Socialism in developing nations was tightly interwoven with nationalism. As European colonies in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East won their independence in the years after World War II, many of them created socialist governments. Some combined aspects of indigenous traditions with the Marxist-Leninist model of one-party rule. Others followed the gradualist policies of the social democrats or the Fabian Society. Most received aid from the Soviet Union and/ or the People's Republic of China, which saw the newly formed socialist regimes as chess pieces in the Cold War.