Border states

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.

Related Topics:
Interbellum - Imperial Russia - Russian Revolution - Treaty of Brest-Litovsk - Imperial Germany - World War I - Communist - World Revolution

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The Border states policy was never particularly successful. Disputes and different allegiances within the group of border states hindered unity.

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The following countries were, in this context, considered border states:

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• Finland
• Estonia
• Latvia
• Lithuania
• Poland
• Belarus & Ukraine (until annexed by the Soviet Union)
• 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.

Related Topics:
Cordon sanitaire - Buffer state - Power - Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact - 1939 - Nazi Germany

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With the exception of Finland, all Border states fell under Soviet occupation as a result of World War II.

Related Topics:
Soviet - World War II

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Border states: See also ►