after the Battle for Stalingrad. In 1945, as the Second World War drew to a close, Japan planned to grant puppet independence to Indonesia. These plans ended when the Japanese surrendered on 15 August 1945. Puppet states of Nazi Germany and Fascist ItalySeveral European governments under the domination of Nazi Germany and Italy during World War II have been described as puppet régimes. The formal means of control in occupied Europe varied greatly. These régimes fall into several categories. See also Axis powers of World War II Existing states in alliance with Germany and Italy
Existing states under German or Italian rule
New states formed to reflect national aspirations
Puppet regimes under control of Germany and Italy
The Italian Social Republic
Puppet states of the Soviet Union before 1939The Soviet Union had several puppet states in the 1920s.
Puppet states of the Soviet Union after 1939
As Soviet forces prevailed over the German Army on the Eastern Front during the Second World War, the Soviet Union supported the creation of communist governments in Eastern Europe. Specifically, the People's Republics in Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, and Poland were dominated by the Soviet Union. While all of these People's Republics did not "officially" take power until after World War II ended, they all have roots in pro-Communist war-time governments. For example, Bulgaria's pro-Communist Fatherland Front seized power in Bulgaria on September 9, 1944. The Fatherland Front government was Soviet dominated and the direct predecessor of the People's Republic of Bulgaria (1946?1990). On the other hand, keeping with the Bulgarian example, it could be argued that the People's Republic of Bulgaria under Prime Minister Georgi Dimitrov (1946?1949) was far from being a Soviet puppet. On yet another hand, an argument for co-belligerence status could also be made for these states.
Iraq and Iran during World War IIThe Axis demand for oil and the concern of the Allies that Germany would look to the oil-rich Middle East for a solution, caused the invasion of Iraq by the United Kingdom and the invasion of Iran by the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union. Pro-Axis governments in both Iraq and Iran were removed and replaced with Allied-dominated governments.
Satellite statesAt the conclusion of the Second World War, there was an understanding between the Allied powers that each state would temporarily occupy the territories they captured during the war before ultimately re-establishing the nations of occupied Europe. For the most part, the territories occupied by the United States and United Kingdom became democracies with market economies aligned with the United States, while the territories occupied by the Soviet Union became communist states aligned with the Soviet Union. This extended so far as to lead to the division of Germany, in which the Soviet occupation sector became East Germany while the United States, United Kingdom, and French occupation sectors became West Germany. Eastern European members of the Warsaw Pact, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, and East Germany, were Soviet satellite states centrally controlled by Moscow. While Soviet leaders claimed that the Warsaw Pact nations were equals entering into a mutual alliance, the reality was different, and decisions were often enforced by Soviet Union with threats of and use of force. For example, when Polish communist leaders tried to elect W?adys?aw Gomu?ka as First Secretary they were issued an ultimatum by the Soviet military--which occupied Poland--ordering them to withdraw election of Gomulka for the First Secretary or be crushed by Soviet tanks.[14] Prague Spring in 1968 led to an invasion of Czechoslovakia by the other Warsaw Pact states. As a rationale for this action, the Soviet Union expressed the Brezhnev Doctrine, which stated that it was the duty of all socialist states to protect any socialist state from falling to capitalism. The Western bloc interpreted the Brezhnev Doctrine as an expression of Moscow's authority over other communist states. American political analysts and the American public believed so strongly that Eastern Europe's communist states were Soviet puppet states that Gerald Ford's insistence during a debate in the 1976 U.S. presidential election campaign that Eastern Europe was not dominated by the Soviet Union was considered a major gaffe, leading his opponent, Jimmy Carter, to reply that he would like to see Ford convince Czech-Americans and Polish-Americans that their countries did not live under Soviet domination, and Ford's electoral downfall. Similarly, in 1987, U.S. President Ronald Reagan, in a speech at the Berlin Wall, challenged not the East German leader, but rather Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to "Tear down this wall". Gorbachev ultimately renounced the Brezhnev Doctrine, jokingly calling his policy the "Sinatra Doctrine" after the song "My Way" because of its explicit allowance of Eastern European countries to decide their own internal affairs. Within only a couple years of Gorbachev's abandonment of the Brezhnev Doctrine, Eastern Europe's communist regimes all fell and their states sought better relations and integration with the West, abandoning ties to Soviet Union. Korea and VietnamDuring the 1950–1953 Korean War, South Korea was accused of being an American puppet state by North Korea and its allies. At the same time, the United States alleged that North Korea was a Soviet puppet state. In 1955, the Vietnamese Catholic leader Ngo Dinh Diem, encouraged by the United States, declared the creation of the South Vietnam (RVN) in the southern part of Vietnam. The northern part of the country was then largely under control of the communist Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV). The Paris Peace Accords were preceded by months of intensive negotiations over whether the National Front for the Liberation of Vietnam (Viet Cong) should be treated as an independent party or as a puppet of North Vietnam. DecolonizationIn some cases, the process of decolonization has been managed by the decolonizing power to create a neo-colony, that is a nominally independent state whose economy and politics permits continued foreign domination. Neo-colonies are not normally considered puppet states. South Africa's 'Bantustans'During the 1970s and 1980s, four ethnic bantustans, some of which were extremely fragmented, were carved out of South Africa and given nominal sovereignty. Two (Ciskei and Transkei) were for the Xhosa people; and one each for the Tswana people (Bophuthatswana) and for the Venda people (Venda Republic). The principal purpose of these states was to remove the Xhosa, Tswana and Venda peoples from South African citizenship (and so to provide grounds for denying them democratic rights). All four were reincorporated into South Africa in 1994. After the Cold WarThe War on TerrorismIn more recent times, the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan and 2003 invasion of Iraq have led to largely U.S.-led regime change efforts in these two nations, fostering accusations among critics of the administration that the governments established under U.S. occupation are American puppet states. Nationalist and Islamist insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan condemn the respective governments as collaborationist puppet regimes. In a January 2008 interview, Afghan President Hamid Karzai assented to being labelled America's "puppet" in return for U.S. assistance, stating, "if I am called a puppet because we are grateful to America, then let that be my nickname." ReferencesSee also
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