Liechtenstein, an independent principality of Central Europe, is situated between the German-Austrian province of Vorarlberg and the Swiss province of St. Gallen. It has an area of 65 sq. mi. and had a population in 1936 of 12,000 inhabitants, chiefly of German extraction. The capital of the principality is Vaduz. Liechtenstein is largely agricultural. The principal products are corn, fruit, and wine; and cattle-raising is highly developed. Timber and marble are exported, Liechtenstein is a constitutional monarchy, ruled by Franz Joseph II, who succeeded his uncle, Franz I, March 30, 1938, and was crowned May 29, 1939. A Diet of 15 members under an administrator, Dr. Joseph Hoop, who was appointed Aug. 4, 1928, governs under the Constitution of 1921. Since January 1924 Swiss currency and customs operations have been in use in the country.
The German occupation of Austria and the consequent increase of Nazi influence in 1938 raised for the principality an acute political problem. On the night of March 24, 1939, Theodore Schaedler, the leader of the Nazis in Liechtenstein, led an uprising and took over a number of public buildings. Schaedler was arrested, and a month later accused of treason. Early in April, a meeting was held at Schaan at which proposals for an economic union with Germany were discussed. The meeting was immediately broken up by the police. And on April 3, over 95 per cent or 2,492 out of 2,610 registered voters, in a signed petition, expressed their loyalty to the monarchy and its ruling house, and placed themselves on record as favoring the continuance of economic ties with Switzerland.
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