Liechtenstein

Abstract

The Principality of Liechtenstein, lying between the former Austrian province of Vorarlberg and the Swiss cantons of St. Gallen and Graubünden, is a sovereign State consisting of the two counties of Schellenberg and Vaduz (formerly immediate fiefs of the Roman Empire). The former in 1699 and the latter in 1712 came into the possession of the house of Liechtenstein and, by diploma of January 23, 1719, granted by the Emperor Karl VI., the two lordships were constituted as the Principality of Liechtenstein. After the Treaty of Pressburg John I., who had succeeded his father, Aloys I., as seventh Prince in 1805, seceded from the Holy Roman Empire on July 12, 1806, and joined the Confederation of the Rhine under the Protectorate of the Emperor, Napoleon I., and after the fall of the French Empire joined the German Confederation June 8, 1815. He was succeeded in 1836 by his son, Aloys IL, whose son, John II., in 1858 began his long reign, which lasted until 1929. This Prince, who was of age at his accession, saw the dissolution of the German Confederation in August, 1866, and thereafter maintained the political independence of the Principality.