by Andre Sanchez

Lying between Austria and Switzerland,  Lichtenstein, also commonly spelled Liechtenstein, was founded as late as 1719.  Originating from the ancient Roman province of Raetia, the state was not much involved in European politics due to its geographical situation in an area of no strategic influence or importance.

It is a neutral country, and has participated in no wars in Europe since it disbanded its army in 1868.  Its development into a country in its own right has a curious history, being formed for personal ambition.  The Liechtenstein family, after whom the state is named, owned Liechtenstein Castle in Lower Austria, briefly in the 12th and 13th centuries, and again from 1807. 

In order to qualify for a seat in the Reichstag,  a lord had to hold lands that nobody else had rights to except the Holy Roman Emperor himself.  The lands belonging to the Liechtenstein family were not full owned, but held in ‘fief’, which meant that more senior lords had rights to the land and that the Liechtensteins were unable to hold a seat in the Reichstag. They therefore decided to find something that they could purchase to give them the seat.

After looking around the family were able to purchase the Lordship of Schellenberg and the Countship of Vaduz from the sole owners, the Hohenems. These possessed just the status that was required in that no other lords had any rights to them other than the Holy Roman Emperor, at that time Charles VI. 

After the purchase had been made, Charles VI declared Schellenberg and Vaduz to be united on 23rd January, 1719, and raised to the status of Principality.  It was given the name Liechtenstein after the new owning family, and became a state of the Holy Roman Empire.  That this was a purely political purchase is demonstrated by the fact the new Princes of Liechtenstein did not visit their principality for over 120 years.

It became an independent principality after joining the German Confederation in 1815, formed after the end of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, where it remained until its dissolution in 1866.  Some of its advances in the eighteenth century are its factory, opened in 1836 for the manufacture of ceramics, and the cross-country railway, completed in 1872. 

Liechtenstein was not greatly affected by the First World War, in which it was neutral, although the economic situation at the end of the war forced it to abandon its ties to Austria  and form an economic union with Switzerland.   Although it was also neutral during the Second World War, Czechoslovakia and Poland confiscated the Liechtenstein family’s ancestral lands and possessions claiming them to be on German territory.  Liechtenstein lays claim to them to this day, though the Czech Republic refuses to make restitution.

Liechtenstein is a wealthy state that was used as a center for money laundering in the last years of the twentieth century.  It was forced to toughen its laws and clean up its financial act, and in  2002 was removed from the OECD blacklist that it had been put on in 2000.

From a political ploy to a wealthy country, Liechtenstein has done well for a country that has no geographical significance.  It is a tax haven for the wealthy, with residents paying little or no tax, and its head of state is amongst the wealthiest in the world.

A Short History of Lichtenstein was originally published at http://www.globallifenow.com