<Li> Netherlands: Netherlands East Indies (1949); Netherlands New Guinea (1962, incorporated to Indonesia). </Li> <P> The Soviet Union emerged as a victor in World War II, and controlled most of central and eastern Europe . Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania were incorporated into the USSR, together with portions of Finland, Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Romania . Of the nations that comprised former Russian Empire, only Finland would remain independent throughout the Cold War . Other neighboring countries were dominated by the USSR, and integrated into Soviet - led military and economic organizations like the Warsaw Pact and Comecon . Most Western states did not formally recognize the incorporation of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania into the USSR . </P> <P> Italy had occupied the Dodecanese islands in 1912, but Italian occupation ended after World War II, and the islands were integrated into Greece . British rule ended in Cyprus in 1960, and Malta in 1964, and both islands became independent republics . </P> <P> Soviet colonial policy was most famously marked by the use of violent repression against liberalization and dissent, including Hungarian Revolution of 1956 and the Prague Spring in 1968 . The era of Soviet colonialism would ultimately end due to numerous anti-colonialism efforts of individuals such as Lech Walesa and alliances such as the Solidarity Movement . The Revolutions of 1989 ended of Soviet domination and Communist party rule in Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, East Germany, Romania, and Bulgaria . Within the USSR, movements for democratization and self - government gained strength during 1990 and 1991 . The Soviet coup d'état attempt in August 1991 began the breakup of the USSR, which formally ended on December 26, 1991 . The Republics of the Soviet Union become sovereign states - Armenia, Azerbaijan, Byelorussia (later Belarus), Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, the Russian Federation, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan . Historian Robert Daniels says, "A special dimension that the anti-Communist revolutions shared with some of their predecessors was decolonisation ." Moscow's policy was to settle ethnic Russians in the USSR's non-Russian republics . After independence, minority rights for Russian - speakers has been an issue; see Russians in the Baltic states . </P>

When did the former french colonies in west and equatorial africa achieve full sovereignty