History
Liechtenstein on Dipity.
The counties of Vaduz and Schellenberg, what comprise present day Liechtenstein, were under ownership of various different rulers between 1416 and 1612. In 1613, the Counts of Hohenems gained control of these counties and reigned over the darkest part of Liechtenstein's history. This time was marked by plague and witch persecutions after the Thirty Years War. Due to the debt that the Counts accrued over this time, they were forced to sell the counties to the House of Liechtenstein in 1699 and 1712 respectively. By purchasing this land, the House of Liechtenstein gained much needed power and met the land requirements to join the Imperial diet in Vienna. The Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI united the counties and raised the territory to the level of Imperial Principality. Because of the Napoleonic wars, the Holy Roman Empire was controlled by French Emperor Napoleon I. "When Napoleon dissolved the Holy Roman Empire and created the Rhine Confederation, Liechtenstein was released from its service to the former Emperor and gained its sovereignty through admission to the Confederation in 1806. Upon Napoleon’s defeat and the dissolution of the Rhine Confederation in 1813, Liechtenstein represented itself at the Congress of Vienna and became one of the 39 new member states of the German Confederation, thereby reconfirming its sovereignty". Based on the requirements of the German Confederation, Prince Johann I created a limited constitution in 1818 that included provisions for a well controlled assembly that could approve taxation changes and make improvements for the public well-being. Also required by the Confederation, Liechtenstein maintained an 80 man army during this time, although after the Austro-Prussia War in which Austria was defeated and the German Confederation dissolved, Prince Johann II disbanded this army. Before World War I, Liechtenstein was economically bound to Austria-Hungary by means of a customs treaty signed in 1852. Though Liechtenstein remained neutral in World War I, they were harmed by the measures placed on Austria and suffered from widespread hunger and an almost complete stop of industrial production. Due to this chaos, Prince Johann II ratified a new constitution in 1921 that allowed for direct democracy. After the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1918, Liechtenstein economically oriented itself with Switzerland, in which they adopted the Swiss franc as the official currency in 1924. Following Germany's annexation of Austria in 1938, Prince Franz Joseph II took up residence in the Vaduz Castle, becoming the first prince to reign from the iconic castle in the country.
Source: http://www.liechtensteinusa.org/index.php?page=history
Source: http://www.liechtensteinusa.org/index.php?page=history