Editing Liechtenstein (section)

=== 20th century ===
Until the end of [[World War I]], Liechtenstein was closely tied first to the [[Austrian Empire]] and later to [[Austria-Hungary]]; the ruling princes continued to derive much of their wealth from estates in the Habsburg territories, and spent much of their time at their two palaces in Vienna. The economic devastation caused by World War I forced the country to conclude a [[Liechtenstein–Switzerland relations#Cooperation|customs and monetary union]] with its other neighbour, [[Switzerland]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Marxer |first=Roland |date=31 December 2011 |title=Zollanschlussvertrag |url=https://historisches-lexikon.li/Zollanschlussvertrag |access-date=25 October 2023 |website=Historisches Lexikon |language=de}}</ref> In addition, popular unrest caused from economic devastation in the war directly led to the [[November 1918 Liechtenstein putsch]], which created the process of a [[Constitution of Liechtenstein|new constitution]] based on [[constitutional monarchy]] being introduced in 1921.<ref name=":02">{{Cite web |last=Quaderer |first=Rupert |date=31 December 2011 |title=Novemberputsch 1918 |url=https://historisches-lexikon.li/Novemberputsch_1918 |access-date=3 October 2023 |website=[[Historisches Lexikon des Fürstentums Liechtenstein]] |language=de}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Wille |first=Herbert |date=31 December 2011 |title=Verfassung |url=https://historisches-lexikon.li/Verfassung |access-date=24 December 2023 |website=[[Historisches Lexikon des Fürstentums Liechtenstein]] |language=de}}</ref>

In 1929, 75-year-old [[Franz I, Prince of Liechtenstein|Prince Franz I]] succeeded to the throne. He had just married [[Elisabeth von Gutmann]], a wealthy woman from Vienna whose father was a Jewish businessman from Moravia. Although Liechtenstein had no official [[Nazi party]], a Nazi sympathy movement arose within its National Union party. [[German National Movement in Liechtenstein|Local Liechtenstein Nazis]] identified Elisabeth as their Jewish "problem".<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=11 April 1938 |title=Liechtenstein: Nazi Pressure? |magazine=Time |location=New York |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,759431,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070309222117/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,759431,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=9 March 2007 |access-date=26 May 2010}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=1 April 1938 |title=NAZIS IN CABINET IN LIECHTENSTEIN; Prince Franz Joseph, the New Ruler, Names Them Though Pledging Independence HITLER MOVEMENT GAINS Its Growing Strength Was One Reason for Abdication of Franz 1, Old Sovereign |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1938/04/01/archives/nazis-in-cabinet-in-liechtenstein-prince-franz-joseph-the-new-ruler.html |access-date=16 May 2023}}</ref> Pro-Nazi agitation remained in Liechtenstein throughout the 1930s, with an [[1939 Liechtenstein putsch|attempted coup]] in March 1939 while [[Franz Joseph II, Prince of Liechtenstein|Franz Joseph II]] was on a state visit to [[Berlin]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=27 April 1939 |title=Liechtenstein Jails Nazi For Attempt at Uprising |work=The New York Times |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1939/04/27/91573866.html |access-date=18 May 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=27 March 2019 |title=Prince Franz Josef II visits Adolf Hitler in Berlin |url=https://www.liechtenstein-institut.li/news/furst-franz-josef-ii-besucht-adolf-hitler-berlin |access-date=17 May 2023 |website=Liechtenstein-Institut |language=de}}</ref>

In March 1938, just after the [[Anschluss|annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany]], Franz named as regent his 31-year-old grandnephew and heir-presumptive, [[Franz Joseph II, Prince of Liechtenstein|Prince Franz Joseph]]. After making his grandnephew regent he moved to Feldberg, [[Czechoslovakia]] and on 25 July, he died while at one of his family's castles, Castle Feldberg, and Franz Joseph formally succeeded him as the Prince of Liechtenstein.<ref name="franz life">{{Cite news |date=1 May 1938 |title=Prince Franz of the 'Postage Stamp State' Retires |page=76 |work=St. Louis Post-Dispatch |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49181566/st-louis-post-dispatch/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200421002324/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49181566/st-louis-post-dispatch/ |archive-date=21 April 2020 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=1 April 1938 |title=Prince Franz to Return to Estate |page=216 |work=Daily News |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49180180/daily-news/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200420235228/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49180180/daily-news/ |archive-date=20 April 2020 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=26 July 1938 |title=Oldest Former Ruler Succumbs |page=1 |work=Kenosha News |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49178617/kenosha-news/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200420233456/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49178617/kenosha-news/ |archive-date=20 April 2020 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref>
[[File:Franz I Portrait.jpg|thumb|231x231px|[[Franz I, Prince of Liechtenstein]] from 1929 to 1938]]
[[File:Fürst Franz Josef II..jpg|thumb|223x223px|[[Franz Joseph II, Prince of Liechtenstein]] from 1938 to 1989]]
During [[World War II]], Liechtenstein remained officially neutral, looking to neighbouring Switzerland for assistance and guidance, while family treasures from dynastic lands and possessions in [[Bohemia]], [[Moravia]], and [[Silesia]] were taken to Liechtenstein for safekeeping. [[Operation Tannenbaum]], the Nazi plan for conquest of Switzerland, also included Liechtenstein, and the Nazi "Pan German" dream of uniting all German-speakers in the Reich would have also included the population of Liechtenstein. However in 1944, the Nazis abandoned implementing this plan after the [[Normandy landings|Allied invasion of France]], and Liechtenstein was spared from enduring a Nazi occupation.{{cn|date=May 2025}}

At the close of the conflict, [[Third Czechoslovak Republic|Czechoslovakia]] and [[Provisional Government of National Unity|Poland]], acting to seize what they considered German possessions, expropriated all of the Liechtenstein dynasty's properties in those three regions.<ref>{{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 expropriations (subject to [[Foreign relations of Liechtenstein#International dispute with Czechoslovakia, Czech Republic and Slovakia|modern legal dispute]] at the [[International Court of Justice]]) included over {{convert|1600|km2|sqmi|0|abbr=on}} of agricultural and forest land (most notably the UNESCO listed [[Lednice–Valtice Cultural Landscape]]), and several family castles and palaces.

In 2005, a government-commissioned investigation revealed that Jewish slave labourers from the [[Strasshof an der Nordbahn|Strasshof]] [[concentration camp]], provided by the [[Schutzstaffel|SS]], had worked on estates in Austria owned by Liechtenstein's Princely House.<ref>{{Cite news |date=14 April 2005 |title=Nazi crimes taint Liechtenstein |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4443809.stm |access-date=3 August 2017}}</ref> The report indicated that though no evidence was found of the House's knowledge of the slave labour, the House bore responsibility.<ref>{{cite web |date=14 April 2005 |title=Nazi Camp Labor Used in Liechtenstein |url=https://www.dw.com/en/nazi-camp-labor-used-in-liechtenstein/a-1552304 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180113070110/https://www.dw.com/en/nazi-camp-labor-used-in-liechtenstein/a-1552304 |archive-date=13 January 2018 |website=[[Deutsche Welle]]}}</ref>

Citizens of Liechtenstein were forbidden to enter Czechoslovakia during the [[Cold War]]. The diplomatic conflict revolving around the controversial postwar [[Beneš decrees]] resulted in Liechtenstein not having international relations with the [[Czech Republic]] or [[Slovakia]]. Diplomatic relations were established between Liechtenstein and the Czech Republic on 13 July 2009,<ref>{{Cite web |date=13 July 2009 |title=Liechtenstein and the Czech Republic establish diplomatic relations |url=http://88.82.102.51/fileadmin/_pm.liechtenstein.li/en/090713_PM_Beziehungen_CzFl_en.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511222932/http://88.82.102.51/fileadmin/_pm.liechtenstein.li/en/090713_PM_Beziehungen_CzFl_en.pdf |archive-date=11 May 2011 |access-date=6 August 2009 |publisher=Government Spokesperson's Office, the Principality of Liechtenstein}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=13 July 2009 |title=Navázání diplomatických styků České republiky s Knížectvím Lichtenštejnsko |trans-title=Establishment of diplomatic relations with the Czech Republic and the Principality of Liechtenstein |url=http://www.mzv.cz/jnp/cz/udalosti_a_media/prohlaseni_a_stanoviska/archiv_prohlaseni_a_stanovisek/archiv_2009/x2009_07_13_lilchtejnstejnsko_navazani_diplomatickych_vztahu.html |access-date=28 October 2011 |publisher=Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic |language=cs}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=15 July 2009 |title=MINA Breaking News – Decades later, Liechtenstein and Czechs establish diplomatic ties |url=http://macedoniaonline.eu/content/view/7526/1/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091121070018/http://macedoniaonline.eu/content/view/7526/1 |archive-date=21 November 2009 |access-date=6 June 2010 |publisher=Macedoniaonline.eu}}</ref> and with Slovakia on 9 December 2009.<ref>{{Cite web |date=9 December 2009 |title=Liechtenstein and the Slovak Republic establish diplomatic relations |url=http://88.82.102.51/fileadmin/_pm.liechtenstein.li/en/091209_Beziehungen_SKFL_en.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511222920/http://88.82.102.51/fileadmin/_pm.liechtenstein.li/en/091209_Beziehungen_SKFL_en.pdf |archive-date=11 May 2011 |access-date=22 December 2009 |publisher=Government Spokesperson's Office, the Principality of Liechtenstein}}</ref>

On 20 September 1990, Liechtenstein was admitted into the [[United Nations]] as 160th member state. As a member of the [[United Nations General Assembly]], the microstate is one of the few not to play a prominent role in [[List of specialized agencies of the United Nations|UN-specialized agencies]].{{cn|date=May 2025}}