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{{Short description|State that is subordinate to another}}
{{Forms of government}}
A '''client state''' in the context of [[international relations]] is a [[State (polity)|state]] that is economically, politically, and militarily subordinated to a more powerful '''controlling state'''.<ref>Michael Graham Fry, Erik Goldstein, Richard Langhorne. ''Guide to International Relations and Diplomacy''. London, England, UK; New York, New York, USA: Continuum International Publishing, 2002. Pp. 9.</ref> Alternative terms<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Талдикін |first1=О. |last2=Taldykin |first2=O. |title=Клієнтські форми державності: держава-сателіт |date=2022 |url=https://er.dduvs.edu.ua/handle/123456789/10524 |journal=Науковий вісник Дніпропетровського державного університету внутрішніх|language=uk}}</ref> for a ''client state'' are [[satellite state]], [[associated state]], and [[dominion]], [[Condominium (international law)|condominium]], [[self-governing colony]], and [[Neocolonialism|neo-colony]], [[protectorate]], [[vassal state]], [[puppet state]], and [[tributary state]].

==Controlling states in history==
===Persia, Greece, Ancient China and Rome===
{{see also|List of Roman client rulers|Client kingdoms in ancient Rome}}
Ancient states such as [[History of Iran|Persia]], [[Parthia]], [[Ancient Greece|Greek city-states]], [[Ancient China]], and [[Ancient Rome]] sometimes created client states by making the leaders of that state subservient, having to provide [[tribute]] and soldiers. [[Classical Athens]], for example, forced weaker states into the [[Delian League]] and in some cases imposed democratic governments on them. Later, [[Philip II of Macedon]] similarly imposed the [[League of Corinth]]. One of the most prolific users of client states was [[Roman Republic|Republican Rome]]<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zmmBAAAAMAAJ&q=client+king|title=Herod's Judaea|isbn=9783161497179|last1=Rocca|first1=Samuel|year=2008|publisher=Mohr Siebeck }}</ref><ref>Collected studies: Alexander and his successors in Macedonia, by Nicholas Geoffrey Lemprière Hammond,1994, page 257,"to Demetrius of Pharos, whom she set up as a client king</ref> which, instead of conquering and then absorbing into an empire, chose to make client states out of those it defeated (e.g. [[Demetrius of Pharos]]), a policy which was continued up until the 1st century BCE when it became the [[Roman Empire]]. Sometimes the client was not a former enemy but a [[pretender]] whom Rome helped, [[Herod the Great]] being a well-known example. The use of client states continued through the [[Middle Ages]] as the [[Feudalism|feudal system]] began to take hold.{{Citation needed|date=May 2024}}

===Ottoman Empire===
{{main|Vassal and tributary states of the Ottoman Empire}}
[[File:OttomanEmpire1590.png|thumb|Vassal and tributary states of the [[Ottoman Empire]] in 1590]]
The number of tributary or vassal states varied over time but most notable were the [[Crimean Khanate|Khanate of Crimea]], [[Wallachia]], [[Moldavia]], [[Principality of Transylvania (1570–1711)|Transylvania]], the [[Sharifate of Mecca]], and the [[Aceh Sultanate|Sultanate of Aceh]].{{Citation needed|date=May 2024}}

==19th and 20th centuries==
{{more citations needed section|date=July 2014}}

===Russian Empire===
{{main|Russia–Serbia relations}}
[[Austria-Hungary]] tried to make [[Kingdom of Serbia|Serbia]] a client state in order to form a [[Christianity|Christian]] opposition to the [[Ottoman Empire]], but after the 1903 [[May Coup (Serbia)|May Coup]], Serbia came under the influence of [[Russian Empire|Russia]], which was forming a pan-[[Eastern Orthodox Church|Eastern Orthodox]] opposition to the Latin Christianity represented by the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In 1914, Russia repeatedly warned Austria-Hungary against attacking Serbia. When it did attack, Russia mobilised its army.<ref>Russian Foreign Minister [[Sergey Sazonov]] warned Austria in 1914 that Russia "Would respond militarily to any action against the client state." Christopher Clark, ''The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went to War in 1914'' (2012) p 481.</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Thomas F. X. Noble|display-authors=et al|title=Western Civilization: Beyond Boundaries, Volume C: Since 1789|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b1PTCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA692|year=2010|publisher=Cengage|page=692|isbn=978-1424069606}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Michael J. Lyons|title=World War II: A Short History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LYqTDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA3|year=2016|publisher=Routledge|pages=3–4|isbn=9781315509440}}</ref> Russia also wanted [[Kingdom of Bulgaria|Bulgaria]]<ref>{{cite book|author=Barbara Jelavich|title=Russia and the Formation of the Romanian National State, 1821–1878|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=clLtuNxa1cgC&pg=PA288|year=2004|publisher=Cambridge UP|page=288|isbn=9780521522519}}</ref> and [[Kingdom of Montenegro|Montenegro]]<ref>{{cite book|author=Clive Ponting|title=Thirteen Days: The Road to the First World War|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a9BmAAAAMAAJ|year=2002|publisher=Chatto & Windus|page=60|isbn=9780701172930}}</ref> as client states.

At the time, [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|Great Britain]] and Austria-Hungary both considered Serbia as a client state controlled by Russia.<ref>{{cite book|author=Henry Cowper|title=World War One and Its Consequences|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l9VmAAAAMAAJ|year=1990|publisher=Open University Press|page=209|isbn=9780335093076}}</ref>

===First French Empire===
{{main|List of French client states}}
[[File:Europe 1812 map en.png|thumb|The [[First French Empire]] and its satellite states in 1812]]
During the [[French Revolution|Revolutionary]] and [[Napoleonic era]]s (1789–1815), France conquered most of [[western Europe]] and established several client states.

At first, during the [[French Revolutionary Wars]], these states were erected as "''Républiques soeurs''" ("[[sister republic]]s"). They were established in Italy (the [[Cisalpine Republic]] in [[Northern Italy]] and the [[Parthenopean Republic]] in [[Southern Italy]]), Greece ([[French rule in the Ionian Islands (1797–1799)|''Îles Ioniennes'']]), Switzerland (the [[Helvetic Republic]] and the [[Valais Republic|Rhodanic Republic]]), and Belgium and the Netherlands ([[Batavian Republic]]).

During the [[First French Empire]], while [[Napoleon|Napoleon I]] and the [[French Imperial Army (1804–1815)|French Army]] occupied much of [[Europe]], such states changed, and several new states were formed. The Italian republics were transformed into the [[Kingdom of Italy (Napoleonic)|Kingdom of Italy]] under Napoleon's direct rule in the north, and the [[Kingdom of Naples (Napoleonic)|Kingdom of Naples]] in the south, first under [[Joseph Bonaparte]] and later under [[Marshal of the Empire|Marshal]] [[Joachim Murat]]. A third state was created in the Italian Peninsula, the [[Kingdom of Etruria]]. The Batavian Republic was replaced by the [[Kingdom of Holland]], ruled by Napoleon's third brother, [[Louis Bonaparte]].

A total of 35 German states, all of them allies of France, seceded from the [[Holy Roman Empire]] to create the [[Confederation of the Rhine]], a client state created to provide a buffer between France and its two largest enemies to the east, [[Kingdom of Prussia|Prussia]] and [[Austrian Empire|Austria]]. Two of those states were Napoleonic creations: the [[Kingdom of Westphalia]], which was controlled by [[Jérôme Bonaparte]], the Emperor's youngest brother; and the [[Grand Duchy of Würzburg]] as was Poland, then the [[Duchy of Warsaw]].

During the [[Peninsular War|French invasion of the Iberian Peninsula]], Napoleon attempted to subjugate Portugal and Spain into a client [[Spain under Joseph Bonaparte|Kingdom of Spain]], but the French were eventually driven out of Iberia in a costly war.

===France after decolonisation===
In the 20th century, France exercised a sphere of influence, or ''[[Françafrique]]'' over its [[French African colonies|former African colonies]],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/specialseries/2013/08/201387113131914906.html |title=The French African Connection |access-date=September 27, 2018 |date=April 7, 2014 |publisher=Al Jazeera |archive-date=November 12, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181112013750/https://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/specialseries/2013/08/201387113131914906.html |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/22/opinion/global/the-return-of-francafrique.html |title=The Return of Françafrique |access-date=September 27, 2018 |last=Haski |first=Pierre |date=July 21, 2013 |work=The New York Times |location=New York }}</ref> and to some degree former Belgian colonies in Africa (which were also French-speaking). The term is sometimes used pejoratively, to characterise the relationship with France as neocolonial. The former colonies provide oil and minerals important to the [[Economy of France|French economy]], and in some, French companies have commercial interests.

===British Empire===
[[File:British Indian Empire 1909 Imperial Gazetteer of India.jpg|thumb|Map of British territories in the Indian subcontinent in 1909 with [[princely state]]s in yellow]]
The [[Princely state|Indian princely states]] were nominally sovereign entities in the [[British Empire]] and in 1947, were given a choice to either accede to independent [[Dominion of India|India]] or [[Dominion of Pakistan|Pakistan]] or get independence (the [[Nizam of Hyderabad]] did opt for independence but his kingdom was [[Annexation of Hyderabad|annexed]] by Indian forces in 1948). [[Unilateral Declaration of Egyptian Independence|Egyptian independence]] in 1922 ended its brief status as a British protectorate and [[Kingdom of Iraq|Iraq]] was made a kingdom in 1932. But in both cases, the economic and military reality did not amount to full independence, but a status where the local rulers were British clients. Other instances include Africa (e.g. Northern Nigeria under [[Frederick Lugard, 1st Baron Lugard|Lord Lugard]]), and the [[Unfederated Malay States]]; the policy of ''[[indirect rule]]''.

===Germany===
====World War I====
{{Main article|Central Powers#German client states}}
* {{Flagicon|Poland}} [[Kingdom of Poland (1917–1918)|Kingdom of Poland]]<ref>The Regency Kingdom has been referred to as a [[puppet state]] by Norman Davies in ''Europe: A history'' ([https://books.google.com/books?id=jrVW9W9eiYMC&dq=%22Kingdom+of+Poland%22+1916+puppet&pg=PA910 Google Print, p. 910]); by Jerzy Lukowski and Hubert Zawadzki in ''A Concise History of Poland'' ([https://books.google.com/books?id=HMylRh-wHWEC&pg=PA218 Google Print, p. 218]); by Piotr J. Wroblel in ''Chronology of Polish History'' and ''Nation and History'' ([https://books.google.com/books?id=lzWHDEE6OqkC&pg=PA454 Google Print, p. 454]); and by Raymond Leslie Buell in ''Poland: Key to Europe'' ([https://books.google.com/books?id=-KcfGbrKptoC&q=Poland+Key+to+Europe Google Print, p. 68]: "The Polish Kingdom... was merely a pawn [of Germany]").</ref> (1917–1918)
* {{Flagicon image|Flag of Lithuania (1918).svg}} [[Kingdom of Lithuania (1918)|Kingdom of Lithuania]] (1918)
* {{Flag|Ukrainian State}}<ref>Kataryna Wolczuk. The Moulding of Ukraine: The Constitutional Politics of State Formation. p. 37.</ref> (1918)
* [[Duchy of Courland and Semigallia (1918)|Duchy of Courland and Semigallia]]<ref>Kevin O'Connor, [https://books.google.com/books?id=b3b5nU4bnw4C&dq The History of the Baltic States], page 78, {{ISBN|0-313-32355-0}}.</ref> (1918)
* {{Flag|Democratic Republic of Georgia}}<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rayfield |first=Donald |title=Edge of empires: a history of Georgia |date=2012 |publisher=Reaktion Books |isbn=978-1-78023-030-6 |location=London |pages=326–331}}</ref> (1918)

====World War II====
* {{flagicon|Slovak Republic (1939–1945)}} [[Slovak Republic (1939–1945)|Slovak Republic]] (1939–1945)
* {{flag|Vichy France}} (1940–1944)
* {{flag|Independent State of Croatia}} (1941–1945)
* {{flagicon|Albanian Kingdom (1943–44)}} [[German occupation of Albania|Albanian Kingdom]] (1943–1944)

===United States===
[[File:CongressBuilding SEATO.jpg|thumb|right|The leaders attending the [[Manila Summit Conference]] hosted by Philippine President [[Ferdinand Marcos]] on 24 October 1966]]
The term has also been applied to states which are extremely economically dependent on a more powerful nation. The three Pacific Ocean countries associated with the United States under the [[Compact of Free Association]] (the [[Federated States of Micronesia]], the [[Marshall Islands]], and [[Palau]]) have been called client states.<ref>{{cite book |title=Pacific Futures: Past and Present |date=2018 |editor1=Warwick Anderson |editor2=Miranda Johnson |editor3=Barbara Brookes |first=David L. |last=Hanlon |chapter=A Different Historiography for "A Handful of Chickpeas Flung Over the Sea": Approaching the Federated States of Micronesia's Deeper Past|publisher=University of Hawai'i Press |isbn=978-0-8248-7742-2}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |journal=Mundi |last=Chen |first=Millie |title=The Marshall Islands and U.S. Imperial Relations |url=https://tuljournals.temple.edu/index.php/mundi/article/view/374 |publisher=Temple University |date=2020 |volume=1 |number=1 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Rampell |first1=Ed |title=George H.W. Bush: Dirty Tricks and Regime Change in Nuclear-Free Palau |url=https://islandtimes.org/george-bush-dirty-tricks-palau/ |access-date=15 April 2023 |work=Island Times |date=8 January 2019}}</ref>

* {{flagcountry|Republic of China (1912–1949)}} (1945–1949) → {{Flag|Taiwan}} (1949–1979)
* {{flag|Khmer Republic}} (1970–1975)
* {{flag|Philippines|1936}} ([[History of the Philippines (1965–1986)|1965–1986]])
* {{flag|South Korea}} (1948–1953)
* {{flag|South Vietnam}} (1954–1975)
* {{flag|Thailand}} (1949–1976)

===Imperial Japan===
[[File:Manchukuo map 1939.svg|thumb|Location of [[Manchukuo]] (red) within [[Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere|Imperial Japan's sphere of influence]] in 1939]]
In the late 19th century, the [[Empire of Japan]] gradually reduced [[Joseon|Joseon Korea]]'s status to that of a client state. In the early 20th century, this was converted to [[Korea under Japanese rule|direct rule]]. [[Manchukuo]], in contrast, remained a [[List of World War II puppet states|puppet state]] throughout World War II.

* {{Flag|Azad Hind}} (1943–1945)
* {{Flag|State of Burma}} (1943–1945)
* {{Flagicon image|Flag of Cambodia under French protection.svg}} [[Kingdom of Kampuchea (1945)|Kingdom of Kampuchea]] (1945)
* China ([[East Hebei Autonomous Government]] and [[North Shanxi Autonomous Government]])<ref>{{Cite web |title=China grapples with preserving reminders of Japanese occupation |url=https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/International-relations/China-grapples-with-preserving-reminders-of-Japanese-occupation |access-date=2022-05-31 |website=Nikkei Asia |language=en-GB}}</ref>
** {{Flagicon image|Flag of the Great Way Municipal Government of Shanghai.svg}} [[Great Way Government]] (1937–1938)
** {{Flagicon image|Flag of the Provisional Government of the Republic of China (1939–1940).svg}} [[Provisional Government of the Republic of China (1937–1940)|Provisional Government of the Republic of China]] (1937–1940)
** {{Flagicon image|Flag of the Republic of China-Nanjing (Peace, Anti-Communism, National Construction).svg}} [[Wang Jingwei regime|Reorganised National Government of the Republic of China]] (1940–1945)
* {{Flag|Joseon}} (After the [[First Sino-Japanese War]])<ref>{{Cite web |title=Transimperial Genealogies of Korea as a Protectorate: The Egypt Model in Japan's Politics of Colonial Comparison {{!}} Cross-Currents |url=https://cross-currents.berkeley.edu/e-journal/issue-32/mizutani |access-date=2022-05-31 |website=cross-currents.berkeley.edu |archive-date=2022-03-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220317192743/https://cross-currents.berkeley.edu/e-journal/issue-32/mizutani |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* {{Flag|Korean Empire}}<ref>{{Cite web|title=How Japan Took Control of Korea {{!}} HISTORY|url=https://www.history.com/.amp/news/japan-colonization-korea|access-date=2021-07-02|website=www.history.com|date=28 February 2018 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Japanese Rule Over Korea - A Liberation Day Korea History - Koryo Tours |url=https://koryogroup.com/blog/japanese-rule-over-korea-a-liberation-day-korea-history |access-date=2022-06-02 |website=koryogroup.com |date=15 August 2020 |language=en}}</ref>{{Unreliable source|date=September 2024|reason=blog|certain=yes}} (1905–1910)
* {{Flagicon image|Flag_of_the_Kingdom_of_Luang_Phrabang_(1707-1893).svg}} [[Kingdom of Luang Prabang (Japanese puppet state)|Kingdom of Luang Phrabang]] (1945)
* {{Flag|Manchukuo}} (1932–1945)
* {{Flag|Mengjiang}} (1939–1945)
* {{Flag|Second Philippine Republic}} (1943–1945)
* {{Flagdeco|Vietnam|1945}} [[Empire of Vietnam]] (1945)

===Soviet Union===
{{see also|Soviet Empire|Satellite state}}
Soviet proxy, [[Satellite state#Post-World War II|"satellite"]], or client states included much of the [[Warsaw Pact]] member states whose policies were heavily influenced by Soviet military power and economic aid. Other nations with [[Marxism–Leninism|Marxist–Leninist]] governments were routinely criticised as being Soviet proxies as well, among them [[Cuba]] following the [[Cuban Revolution]], the [[Chinese Soviet Republic]], [[North Korea]],<ref name=DPRK>{{cite magazine| url=https://theweek.com/articles/597768/why-north-korea-betting-big-nuclear-weapons |title=Why North Korea is betting big on nuclear weapons| date=8 January 2016| last=Mizokami| first=Kyle| magazine=The Week}}</ref> [[North Vietnam]], the [[Socialist Republic of Vietnam]], [[South Yemen]], the [[People's Republic of Angola]], the [[People's Republic of Mozambique]], and the [[Democratic Republic of Afghanistan]]. Within the [[Soviet Union]] itself, the [[Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic|Ukrainian SSR]] and the [[Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic|Byelorussian SSR]], had seats at the [[United Nations]], but were actually proper Soviet territory.
<!-- DO NOT ADD ANY 21st Century entries without MULTIPLE INDEPENDENT RELIABLE sources -->

==See also==
{{div col|colwidth=18em}}
* [[Associated state]] 
* [[Banana republic]]
* [[Condominium (international law)|Condominium]]
* [[Dominion]]
* [[Neo-colony]] 
* [[Protectorate]] 
* [[Puppet state]]
* [[Satellite state]]
* [[Self-governing colony]]
* [[Strategic autonomy]]
* [[Suzerainty]]
* [[Tributary state]]
* [[Tributary state|Tributary]]
* [[Vassal state]] 
{{div col end}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Autonomous types of first-tier administration}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Client State}}
[[Category:Client state| ]]
[[Category:Sovereignty]]
[[Category:Geopolitical terminology]]
[[Category:Types of countries]]