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Puppet government or puppet régime are derogatory terms for a government which - though notionally of the same culture as the governed people - owes its existence (or other major debt) to being installed, supported or controlled by a more powerful entity, typically a foreign power. The term is partisan and prone to semantic disputes, used almost exclusively by detractors of such governments, whether or not the majority of citizens affected acknowledge the characterization, or object to that kind of government. Often a proclaimed puppet government faces a rival government which uses the puppet government term to weaken the legitimacy of that government. Also usually implied is the government's lack of legitimacy, in the view of those using the term.
For example, each of the two Korean governments has throughout its history often used the rhetoric that it is in fact the only true ruler of the peninsula, and that the other government is merely a "puppet" of the US/Soviets.
1 Examples of Puppet States
Some other examples of states sometimes labelled "puppet states" are:
- the interim government of Iraq after the US led invasion.
- the Taliban regime in Afghanistan (controlled by Pakistan before 1998, then controlled by Al-Qaida)
- the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (on territory occupied in 1974)
- The People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, supported by the Soviet UnionThe Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR ( Russian: ; tr. Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik (SSSR) also called the Soviet Union ( ; tr. Sovetsky Soyuz , was a state in much of the northern region of Eurasia that existed from 1922 until 1 ( 1975Events January January 1 Watergate scandal: John N. Mitchell, H. Haldeman, John D. Ehrlichman are found guilty of the Watergate cover-up and are sentenced to 30 months to 8 years in jail on February 21 January 5 The Tasman Bridge in Tasmania, Australia, i- 1990Events January January 3 Former leader of Panama Manuel Noriega surrenders to American forces. January 7 The Leaning Tower of Pisa is closed to the public due to safety concerns. January 9 Lt Gen Bazilio Olara Okello The man who led the coup aginst Dr Apo)
- most of the SovietThe Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR ( Russian: ; tr. Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik (SSSR) also called the Soviet Union ( ; tr. Sovetsky Soyuz , was a state in much of the northern region of Eurasia that existed from 1922 until 1 " satellite stateThe term satellite state by analogy to stellar objects orbiting a larger object, such as planets revolving around the sun, refers to a country that is formally sovereign but that is in fact dominated by a larger hegemonic power. In extreme cases, satellits" behind the Iron CurtainThe Iron Curtain is a term used in the West to refer to the boundary line which divided Europe into two separate areas of political influence from the end of World War II until the end of the Cold War. During this period, Eastern Europe was under the poli in post-war EuropeFor the band of the same name, see Europe (band . Europe is a continent forming the westermost part of the Eurasian supercontinent. Europe is bounded to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the west by the Atlantic Ocean, to the south by the Mediterranean Se
- the Democratic Republic of AfghanistanThis article is about Communist rule in Afghanistan (1978-1992 . The Communists take power, 1978 On April 27, 1978 a coup was initiated, reportedly by Hafizullah Amin while he was under house arrest. Mohammed Daoud Khan was killed the next day. The commun, controlled by the Soviet UnionThe Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR ( Russian: ; tr. Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik (SSSR) also called the Soviet Union ( ; tr. Sovetsky Soyuz , was a state in much of the northern region of Eurasia that existed from 1922 until 1 ( 1979- 1990)
- many Central and South American military dictatorships, supported by USA
- the Greek Junta 1967- 1974, supported by the USA
- South Vietnam 1954- 1975, backed by the USA
- Cuba, backed by the USA ( 1902- 1959)
- Manchukuo, set up in Manchuria by Japan in the 1930s
- Mengjiang, similar to Manchukuo but in Inner Mongolia
- Wang Jingwei's Nationalist government in Nanjing 1940- 1944 detached from the Kuomintang, supported by Japan
- the Far Eastern Republic, set up by the Bolsheviks 1920- 1923 in the Russian Far East
- Iraq ( 1932- 1958) and Transjordan ( 1921- 1951), ruled by British-installed Hashemite kings
- the Kingdom of Poland 1916- 1918, controlled by the German Empire
- Panama, separated from Colombia by the USA in 1903 to build and control the Panama Canal
- the Kingdom of Poland, controlled by Imperial Russia
- the Grand Duchy of Warsaw, controlled by Napoleonic France
- the Kingdom of Holland, controlled by Napoleonic France.
Governments which take power after foreign military intervention, or the threat thereof, are often accused by their opponents of being puppet governments, for example the government of Hamid Karzai in post- Taliban Afghanistan or the Diem government of South Vietnam, supported by the United States. Indeed, such accusations are commonly used to destabilize governments, encouraging and justifing coup d'états.
