Until the 19th century, much of Europe was politically fragmented into tiny states that were the personal possessions of the nobles, princes, and dukes that ruled them. Most of these aristocrats held and ruled their lands as personal property, owing nothing more for the right to possess them other than the allegiance and fealty to a higher ranking aristocrat such as a king or emperor. (This system of land ownership and rule is known as the feudal system.) Within German-speaking Europe, aristocrats held their land as lieges to the Holy Roman Emperor. Those who held their lands with no other feudal obligation other than to the emperor himself were given the right to elect the emperor when the throne became vacant. With this right came a great deal of prestige and power. Some aristocrats lacked this priviledge and desired it greatly. Among them were the Liechtensteins, an old and noble family who held vast possessions across Europe in what is today Germany, Austria, and the Czech Republic. Their ancestral home, Castle Liechtenstein, is still located in Austria, many miles from the country that bears their name. However, they held none of these lands free from non-impierial feudal obiligations, therefore making them inelibible to be an elector of the empire. Their fortunes, however, changed in 1719 when a secluded and relatively obscure piece of real estate came on the market, land that would have been free from feudal obligations other than to the emperor himself. This real estate was the Herschafft of Schellenberg and the County of Vaduz. The head of the Liechtenstein family was able to purchase these lands. Once the purchase was complete, the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles VI, united the two possessions as the Principality of Liechtenstein, naming it after its new landlord. And thus, the Liechtensteins became electors of the empire.
Of course, the empire's days were numbered by this time, and by 1806 it fell to Napoleon's invading forces. When Napoleon was finally brought under control, Europe was in shambles and it was realized that a new staus quo had to be arranged so that such chaos would never happen again. The Congress of Vienna of 1815 rearranged Europe's balance of power. The German states formed leagues and confederations in an attempt to coalesce power, but they remained fragmented until the creation of the two great German empires of Germany and Austria by the end of the century. Liechtenstein, hower, fell through the cracks and never became a part of either of these empires. The Princes of Liechtenstein, therefore, became sovereign monarchs completely by chance. Though the rest of Europe has long ago coalesced around Liechtenstein as modern nation-states, It has remained a relic of the old status quo in Europe, of days when feudal possessions really were personal kingdoms of a few priveledged men.
Relic or not, however, Liechtenstein is far from an old-world backwater that the label may imply. Limited in resources because of its limited jurisdictional territory and land resources, the people of Liechstein have created for themselves a modern community and economy based in the service and banking/financial industries. Though it has not joined the European Union, it has worked to harmonize its economy with that of an integrated Europe as a member of the European Economic Area. Liechtensteiners enjoy relatively low taxes by European standards and a standard of living the rivals the rest of Europe.
It is believed that the national flag of Liechtenstein is derived from the Prince's livery (or stable) colors. Historical evidence also suggests that blue and red ribbons were attached to offical state documents as having official royal sanction from the Prince. However, the official flag of Liechtenstein was, until 1921 a banner of yellow and red bars divided horizontally. These colors were derived from the Prince's coat-of-arms (that served also as the state arms of the principality). From 1921 until 1937, the flag used blue over red from the livery colors, but without a crown as it does today. The crown was added following the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin when it was discovered Liechtenstein and Haiti flew exactly the same banner. The crown used to make the distinction was modified slightly in 1982. The same legislation also changed the Prince's personal standard from the traditional yellow and red to a more complex emblem incorporating the state version of the national flag surrounded by a border of yellow. |
