Puppet state Puppet state is a term of political criticism , used to denigrate a 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 . The first puppet states . Nominally independent states influenced by stronger powers have existed through history , but the advent of modern theories of state sovereignty makes 19th century Europe a natural starting point for such a discussion . 19th Century . The first true puppet state in modern European history , 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 also French client republic s . In 1836 Americans allowed to live in the Mexican state of Texas revolted against the Mexican government to establish the American sponsored Republic of Texas , a country that existed barely 10 years ( from May 14 , 1836 to December 29 , 1845 ) before it was annexed to the United States of America . However , since August 1837 , Memucan Hunt , Jr . , the Texan minister to the United States , submitted a first annexation proposal to the Van Buren administration . In 1895 , Japan detached Korea from its tributary relationship with China , giving it formal independence which was a prelude to Japanese annexation . In 1896 Britain established a puppet state in Zanzibar . Puppet states of 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 ) , Japan established a number of states that historians have come to consider puppet régimes . Other plans . Japan had plans for other puppet states . The Provisional Priamurye Government 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 the Netherlands East Indies ( Indonesia ) . These plans ended when the Japanese surrendered on 15 August 1945 . Puppet states of 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 of Allied forces During and Post WWII . Puppet states of the Soviet Union . 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 Republic s in Romania , Bulgaria , Hungary , and Poland were dominated by the Soviet Union . While all of these People ' s Republic s 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 . Puppet states of the United Kingdom . The 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 . Decolonization and Cold War . In 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 . Congo Crisis . Following Belgian Congo ' s independence as the Republic of the Congo ( Léopoldville ) in 1960 , Belgian interests supported the short - lived breakaway state of Katanga ( 1960 – 1963 ) . East Asia during the Cold War . During the 1950 – 1953 Korean War , South Korea and the United States alleged that North Korea was a Soviet puppet state . At the same time , South Korea was accused of being an American puppet state by North Korea and its allies . Additionally , in 1951 Dean Rusk , the Assistant Secretary of State for Far Eastern Affairs , branded the People ' s Republic of China a " Slavic Manchukuo " , implying that it was a puppet state of the Soviet Union just as Manchukuo had been a puppet state of the Empire of Japan . This position was commonly taken by American propaganda of the 1950s , despite the fact that the Chinese communist movement had developed largely independently of the Soviet Union . Following the victory of the Viet Minh in the First Indochina War , the 1954 Geneva Accords stipulated that Vietnam would be divided for two years only , until national elections could be held . However , the Americans along with Ngo Dinh Diem feared that Ho Chi Minh and the would win the election . The State of Vietnam and the United States didn ' t sign the Geneva Accords , citing that it was impossible to hold free and fair nationwide democratic elections in the communist North , and this was later expressed by UN observers monitoring the partition of Vietnam . As a result , South Vietnam and the U . S . were not bound by its terms . In 1955 the Vietnamese president Ngo Dinh Diem , a surrogate supported by the United States , declared the independence of the Republic of Vietnam in the southern half of Vietnam . Over time , Diem grew increasingly uncomfortable with the role of the U . S . in his country , complaining that they were increasing the conflict with North Vietnam . Diem ' s complaints became more vocal as American soldiers , called " advisors " , continued to pour into the country , and some began calling Diem an uncooperative client and a puppet pulling his own strings . After he became seen more as a liability than an asset to America , Diem was assassinated in 1963 with the complicity of the CIA and possibly President Kennedy . During the Vietnam War , South Vietnam was allied with the U . S . and other anti - communist states in Asia and the West , whereas North Vietnam was allied with China , and particularly the Soviet Union , and with other socialist and communist nations . 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 . However , South Vietnam was so heavily dependent on US military aid that when the aid terminated , the country collapsed and was taken over . South Africa ' s Bantustans . During the 1970s and 1980s , four ethnic bantustan s , 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 War . Republic of Kuwait . The Republic of Kuwait was a short - lived pro - Ba ' athist Iraq state in the Persian Gulf that only existed three weeks before it was annexed by Iraq . Current . Northern Cyprus . Due to Northern Cyprus ' isolation and heavy dependence on Turkish support , Turkey has a high level of control over the country ' s decision - making processes . This has led to some experts stating that it runs as an effective puppet state of Turkey . Few political decisions in Northern Cyprus are taken without the approval of the Turkish National Security council in Ankara . South Ossetia . 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 to rely on Russia for economic and logistical support , as its entire exports and imports and air and road traffic is only between 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 .