satellite state

(noun)

A country that is formally independent in the world, but under heavy political, economic and military influence or control from another country.

Related Terms

Examples of satellite state in the following topics:

  • The Soviet Socialist Republics

    • The satellites states that arose in the Eastern Bloc not only reproduced the command economies of the Soviet Union, but also adopted the brutal methods employed by Joseph Stalin and Soviet secret police to suppress real and potential opposition.
    • Article 81 of the Constitution stated that "the sovereign rights of Union Republics shall be safeguarded by the USSR."
    • Throughout the Cold War, this right was widely considered to be meaningless, and the Soviet Republics were often referred to as "satellite states."
    • The term satellite state designates a country that is formally independent in the world, but under heavy political, economic and military influence or control from another country.
    • For the duration of the Cold War, the countries of Eastern Europe became Soviet satellite states — they were "independent" nations, which were one-party Communist States whose General Secretary had to be approved by the Kremlin, and so their governments usually kept their policy in line with the wishes of the Soviet Union, although nationalistic forces and pressures within the satellite states played a part in causing some deviation from strict Soviet rule.

  • The Iron Curtain

    • On March 5, 1946, Winston Churchill gave as speech declaring that an "iron curtain" had descended across Europe, pointing toward efforts by the Soviet Union to block itself and its satellite states from open contact with the West.
    • The term symbolized efforts by the Soviet Union to block itself and its satellite states from open contact with the West and non-Soviet-controlled areas.
    • On either side of the Iron Curtain, states developed their own international economic and military alliances:
    • In particular, Churchill feared that the United States might return to its pre-war isolationism, leaving the exhausted European states unable to resist Soviet demands.
    • Behind that line lie all the capitals of the ancient states of Central and Eastern Europe.

  • The Cold War Begins

    • The United States and Soviet Union eventually emerged as the two major superpowers after World War II.
    • Most of Europe became aligned with either the United States or the Soviet Union.
    • The Eastern European territories liberated from the Nazis and occupied by the Soviet armed forces were added to the Eastern Bloc by converting them into satellite states.
    • The Soviet-style regimes that arose in the satellite states not only reproduced Soviet command economies, but also adopted the brutal methods employed by Joseph Stalin and Soviet secret police to suppress real and potential opposition.
    • The plan also stated that European prosperity was contingent upon German economic recovery.

  • Reactions to Sputnik

    • The United States had held itself to be the world leader in space technology and missile development.
    • During the Cold War, America was in a state of fear from the Soviet Union.
    • Sputnik I exhibit in the Missile & Space Gallery at the National Museum of the United States Air Force.
    • Sputnik, which means "satellite" in Russian, was the Soviet entry in a scientific race to launch the first satellite ever.
    • Explain why the Soviet launch of the Sputnik satellite created such fear in the United States, and led to the Space Race.

  • Origins of the Cold War

    • A series of events during and after World War II exacerbated tensions, including the Soviet-German pact during the first two years of the war leading to subsequent invasions, the perceived delay of an amphibious invasion of German-occupied Europe, the western allies' support of the Atlantic Charter, disagreement in wartime conferences over the fate of Eastern Europe, the Soviets' creation of an Eastern Bloc of Soviet satellite states, western allies scrapping the Morgenthau Plan to support the rebuilding of German industry, and the Marshall Plan.
    • During and immediately after the war, the Soviet Union annexed several Eastern European countries as satellite states, a move viewed as expansionist and aggressive by Western powers.
    • In Kennan's view, Soviet behavior was inherently expansionist and paranoid, posing a threat to the United States and its allies.
    • In response to perceived western aggression, in September 1947, the Soviets created Cominform to enforce orthodoxy within the international communist movement and tighten political control over Soviet satellites through coordination of communist parties in the Eastern Bloc.
    • Summarize the conflicts that lead to the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union

  • The Nuclear Arms Race

    • General Assembly, the United States conducted its first post-war nuclear tests.
    • On October 4, 1957, the Soviet Union showed the world that they had missiles able to reach any part of the world when they launched the Sputnik satellite into Earth's orbit.
    • In response, the United States launched its own satellite on the October 31, 1959.
    • On December 8, 1991, the Soviet Union dissolved and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) was established.
    • With the end of the Cold War the United States and Russia both cut down on spending for nuclear weapons.

  • Kepler's Third Law

    • Kepler's third law states that the square of the orbital period of a planet is directly proportional to the cube of the semi-major axis of its orbit.
    • Using subscripts 1 and 2 to denote two different satellites, and taking the ratio of the last equation for satellite 1 to satellite 2 yields
    • If r and P are known for a satellite, then the mass M of the parent can be calculated.
    • This principle has been used extensively to find the masses of heavenly bodies that have satellites.
    • Kepler's third law states that the square of the period of the orbit of a planet about the Sun is proportional to the cube of the semi-major axis of the orbit.

  • Defective Viruses

    • Replication defective viruses (also known as satellites) are those that need the presence of other viruses to help them reproduce.
    • Satellites depend on co-infection of a host cell with a helper virus for productive multiplication.
    • When a satellite subviral agent encodes the coat protein in which it is encapsulated, it is then called a satellite virus.
    • Satellite viral particles should not be confused with satellite DNA.
    • Transmission of HDV can occur either via simultaneous infection with HBV (coinfection) or superimposed on chronic hepatitis B or hepatitis B carrier state (superinfection).

  • Satellites

    • Natural satellites are celestial objects that orbit a larger body; artificial satellites are manmade objects put in the orbit of the Earth.
    • The word "satellite" has a somewhat ambiguous definition.
    • Natural satellites are often classified in terms of their size and composition, while artificial satellites are categorized in terms of their orbital parameters.
    • There are 76 objects in the asteroid belt with satellites (five with two satellites each), four Jupiter trojans, 39 near-Earth objects, and 14 Mars-crossers.
    • Of the inner planets, Mercury and Venus have no natural satellites; Earth has one large natural satellite, known as the Moon; and Mars has two tiny natural satellites, Phobos and Deimos.

  • Neuroglia of the Peripheral Nervous System

    • The two kinds of glia cells in the PNS, schwann cells and satellite cells, each have unique functions.
    • The PNS has two kinds of neuroglia: schwann cells and satellite cells.
    • Satellite cells are small glia that surround neurons' sensory ganglia in the ANS.
    • PNS satellite glia are very sensitive to injury and may exacerbate pathological pain.