Liechtenstein

Through the ages

Rivals in history

The kingdoms, empires and states Liechtenstein fought or stood against, from the first to today.

1. 🇮🇹 Roman Empire15 BC

   In 15 BC Augustus's stepsons Drusus and Tiberius conquer the Raetians and other Alpine peoples, bringing the upper Rhine valley into the empire as part of the province of Raetia.

2. Alamanni260 to 500

   Germanic Alamanni break through the Roman frontier from the third century and settle the region by the fifth. Their Alemannic dialect is still the everyday speech of Liechtenstein.

3. 🇨🇭 Swiss Confederation1499

   In the Swabian War of 1499 the Swiss Confederates fight the Habsburgs and the Swabian League along the Rhine. Swiss troops burn Vaduz castle, and the war ends with the Swiss effectively independent of the Empire.

4. 🇩🇪 Nazi Germany1938 to 1945

   After Germany annexes Austria in 1938, Liechtenstein faces the Reich on its border. A coup attempt by local Nazis in March 1939 fails, and the principality, tied to Switzerland, stays neutral and unoccupied.

5. 🇨🇿 Czechoslovakia1945 to 2009

   In 1945 Czechoslovakia confiscates the princely family's vast estates in Bohemia and Moravia under the Benes decrees. Liechtenstein refuses to recognise the seizure, and diplomatic relations with the Czech Republic and Slovakia are only established in 2009.

Today

Liechtenstein now

The Principality of Liechtenstein was established within the Holy Roman Empire in 1719. Occupied by both French and Russian troops during the Napoleonic Wars, it became a sovereign state in 1806 and joined the German Confederation in 1815. Liechtenstein became fully independent in 1866 when the Confederation dissolved. Until the end of World War I, it was closely tied to Austria, but the economic devastation caused by that conflict forced Liechtenstein to enter into a customs and monetary union with Switzerland.

Capital

Vaduz

Government

constitutional monarchy

Head of government

Brigitte Haas

Head of state

Hans-Adam II, Prince of Liechtenstein

Languages

German

Area

160 km²

Through time

Then and now

• Population39,6002023 · 13,800 in 1950
• Life expectancy83.6 years2023 · 65.3 years in 1950
• Living in cities15%2025 · 20% in 1950
• Literacy99%1950
• Military alliancesNone of these2024 · None of these in 1950
• War deathsNone2025

Population: HYDE 3.3, Gapminder and UN WPP. GDP per capita: Maddison Project Database 2023. Urban share: UN WPP. Life expectancy: Riley, HMD, UN WPP. Literacy: OWID historical estimates, World Bank, UNESCO. Military spending: SIPRI. War deaths: UCDP. Political regime: V-Dem, Regimes of the World. All via Our World in Data (CC BY 4.0). Alliances and organization memberships: compiled by Atlas. Satellites in orbit: CelesTrak SATCAT. Modern borders, backcast.

Relations

Close partners and tensions

Summarised from World Bank and Wikipedia data, updated 23 October 2026.