away from Austria and set up a customs and monetary union with its other neighbor 
Switzerland in 1921®. These arrangements with Switzerland have held to the present day. 
Liechtenstein applied to join the League of Nations in 1920 but in what was a major setback for 
its claim to sovereignty it was denied on the grounds of being to small^*. Despite this 
Liechtenstein continued to exercise and assert its sovereignty. Liechtenstein remained neutral 
during the Second World War and raised no military forces to protect its self. The Nazi German 
regime respected Liechtenstein neutrality alongside that of Switzerland*. The key difference 
being that Switzerland had mobilized its considerable militia based army to defend its borders 
and engaged in numerous skirmishes and encounters with Axis and Allied forces but was very 
clear that it would not defend Liechtenstein territory*®. Liechtenstein was neutral, unarmed and 
without allies but even in a time of global war and conquest its sovereignty was acknowledged 
and respected. Liechtenstein was only faced with a security challenge at the end of the war 
when an armoured battalion of Free Russian Waffen SS troops rolled over the Liechtenstein- 
Austrian border. These troops were met by a handful of lightly armed Liechtenstein Police. The 
Free Russians promptly surrendered and sought asylum in Liechtenstein. This asylum was 
granted and after several years of negotiations, particularly with the Soviet Union who wanted 
them repatriated as war criminals, the Russians were resettled in Argentina*’. Once again 
Liechtenstein’s sovereign status allowed them to defy the requests of the Soviet Union that they 
be repatriated like other Russians interned in Austrian territory, and this policy differentiated 
them from their neighbours. 
Liechtenstein’s history has several key milestones in establishing its credentials as a sovereign 
entity in international law. It was promulgated as an Imperial Principality in 1719, it was 
recognized by the Congress of Vienna in 1815, and it was further recognized in both world wars 
where its frontiers and neutrality were acknowledged and respected. It did all of this without a 
soldier in uniform since 1868, despite sharing a border with a belligerent in both world wars. 
Since Liechtenstein abolished its Army in 1868 it was granted a new constitution in 1921, which 
including some amendments remains in force today. Article 44 of the Liechtenstein Constitution 
states: 
1) Every man fit to bear arms shall be required, until the completion of his 60" year, to serve in 
  
^5 Jorri Duursma, Fragmentation and the International Relations of Micro-states, 
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996), 149. 
* Jacques Rapaport, Ernest Muteba and Joseph J. Therattil, Small States and Territories: 
Status and Problems, (New York, Arno Press, 1971), 115-117. 
** Beattie, 104. 
“® Ibid, 125-126. 
* Beattie, 129-132.