Captive Nations

During the Cold War, when the phrase appeared, it referred to nations under Communist administration, primarily Soviet rule.

The move aimed at raising public awareness of the problems of nations under the control of Communist and other non-democratic governments.

The original Public Law 86-90 specifically referred to the following as Captive Nations:[3] Russian émigrés living in US, criticized P.L.

[citation needed] In a 1959 news conference, the US president Dwight D. Eisenhower stated "Well, of course they don't admit there are any captive nations.

"[7] American leaders continue the tradition of celebrating Captive Nations Week and each year issue a new version of the Proclamation.