Client state A client state is a state that is economically , politically or militarily subordinate to another more powerful state in international affairs . Types of client states include : satellite state , associated state , puppet state , neo - colony , protectorate , vassal state and tributary state . Client states in antiquity . Persia , Greece , and Rome . Ancient states such as Persia and Greek city - states would create client states by making the leaders of that state subservient . One of the most prolific users of client states was Republican Rome ( e . g . , Demetrius of Pharos ) which , instead of conquering and then absorbing into an empire , chose to make client states out of those it defeated , a policy which was continued up until the 1st century BC when it became the Roman Empire . The use of client states continued through the Middle Ages as the feudal system began to take hold . Under the Mongol Empire . In the 13th century , Korea was overrun by the powerful Mongol Empire . After the treaty in 1260 and invasion of 1270 ' s , Goryeo became a dependency of the Yuan Dynasty . 19th and 20th centuries . Client states of France . During the French Revolution and Napoleonic eras , France conquered most of western Europe and established several client states . At first , during the French revolutionary wars these states were erected as republics ( the so - called " Républiques soeurs " , or " sister republics " ) . They were established in Italy ( Cisalpine Republic in Northern Italy , Parthenopean Republic in Southern Italy ) , Switzerland , Belgium , and the Netherlands as a republic and a monarchy . During the First French Empire , while Napoleon and the French army conquered Europe , such states changed , and several new states were formed . The Italian republics were transformed into the Kingdom of Italy under Napoleon ' s direct rule in the north and the Kingdom of Naples in the south , under Joseph Bonaparte ' s rule and later under Marshal of the Empire Joachim Murat ' s rule . The west bank of the River Rhine was annexed and was a part of the French Empire . Numerous German states , comprising the Confederation of the Rhine , were client states of the French Empire , including the Kingdom of Westphalia , which was controlled by Jerome Bonaparte . Spain , too , was a client kingdom , following the French invasion of the Iberian Peninsula ; as was Poland , then the Duchy of Warsaw . The British Empire . In the British empire the Indian Princely States were technically independent ( and were technically given their separate independence in 1947 , although the Nizam of Hyderabad did not retain his independence from India ) . Egyptian Independence in 1922 technically ended a British protectorate in Egypt . Sudan and Egypt continued to be governed as Anglo - Egyptian Sudan until Sudanese independence in 1956 ; Britain also had an interest in Egypt until the Suez Crisis was over . Iraq was made a kingdom in 1932 . In each case the economic and military reality did not amount to full independence , but a status where the local rulers were British clients . Similarly in Africa ( e . g . Northern Nigeria under Lord Lugard ) , and Malaya with the Federated Malay States and Unfederated Malay States ; the policy of " indirect rule " . Nazi Germany . After France was defeated in the Battle of France , Vichy France was established as a client state of Nazi Germany , which remained as such until its liberation in 1944 . The Slovak Republic also served under Germany during the same period . United States . After 1945 the term was often applied to nations ruled by dictatorships backed openly by either the United States or the Soviet Union . During the Cold War , many Latin American nations such as Guatemala , El Salvador , Nicaragua until 1979 , Cuba until 1959 , and Chile under the regime of General Augusto Pinochet were seen as U . S . client states , as the U . S . government had significant influence over the policies of those dictatorships . The term also applied to other authoritarian regimes with close ties to the United States during the Cold War , more appropriately referred to as U . S . proxy states , such as South Vietnam , Iran until 1979 , Cambodia under the regime of Lon Nol , the Philippines , and Saudi Arabia . A good case study of client state building is the U . S . - Iran relations under the Shah . The term might also arguably be used for those states extremely economically dependent on a more powerful nation . The three Pacific ocean countries associated with the United States under the Compact of Free Association ( the Federated States of Micronesia , the Marshall Islands and Palau ) may fall somewhat in this category . The United States also provides significant political and military backing to small , but strategic , states . Israel , the Republic of China ( Taiwan ) , South Korea , Colombia and Bahrain are good examples . Soviet Union . Soviet proxy or " client " states included much of the Warsaw Pact nations whose policies were heavily influenced by Soviet military power and economic aid . Other third world nations with Marxist - Leninist governments were routinely criticized as being Soviet proxies as well , among them Cuba following the Cuban Revolution , the People ' s Republic of Angola , the People ' s Republic of Mozambique , the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan , and the Democratic Republic of Vietnam ( North Vietnam ) . Within the Soviet Union itself , the Ukrainian SSR and the Byelorussian SSR had seats at the United Nations , but were actually proper Soviet territory .