{{Short description|Country which is nominally sovereign but under extensive influence from a larger state}} {{More citations needed|date=June 2017}} {{Forms of government}} A '''satellite state''' or '''dependent state''' is a [[country]] that is formally independent but under heavy [[Politics|political]], [[Economy|economic]], and [[military]] influence or control from another country.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Betts |first1=R. R. |title=The European Satellite States: Their War Contribution and Present Position |journal=International Affairs |volume=21 |issue=1 |date=January 1945 |pages=15–29 |doi=10.2307/3018989 |jstor=3018989}}</ref> The term was coined by analogy to planetary objects [[Satellite|orbiting]] a larger object, such as smaller moons revolving around larger planets, and is used mainly to refer to [[Central Europe|Central]] and [[Eastern Europe]]an member states of the [[Warsaw Pact]] during the [[Cold War]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nato.int/archives/1st5years/chapters/1.htm|title=Source: NATO website 2nd Footnote at bottom|website=nato.int|access-date=9 May 2018|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170816194558/http://www.nato.int/archives/1st5years/chapters/1.htm|archive-date=16 August 2017}}</ref> as well as to [[Mongolian People's Republic|Mongolia]] and [[Tuvan People's Republic|Tuva]] between 1924 and 1990,<ref name=Sik>{{cite book|page=39|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H1ecjepq80QC&pg=PA39|title=Nationality and International Law in Asian Perspective|isbn=978-0-7923-0876-8|last1=Sik|first1=Ko Swan|year=1990| publisher=Martinus Nijhoff Publishers }}</ref> all of which were economically, culturally, and politically [[Eastern Bloc|dominated]] by the [[Soviet Union]]. While primarily referring to the Soviet-controlled states in Central and Eastern Europe or Asia, in some contexts the term also refers to other countries under [[Soviet empire|Soviet hegemony]] during the Cold War, such as [[North Korea]] (especially in the years surrounding the [[Korean War]] of 1950–1953), [[Cuba]] (particularly after it joined the [[Comecon]] in 1972), [[North Vietnam]] during the [[Vietnam War]],{{cn|date=November 2025}} and some countries in the American sphere of influence, such as [[South Vietnam]] during 1964–1973.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Vietnam War - CCEA |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zn4cqyc#zy8kmbk |access-date=2 November 2025 |publisher=BBC}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=209. Paper Prepared by the Ambassador to India (Galbraith) |url=https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1961-63v01/d209 |access-date=5 November 2025 |publisher=Office of the Historian}}</ref> In Western usage, the term has seldom been applied to states other than those in the Soviet orbit. In Soviet usage, the term applied to states in the orbit of [[Nazi Germany]], [[Fascist Italy]], and [[Empire of Japan|Imperial Japan]], whereas in the West the term to refer to those has typically been ''[[client state]]s''.{{Citation needed|date=April 2023}}
The ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'' traces the concept of satellite states in English back as early as 1780.<ref name="OED">{{Cite encyclopedia |title=satellite, n. meanings, etymology and more |encyclopedia=Oxford English Dictionary |url=https://www.oed.com/dictionary/satellite_n?tab=meaning_and_use#24278178 |language=en}}</ref> In times of [[war]] or political tension, satellite states sometimes served as [[Buffer zone|buffers]] between an enemy country and the nation exerting control over the satellites.<ref>{{cite book |last=Wood |first=Alan |title=Stalin and Stalinism |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TvxtVk0XMpgC&pg=PA62 |access-date=2009-09-10 |year=2005 |orig-year=1990 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=978-0-415-30732-1 |page=62}}</ref>
==Soviet satellite states== ===Interwar period=== When the [[Mongolian Revolution of 1921]] broke out, Mongolian revolutionaries expelled the Russian [[White movement|White Guards]] (during the [[Russian Civil War]] of 1917–1923 following the [[October Revolution]] of 1917) from Mongolia, with the assistance of the Soviet [[Red Army]]. The revolution also officially ended Manchurian sovereignty over Mongolia, which had existed since 1691.<ref>{{Cite web |title=History of the U.S. and Mongolia |url=https://mn.usembassy.gov/our-relationship/policy-history/ |website=U.S. Embassy in Mongolia}}</ref> Although the [[Theocracy|theocratic]] [[Bogd Khanate of Mongolia]] still nominally continued, with successive series of violent struggles, Soviet influence grew stronger. In 1924, after the [[Bogd Khan]] died of [[laryngeal cancer]]<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Кузьмин, С.Л. |last2=[Kuzmin, S.L.] |last3=Оюунчимэг, Ж. |last4=[Oyunchimeg, J.] |title=Буддизм и революция в Монголии |trans-title=Buddhism and the revolution in Mongolia |url=https://www.scribd.com/doc/54133527/%D0%91%D1%83%D0%B4%D0%B4%D0%B8%D0%B7%D0%BC-%D0%B8-%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%B2%D0%BE%D0%BB%D1%8E%D1%86%D0%B8%D1%8F-%D0%B2-%D0%9C%D0%BE%D0%BD%D0%B3%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%B8 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306164044/https://www.scribd.com/doc/54133527/%D0%91%D1%83%D0%B4%D0%B4%D0%B8%D0%B7%D0%BC-%D0%B8-%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%B2%D0%BE%D0%BB%D1%8E%D1%86%D0%B8%D1%8F-%D0%B2-%D0%9C%D0%BE%D0%BD%D0%B3%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%B8 |archive-date=March 6, 2016 |language=ru}}</ref> or, as some sources suggest, at the hands of Soviet spies,<ref>{{YouTube|XuB0b_dEZ5g|Догсомын Бодоо 1/2}} '''(Mongolian)'''</ref> the [[Mongolian People's Republic]] was proclaimed on November 26, 1924. A nominally independent and sovereign country, it has been described as being a satellite state of the Soviet Union in the years from 1924 [[Mongolian Revolution of 1990|until 1990]]. This is supported by the fact that the Mongolian PR collapsed less than two months after the [[dissolution of the Soviet Union]].<ref name=Sik /><ref name=Japan>{{cite book|pages=13, 66|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DGQMKex16AsC&pg=PA13|title=Imperial Japan and National Identities in Asia: 1895–1945|isbn=978-0-7007-1482-7|last1=Narangoa|first1=Li|last2=Cribb|first2=Robert B|year=2003| publisher=Psychology Press }}</ref>
During the Russian Civil War, Red Army troops occupied [[Tuva]] in January 1920, which had also been part of the [[Qing dynasty|Qing Empire]] of China and a [[protectorate]] of [[Russian Empire|Imperial Russia]]. The [[Tuvan People's Republic]] was proclaimed a nominally independent state in 1921, although it was tightly controlled by Moscow and is considered a satellite state of the Soviet Union until 1944, when the USSR annexed it into the [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|Russian SFSR]].<ref name=Japan />
Another early Soviet satellite state in [[Asia]] was the short-lived [[Far Eastern Republic]] in Siberia.<ref name=Japan />
===Post-World War II=== At the end of [[World War II]], most Eastern and Central European countries were occupied by the Soviet Union,<ref name="wettig69">{{Harvnb|Wettig|2008|p=69}}</ref> and along with the Soviet Union made up what is called the [[Soviet empire]]. Soviet forces remained in these countries after the war's end.<ref name="rao280">{{Harvnb|Rao|2006|p=280}}</ref> Through a series of coalition governments including [[Communist party|communist parties]], and then a forced liquidation of coalition members opposed by the Soviets, [[Stalinism|Stalinist]] systems were established in each country.<ref name="rao280" /> Stalinists gained control of existing governments, police, press and radio outlets in these countries.<ref name="rao280" /> Soviet satellite states of the Cold War included:<ref name="rao280" /><ref name="Langley">{{Harvnb|Langley|2006|p=30}}</ref><ref name="Merkl">{{Harvnb|Merkl|2004|p=53}}</ref><ref name="Rajagopal">{{Harvnb|Rajagopal|2003|p=75}}</ref> * {{Flagicon|People's Republic of Albania}} [[People's Socialist Republic of Albania|People's Republic of Albania]] (1946–1961) * {{Flagicon|Polish People's Republic}} [[Polish People's Republic]] (1947–1989) * {{Flagicon|People's Republic of Bulgaria}} [[People's Republic of Bulgaria]] (1946–1990) * {{Flagicon|Romanian People's Republic}} [[Socialist Republic of Romania|Romanian People's Republic]] (1947–1965) * {{Flagicon|Czechoslovak Socialist Republic}} [[Czechoslovak Socialist Republic]] (1948–1989) * {{Flagicon|DDR}} [[East Germany|German Democratic Republic]] (1949–1990) * {{Flagicon|Hungarian People's Republic|1949}} [[Hungarian People's Republic]] (1949–1989) * {{flagicon|Mongolian People's Republic}} [[Mongolian People's Republic]] (1924–1990) * {{flagicon|North Korea}} [[North Korea|Democratic People's Republic of Korea]] (1948–1956) * {{flagicon image|Flag of Afghanistan (1978-1980).svg}} {{flagicon|Democratic Republic of Afghanistan}} {{flagicon|Afghanistan|1987}} [[Democratic Republic of Afghanistan]] (1978–1991) Albania and Romania ceased to be satellites before the [[revolutions of 1989]].<ref name="auto">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w1EsAAAAYAAJ&q=Romania+managed|title=Social Defence and Soviet Military Power: An Inquiry Into the Relevance of an Alternative Defence Concept : Report|first=Alex Peter|last=Schmid|date=October 19, 1985|publisher=Center for the Study of Social Conflict (C.O.M.T.), State University of Leiden|isbn=9789034607386|via=Google Books}}</ref> The [[People's Socialist Republic of Albania]], under the leadership of [[Enver Hoxha]], broke ties with the Soviet Union in the [[Albanian–Soviet split]] following the Soviet [[de-Stalinization|de-Stalinisation]] process,<ref name="olsen19">{{Harvnb|Olsen|2000|p=19}}</ref> and removed itself from Soviet influence in 1961.<ref name="auto"/> Romania's [[De-satellization of the Socialist Republic of Romania|de-satellization process]] started in 1956 and ended by 1965,<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0tEFBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA185|title=The Balkans Since the Second World War|first=R. J.|last=Crampton|date=July 15, 2014|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781317891178|via=Google Books}}</ref> with serious economic disagreements with Moscow resulting in a final rejection of Soviet hegemony in 1964.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D6mFCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA758|title=Political Handbook of the World 1998|date=February 1, 2016|publisher=Springer|isbn=9781349149513|via=Google Books}}</ref>
From 1945 to 1948 [[North Korea]] was under [[Soviet Civil Administration]], following this provisional governments were established under the [[Provisional People's Committee of North Korea]] and [[People's Committee of North Korea]] resulting in the establishment of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in 1948. Some scholars consider North Korea a satellite state under the Soviet Union from 1948 until the 1958 [[August faction incident]].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Armstrong|first=Charles K.|url=https://apjjf.org/-Charles-K--Armstrong/3460/article.pdf|title=The Destruction and Reconstruction of North Korea, 1950–1960|journal=The Asia-Pacific Journal|volume=8|issue=51|date=20 December 2010|access-date=13 September 2019|archive-date=16 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220116204532/https://apjjf.org/-Charles-K--Armstrong/3460/article.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>
The short-lived [[Second East Turkestan Republic|East Turkestan Republic]] (1944–1949) was a Soviet satellite until [[Incorporation of Xinjiang into the People's Republic of China|it was absorbed into]] the [[China|People's Republic of China]]. Between 1945 and the [[Iran crisis of 1946]] the [[Azerbaijan People's Government]] and [[Republic of Mahabad]] existed as satellite states in Soviet-occupied Iran. The [[Democratic Republic of Afghanistan]] was a satellite regime of the Soviet Union from 1978 to 1991. Between 1979 and 1989, Afghanistan was also under [[Soviet–Afghan War|Soviet military occupation]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Azmi |first=Muhammad R. |date=Spring 1986 |title=Soviet Politico-Military Penetration in Afghanistan, 1955 to 1979 |journal=Armed Forces & Society |volume=12 |issue=3 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/45304853 |publisher=Sage Publishing |pages=343, 344 |doi=10.1177/0095327X8601200301 |jstor=45304853|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Amstutz |first=J. Bruce |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RUSNyMH1aFQC |title=Afghanistan: The First Five Years of Soviet Occupation |date=1 July 1994 |publisher=Diane Publishing |isbn=9780788111112 |pages=52, 59, 190, 343}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Cordovez, S. Harrison |last2=S. Harrison |first1=Deigo, Selig |first2=Selig |title=Out of Afghanistan: The Inside Story of the Soviet Withdrawal |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1995 |isbn=0-19-506294-9 |location=New York, USA |page=29}}</ref>
==Post-Cold War usage of the term== Some commentators have expressed concern that [[United States]] military and diplomatic interventions in the [[Balkans]], in the [[Middle East]], and elsewhere might lead, or perhaps have already led, to the existence of American satellite states.<ref>{{Cite web |date=15 August 2007 |title=Serbia Says U.S. Wants Kosovo To Be 'Satellite State.' |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/1078172.html |access-date= |website=[[Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty]] |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last1=Bailes |first1=Jon |last2=Aksan |first2=Cihan |date=28 November 2008 |title=On Israel: An Interview with Norman Finkelstein |url=http://www.stateofnature.org/normanFinkelstein.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101128045212/http://www.stateofnature.org/normanFinkelstein.html |archive-date=2010-11-28 |access-date= |website=State of Nature: an Online Journal of Radical Ideas}}</ref> [[William Pfaff]] warned that a permanent American presence in [[Iraq]] would "turn Iraq into an American satellite state".<ref>{{cite news |last=Cooley |first=John |date=18 June 2008 |title=How to silence that Iran war drumbeat |work=[[The Christian Science Monitor]] |url=https://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0618/p09s01-coop.htm |access-date=}}</ref> In the Asia-Pacific, [[John Pilger]] accused ex Australian Prime Minister [[John Howard]] of turning the country into [[51st state|America's 51st state]]<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://www.newstatesman.com/international-politics/2007/03/pilger-australia-howard-bush|title = Australia: the new 51st state| date=5 March 2007 |accessdate = 2014-07-24|archive-date = 2020-12-16|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20201216102129/https://www.newstatesman.com/international-politics/2007/03/pilger-australia-howard-bush|url-status = live}}</ref> and [[South Korea]] has regularly been described by [[North Korea]] for being a "puppet state" of the United States.<ref>{{Cite web|url = https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2024/10/103_360705.html|title = Why does North Korea use term 'puppet' to describe South Korea?|accessdate = 2007-03-05}}</ref>
==See also== * [[American imperialism]] * [[Banana republic]] * [[Buffer state]] * [[Client state]] * [[Eastern Bloc]] * [[Finlandisation]] * [[Neocolonialism|Neo-colony]] * [[Protectorate]] * [[Puppet state]] * [[Sister republic]] * [[Soviet empire]] * [[Suzerainty]] * [[Vassal state]]
==Notes== {{Reflist}}
==References== * {{Citation|last=Langley|first=Andrew|title=The Collapse of the Soviet Union: The End of an Empire|publisher=Compass Point Books|year=2006|isbn=0-7565-2009-6|url=https://archive.org/details/collapseofsoviet0000lang}} * {{Citation|last=Merkl|first=Peter H.|title=German Unification|publisher=Penn State Press|year=2004|isbn=0-271-02566-2}} * {{Citation|last=Olsen|first=Neil|title=Albania|publisher=Oxfam|year=2000|isbn=0-85598-432-5|url=https://archive.org/details/albania00neil}} * {{Citation|last=Rajagopal|first=Balakrishnan|title=International law from below: development, social movements, and Third World resistance|publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2003|isbn=0-521-01671-1}} * {{Citation|last=Rao|first=B. V.|title=History of Modern Europe Ad 1789–2002: A.D. 1789–2002|publisher=Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd|year=2006|isbn=1-932705-56-2}} * {{Citation|last=Wettig|first=Gerhard|title=Stalin and the Cold War in Europe|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|year=2008|isbn=978-0-7425-5542-6}} * {{Citation|last=Wood|first=Alan|title=Stalin and Stalinism|publisher=[[Routledge]]|year=2005|isbn=978-0-415-30732-1}}
{{Autonomous types of first-tier administration}} {{Authority control}}
[[Category:1910s neologisms]] [[Category:Client states]] [[Category:Politics of the Soviet Union]] [[Category:Eastern Bloc]] [[Category:Neocolonialism]] [[Category:Imperialism]] [[Category:Marxism–Leninism]] [[Category:Post-Soviet states]]