List of World War II puppet states
This is a list of puppet states sponsored, created, or controlled by an occupying member of the Axis or Allied powers in World War II.
These puppet states or régimes claimed to enjoy full, complete, and independent sovereignty, but took at least some direction from their countries' occupiers. The puppet governments take responsibility for actions taken in the interest of the foreign puppet-master power.Allies
The Soviet Union had a number of puppet states during World War II. Almost all of them had previously been under Soviet control or had long been of interest to the regime; almost all of them were entirely or partially under Soviet influence for some time after the war and are post-Soviet states.
The Soviet Union also controlled two states post-war due to their involvement in World War II: East Germany and the Azerbaijan People's Government However these states were gained as a result of fighting during the war and were not themselves directly involved in the conflict; as a result, they are not included in this list.Encompassing the Hanko Peninsula, Suursaari, Seiskari, Lavansaari, Tytärsaari, and "Great and Little Koivisto", the Finnish Democratic Republic was created during the Winter War, and later merged with the Karelian ASSR into the Karelo-Finnish SSR.Following the 1926 Lithuanian coup d'état, Lithuania was led by what was known as the "Smetona regime," named after the leader of the coup, Antanas Smetona. It had only been in Soviet hands for just under a year when German forces captured the Lithuanian SSR, and incorporated it into the Reichskommissariat Ostland. The Soviets retook the LSSR during the Baltic Operation.
The LSSR regained its independence in 1990, though the Soviet Union refused to recognize its independence until 6 September 1991.In 1920, the Latvian War of Independence was over, and Latvia gained its independence from Russia. Latvia, along with Estonia and Lithuania, signed the Baltic Entente in 1934, a plan for the countries to politically support each other. On 5 October 1939, Latvia signed the Soviet–Latvian Mutual Assistance Treaty, allowing the Soviet Union to build military bases on Latvian soil.
In the 14–15 July 1940 Latvian parliamentary election, only the pro-Soviet Latvian Working People's Bloc was allowed on the ballot, winning an announced 97.8% of the vote. On 17 July, the Soviet Union invaded. On the 21st, the just-elected People's Parliament convened, declared the Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic and appointed delegates to request its admission into the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. On the same day, Kārlis Ulmanis, then-president of Latvia, stepped down, to be succeeded by the pro-Soviet Augusts Kirhenšteins. The Latvian delegates arrived in Moscow on 1 August to make their request, which the Soviet Union granted on 5 August 1940.
After being taken by the Germans 10 July 1941, it remained part of Ostland until the Soviet counterattack, when the last German forces in Latvia were defeated. It remained under Soviet control until 10 March 1990, when the Latvian Declaration of Sovereignty was adopted by the Supreme Council of the Republic of Latvia. Its independence was fully restored after the failed 1991 Soviet coup.In 1918, Estonia began its war of independence. Using troops that had been assembled by the Germans after invasion and subsequent occupation by Germany, Johan Laidoner led the Estonian War of Independence. The Soviet Union and Estonia then signed the Treaty of Tartu, making Estonia independent. The Soviet Union invaded Estonia a second time twenty years later on 17 June 1940 and set up a puppet state four days later. Almost a year later, Germany invaded during Operation Barbarossa, and incorporated Estonia into Ostland. Estonians welcomed the Germans, but quickly began to dislike them. During the Soviet invasion, Estonia was liberated from German occupation, and again became a Soviet puppet state. It remained under Soviet control until its declaration of independence, the Estonian Sovereignty Declaration.In 1944, the Soviets helped the Uyghur rebel forces take control of Ili, Tarbagatay, and Altay districts. In the Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship and Alliance, the Soviet Union agreed that it would no longer support the Eastern Turkestan Republic in return for China letting the Soviet Union keep the Mongolian People's Republic. In 1949, several of the East Turkestan Republic's leaders died in a plane crash while on their way to the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. China, which had been eyeing the area since its 1944 rebellion, seized the moment and took control of the area, where most of the remaining leadership accepted the area's incorporation into China.Although their forces did occupy its territory during the war, the British-Soviet control of Iran is not traditionally seen as creating a new puppet state due to the explicit involvement of Britain and the Soviet Union in the restructuring of the country's government and the relative freedom of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who could still control what remained of the Iranian army.
The United Kingdom sponsored only one government widely recognized as a puppet state during World War II:The United Kingdom had shown interest in Iraq since 1921, when the Cairo Conference had created the British-backed "Kingdom of Iraq." After Iraq's 1932 admittance into the League of Nations, the British mandate of the area ended. By March 1940, Iraqis had elected a government with strong Arab sentiments, with Rashid Ali al-Gaylani as the leader. In April 1941, al-Gaylani began a revolt, led by the Golden Square, a group of colonels. The rebels believed that they would get support from Germany, however Germany was preoccupied fighting Soviet Union. After the rebellion, the British lost their main source of oil, so they invaded in May 1941. In February 1958, Iraq joined the short-lived Arab Federation. Shortly after, the 14 July Revolution ended the Arab Federation, and Iraq was again its own country, the Republic of Iraq.Axis
Japan
The Empire of Japan had been creating puppet states in China since 1932 after the Mukden incident.On February 16, 1932, the Imperial Army hosted the "Founding Conference" or the "Big Four Conference" with governor of Liaoning, Zang Shiyi, commander of the Kirin Provincial Army, Xi Qia, Heilongjiang governor, Zhang Jinghui, and general Ma Zhanshan to establish the Northeast Administrative Committee. On its second meeting, the committee appointed the previous four and Tang Yulin, Ling Sheng, and Qimote Semupilei as chairmen. On the 18th, the Council issued a statement announcing that "the Northeast provinces are completely independent", all territories of which were in the hands of the council.State of Manchuria">Empire of Manchuria">State of Manchuria – March 1, 1932 to August 18, 1945
Manchuria had long been a location of unrest, and the Mukden Incident was a perfect excuse for Japanese occupation. In the Mukden incident, the Kwantung Army set off a bomb along the South Manchuria Railway and used the explosion as an excuse to occupy Manchuria, blaming Chinese forces. Manchukuo was created in March 1932. Although the Japanese controlled the area, they could not annex Manchuria into Japan because they had signed the Nine-Power Treaty. Japan and Manchukuo signed several treaties allowing Japan to mobilize Manchuria's people and resources as it liked. It was disestablished after the Soviet invasion of Manchuria.The East Hebei Autonomous Council, also sometimes called the East Ji Autonomous Council or the East Hopei Autonomous Anti-Communist Council, was headed by Yin Ju-keng in 1935 to help protect economic interests in north China. East Hebei protected Japan's economic interests by prohibiting the export of silver and the circulation of the notes of the Central Bank of China. They also set up their own Central Bank and began to issue notes which were supported by several banks and were widely circulated in Tianjin, against the orders of the Chinese central government. Under Japan's control of East Hebei, the region broke into reported "lawlessness", with the puppet state purportedly selling drugs to raise money. On February 1, 1938, East Hebei was merged with the Provisional Government of the Republic of China.On 22 December 1935, part of Inner Mongolia split from China, and became an independent state. The Mongol Military Government was formed on 12 May 1936. The military government operated under Chinese sovereignty, but Japanese control. In 1937, its name was changed to the Mongol United Autonomous Government. In 1939, the United Mongolian Autonomous Government, the Northern Shanxi Autonomous Government, and the South Chahar Autonomous Government merged to become Mengjiang. Mengjiang was later merged with other puppet states to create the Provisional Government of the Republic of China.The Great Way Municipal Government was created to help administer the occupied suburbs of Shanghai in December 1937. The GWMG was very small, headquartered in an office building in Pudong. Because of its association with the Japanese government, the GWMG found it hard to attract any politicians of reputation. It had difficulty creating an administration for Shanghai, and after just under five months merged with a new occupation regime in Nanjing.