Editing History of Liechtenstein (section)

=== World War II ===
{{Main article|Liechtenstein in World War II}}
[[File:Staatsbesuch_FL_in_Bern.jpg|thumb|Franz Joseph II, [[Marcel Pilet-Golaz]] and [[Enrico Celio]] in [[Bern]], 1943.|left]]
During [[World War II]], Liechtenstein remained neutral, while family treasures within the war zone were brought to Liechtenstein (and [[London]]) for safekeeping. At the same time, Liechtenstein tied itself as closely as possible to [[Switzerland]] during the war in hopes of retaining the country's [[Neutral country|neutrality]].<ref name=":42">{{Cite news |date=10 April 1938 |title=GUARANTEE SOUGHT BY LIECHTENSTEIN; Principality Wants to Join Switzerland if Powers Fail to Back Independencece GERMAN INVASION FEARED |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1938/04/10/archives/guarantee-sought-by-liechtenstein-principality-wants-to-join.html |access-date=16 May 2023 |work=The New York Times}}</ref> It achieved the de facto inclusion of Liechtenstein in the Swiss national supply.<ref name=":8" /><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Geiger |first=Peter |author-link=Peter Geiger |date=31 December 2011 |title=Hoop,_Josef_(1895–1959) |url=https://historisches-lexikon.li/Hoop,_Josef_(1895–1959) |access-date=26 October 2022 |website=[[Historisches Lexikon des Fürstentums Liechtenstein]] |language=de}}</ref> Franz Joseph himself periodically sent congratulatory letters to Hitler, such as the thwarting of the [[20 July plot]], of which he briefly replied.<ref name=":8">{{Cite web |last=Geiger |first=Peter |author-link=Peter Geiger |date=31 December 2011 |title=Zweiter Weltkrieg |url=https://historisches-lexikon.li/Zweiter_Weltkrieg |access-date=18 November 2023 |website=[[Historisches Lexikon des Fürstentums Liechtenstein]] |language=de}}</ref> Though Nazi Germany did have plans for the annexation of Liechtenstein, primarily in [[Operation Tannenbaum]], these were never implemented and Liechtenstein's neutrality was not violated during the war.<ref>Weinberg 2005, ''A World At Arms'', p. 174</ref><ref>Angelo Codevilla, ''Between the Alps and a Hard Place: Switzerland in World War II and Moral Blackmail Today'' (Washington, D.C.: Regnery, 2000) 57–58.</ref> In 1943, at the request of both the Progressive Citizens' Party and Patriotic Union, Franz Joseph extended the government's term indefinitely while there was ongoing threat from Nazi Germany, primarily to prevent the (VDBL) from gaining seats in the [[Landtag]].<ref name=":722">{{Cite web |last=Wanger |first=Harald |date=31 December 2011 |title=Liechtenstein, Franz Josef II |url=https://historisches-lexikon.li/Liechtenstein,_Franz_Josef_II._von |access-date=15 June 2023 |website=[[Historisches Lexikon des Fürstentums Liechtenstein]] |language=de}}</ref> General elections were not held again until [[1945 Liechtenstein general election|April 1945]], shortly before the end of the war.{{Sfn|Nohlen|Stöver|2010|p=1164}}

Notable figures in the Liechtenstein government, such as Alois Vogt, retained contacts with Nazi Germany during the war, such as [[Volksdeutsche Mittelstelle]], who regarded him as a trusted contact.<ref name=":06">{{Cite web |last=Schremser |first=Jürgen |date=31 December 2011 |title=Vogt, Alois |url=https://historisches-lexikon.li/Vogt,_Alois |access-date=26 May 2023 |website=[[Historisches Lexikon des Fürstentums Liechtenstein]] |language=de}}</ref> Three Liechtensteiners were sentenced to death by Switzerland for spying for Nazi Germany during the war.<ref name=":2" /> Most notably, [[Alfred Quaderer]], a Liechtenstein citizen who became an agent for the Volksdeutsche Mittelstelle was sentenced to death for treason against Switzerland in March 1944.{{Sfn|Geiger|1999|p=|pp=116–122}} Despite efforts by Quaderer's sister and mother to have him pardoned, such as pleading to Franz Joseph for a private audience, they were denied, and he was [[Execution by firing squad|executed by firing squad]] on 7 June 1944, aged 24 years old.{{Sfn|Geiger|1999|pp=123–129}}

Just before the end of the war, Franz Joseph granted political asylum to [[First Russian National Army]] pro-Axis pro-emperor [[Grand Duke Vladimir Kirillovich of Russia]] White emigres led by General [[Boris Smyslovsky]], who were being cared for by the [[Liechtenstein Red Cross]]. On 16 August 1945, the [[Soviet Union]] sent a delegation to Liechtenstein in an attempt to repatriate the Russians, which was refused despite increasing Soviet pressure to participate in the repatriation program.{{Sfn|Tolstoy|1977|p=}} Eventually the government of [[Argentina]] offered the Russians asylum, and about a hundred people left.<ref name=":72">{{Cite web |last=Wanger |first=Harald |date=31 December 2011 |title=Liechtenstein, Franz Josef II |url=https://historisches-lexikon.li/Liechtenstein,_Franz_Josef_II._von |access-date=15 June 2023 |website=[[Historisches Lexikon des Fürstentums Liechtenstein]] |language=de}}</ref> This is commemorated by a [[Russian Monument Liechtenstein|monument]] at the border town of [[Hinterschellenberg]] which is marked on the country's [[tourist]] map. According to prime minister [[Alexander Frick]], with the support of Franz Joseph, the Russians were at no point in danger of being [[Extradition|extradited]] and the general population of Liechtenstein supported the government in providing asylum to them.{{Sfn|Tolstoy|1977|p=}}

At the close of the conflict, [[Czechoslovakia]] and [[Poland]], acting to seize what they considered to be German possessions, expropriated the entirety of the Liechtenstein dynasty's hereditary lands and possessions in [[Bohemia]], [[Moravia]], and [[Silesia]]<ref name=":13">{{Cite web |date=21 April 2023 |title=Prince Franz Josef II Von Und Zu Liechtenstein |url=https://www.liechtensteincollections.at/en/princes/prince-franz-josef-ii-von-und-zu-liechtenstein |access-date=21 April 2023 |website=Liechtenstein The Princely Collections |language=de}}</ref> — the princes of Liechtenstein lived in [[Vienna]] until the [[Anschluss]] of 1938. During the war, Liechtenstein's princely family owned land in Austria whose managers hired Nazi forced labor, but a much later inquiry found the family not to have known about this.<ref>{{cite web |title=Nazi Camp Labor Used in Liechtenstein – DW – 04/14/2005 |url=https://www.dw.com/en/nazi-camp-labor-used-in-liechtenstein/a-1552304 |website=[[Deutsche Welle]]}}</ref> The expropriations (subject to modern legal dispute at the [[International Court of Justice]]) included over {{convert|1600|sqkm|sqmi|-2}} of agricultural and forest land (most notably the UNESCO listed [[Lednice–Valtice Cultural Landscape]]), and several family castles and palaces.{{Citation needed|date=January 2024}} Citizens of Liechtenstein were also forbidden from entering Czechoslovakia during the [[Cold War]]. In August 1945, [[Pierre Laval]], the Prime Minister of [[Vichy France]], had attempted to seek refuge in Liechtenstein after being flown to the [[Allied-occupied Austria|American-occupied zone of Austria]], but was turned away.<ref name=":8" /><ref>Warner, pp. 404–407.</ref>