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"Captive Nations" is a term sometimes used in the United States to describe nations under undemocratic regimes. During the Cold War, when the phraseology appeared and was more frequently used, it referred to nations under Communist domination, primarily Soviet rule.

As a part of the United States’ Cold War strategy, an anti-Communism advocacy group, the National Captive Nations Committee, was established in 1959 according to Pub.L. 86-90 by President Dwight D. Eisenhower. The American economist and diplomat of Ukrainian heritage Lev Dobriansky played a key role in it.[1]

The law also established Captive Nations Week, traditionally proclaimed for the third week in July since then. The move aimed at raising public awareness of the problems of nations under the control of Communist and other non-democratic governments. When declaring the July 2009 Captive Nations Week, President Barack Obama stated, that, while the Cold War had been consigned to the history books, concerns raised by President Eisenhower remained still valid.[2][3]

The original Public Law 86-90 specifically referred to the following Captive Nations:[4]

  • Poland
  • Hungary
  • Lithuania
  • Ukraine
  • Czechoslovakia
  • Latvia
  • Estonia
  • White Ruthenia
  • Romania
  • East Germany
  • Bulgaria
  • Mainland China
  • Armenia
  • Azerbaijan
  • Georgia
  • North Korea
  • Albania
  • Idel-Ural
  • Tibet
  • Cossackia
  • Turkestan
  • North Vietnam

References

^ Edwards, Lee (02/14/2008), Remembering ‘Mr. Captive Nations’ Lev Dobriansky. HumanEvents.com
^ Captive Nations Week, 2009 – A Proclamation by the President of the United States of America. The White House Office of the Press Secretary. July 17, 2009
^ Dale, Helle C. (August 24, 2009), Captive Nations Past and Present. The Heritage Foundation.
^ Campbell, John Coert (1965), American Policy Toward Communist Eastern Europe: the Choices Ahead, p. 116. University of Minnesota Press, ISBN 0816603456

Any chance of a Cossackia or an Idel-Ural state surviving anytime after the Bolshevik revolution?
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