Puppet state

A formally sovereign state whose government is substantially controlled by a foreign power and serves that power’s interests. Its institutions may retain legal independence while lacking meaningful freedom in major decisions.

Military occupation: The control of a territory by hostile armed forces during or after conflict. An occupying power can install or sustain a local government that serves its strategic aims.
Manchukuo: A state established in northeast China in 1932 under Japanese control and dissolved in 1945. Japan presented Manchukuo as independent while directing its government and military.
Satellite state: A formally independent state under strong political, military, or economic influence from a more powerful state. It often describes sustained alignment within a sphere of influence without asserting total subordination.
Sovereignty: The supreme authority of a state over its territory and political affairs, free from external control. Puppet states retain formal sovereignty while foreign direction limits its practical exercise.
Propaganda: Communication designed to influence beliefs or behavior, often by selective or misleading presentation. Governments and opponents use the label to shape perceptions of a state’s independence.
Client state: A state that depends on a stronger state for protection or support while retaining some independent policy choices. The term captures influence without necessarily implying the degree of control meant by puppet state.
Vichy France: The French regime based in Vichy that governed unoccupied France from 1940 to 1944. Its constrained relationship with Nazi Germany illustrates collaboration under a powerful occupying neighbor.
Protectorate: A territory whose external affairs or defense are controlled by another state, often under a formal agreement. A protectorate acknowledges restricted sovereignty through an explicit legal arrangement rather than concealed control.
National liberation movement: An organized movement seeking independence or self-rule from foreign domination. Foreign-backed governments can provoke resistance framed as a struggle to recover national self-determination.
Self-determination: The principle that peoples may determine their political status and pursue their economic, social, and cultural development. The term invokes the denial of political choice that foreign control can represent.

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