(Redirected from Border state)
In a European context, the term 'Border states policy', and 'Border states' in a specific sense, refer to attempts during the
interbellum to unite the countries that had won their independence from
Imperial Russia due to the
Russian Revolution, the
treaty of Brest-Litovsk, and ultimately the defeat of
Imperial Germany in
World War I. The policy aimed at a united defense against the threat of
Communist expansionism and
World Revolution.
The ''Border states policy'' was never particularly successful. Disputes and different allegiances within the group of border states hindered unity. One should also notice that there were several major issues between the states, for example de facto war between Poland and Lithuania.
The following countries were, in this context, considered ''border states:''
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Finland
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Estonia
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Latvia
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Lithuania
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Poland
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Belarus &
Ukraine (until
annexed by the Soviet Union)
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Romania
The Border states were commonly perceived as a ''
cordon sanitaire,'' or
buffer states, between the Soviet Union and the anti-Socialist
powers in the West until the
Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact (
1939) in effect assigned their territory to either
Nazi Germany or the Soviet Union.
With the exception of Finland, all Border states fell under
Soviet occupation as a result of
World War II.
See also
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Mitteleuropa
★ Border states (United States)
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Border states (Civil War)
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International Border states