A sister republic (French: république sœur) was a republic established by French armies or by local revolutionaries and assisted by the First French Republic during the French Revolutionary Wars. These republics, though nominally independent, relied heavily on France for protection, and aid when push came to shove, which made the republics more of autonomous states, rather than an independent republic, which was shown after the declaration of the First French Empire, when several states were annexed, and the remaining turned into puppet monarchies.