A puppet state (also known as puppet government or marionette government) is a nominally sovereign state effectively controlled by a foreign power. A puppet state preserves the external paraphernalia of independence like a name, flag, anthem, constitution, law codes and motto but in reality is an organ of another state who has propelled its trusted ally from within the target nation into power.
The term is a metaphor which compares a government to a puppet controlled by strings by an outside puppeteer. It is often used as a term of political criticism to denigrate a government which is perceived as being unduly dependent upon an outside power.
Read more about Puppet State: The First Puppet States, Puppet States in World War I, Puppet States of Imperial Japan, Puppet States of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, Puppet States of The Soviet Union, Puppet States of The United Kingdom, Korea, Vietnam and China in The 1950s, Decolonization
Famous quotes containing the words puppet and/or state:
“The pretty fellows you speak of, I own entertain me sometimes, but is it impossible to be diverted with what one despises? I can laugh at a puppet show, at the same time I know there is nothing in it worth my attention or regard.”
—Mary Wortley, Lady Montagu (1689–1762)
“It should be noted that when he seizes a state the new ruler ought to determine all the injuries that he will need to inflict. He should inflict them once and for all, and not have to renew them every day.”
—Niccolò Machiavelli (1469–1527)