Soviet Empire

The informal term "Soviet Empire" is used by critics of the Soviet Union to refer to that country's influence over a number of smaller nations during the Cold War. These nations were independent countries with separate governments that set their own policies, but those policies had to remain within certain limits decided by the Soviet Union. Failure to stay within the limits could result in military intervention by the Warsaw Pact. Countries in this situation are often called satellite states. This arrangement was always unofficial, and the Soviet government always denied having any power over other countries.

Though the Soviet Union was not ruled by an emperor and declared itself anti-imperialist, critics argue that it exhibited tendencies common to historic empires (the General Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party was the prime overlord over the vassal-like Nomenklatura structure and supreme commander of the Soviet Armed Forces and the KGB). Some scholars hold that the Soviet Union was a hybrid entity containing elements common to both multinational empires and nation states. It has also been argued that the USSR practiced colonialism as did other imperial powers.