Looking it up a little the only consensus seems to be that if it happened it happened in the last war Liechtenstein was involved in (The Austro-Prussian war). This being the most consistently mentioned war and the case where they actually give a location where they served and why they didn't suffer any casualties.
Successful Nazi coup in Liechtenstein
- Thread starter Falecius
- Start date
Looking it up a little the only consensus seems to be that if it happened it happened in the last war Liechtenstein was involved in (The Austro-Prussian war). This being the most consistently mentioned war and the case where they actually give a location where they served and why they didn't suffer any casualties.
By 1939 the Swiss had already had a customs agreement and defense pact with Lichtenstein since the end of WWI, if Nazi Germany had invaded Lichtenstein the Swiss would have had no other recourse than to fight back on Lichtenstein's behalf.
Even if/when the Swiss had lost, the backlash over the entire mess would have been more than enough to start WWII (if Germany hadn't already invaded Poland already), the Swiss would have bled Germany badly, and the occupation of Switzerland would have been even messier due to a brutal gruella campaign waged by the Swiss (lots of military training and guns in Switzerland!).
Don't even get me started on how much of a long-term disaster the seizure of the Swiss banks by the Nazi's would be (not just for the Nazis but for the global economy at the time), because I think we'd STILL be feeling the reverberations.
By the end of the war and the post-war sorting out the mess, Switzerland would be restored to it's former territories and position as a neutral nation. But would it remain a dumping ground for the world's dirty money? I'm not so sure.
And yes, Lichtenstein would get it's independence back, the governments of Belgium and Luxemburg were restored after WWII, the same would go for Lichtenstein unless the people there voted to become a Swiss canon.
Even if/when the Swiss had lost, the backlash over the entire mess would have been more than enough to start WWII (if Germany hadn't already invaded Poland already), the Swiss would have bled Germany badly, and the occupation of Switzerland would have been even messier due to a brutal gruella campaign waged by the Swiss (lots of military training and guns in Switzerland!).
Don't even get me started on how much of a long-term disaster the seizure of the Swiss banks by the Nazi's would be (not just for the Nazis but for the global economy at the time), because I think we'd STILL be feeling the reverberations.
By the end of the war and the post-war sorting out the mess, Switzerland would be restored to it's former territories and position as a neutral nation. But would it remain a dumping ground for the world's dirty money? I'm not so sure.
And yes, Lichtenstein would get it's independence back, the governments of Belgium and Luxemburg were restored after WWII, the same would go for Lichtenstein unless the people there voted to become a Swiss canon.
Sure they did, they could simply look at the balance of forces and decide to not get involved. Now that's not to say they wouldn't try and put pressure on the German government via diplomatic channels under threat of industrial and financial sanctions but the idea of them declaring war is just silly. Considering that it was an unofficial local affair, something which authoritarian regimes like the Nazis are unlikely to approve of since they didn't order it from the centre, and that they never invaded Switzerland for a number of good reasons I could see Hitler getting pissed off and repudiating the whole affair.
I doubt the swiss would defend Lichtenstein even in the event of a full nazi invasion. Swiss military strategy was to retreat to the mountains, Lichtenstein would be lost along with the swiss lowlands.
In this case were talking of internal events in Lichtenstein meaning it decides to join the nazis. In that case... Switzerland isn't really involved at all. They may get a bit more afraid of the nazis and less trusting but that is the most you will get. A proper discussion is probably only really possible amongst people who know about mid 20th century swiss politics. Which I don't think we have here.
In this case were talking of internal events in Lichtenstein meaning it decides to join the nazis. In that case... Switzerland isn't really involved at all. They may get a bit more afraid of the nazis and less trusting but that is the most you will get. A proper discussion is probably only really possible amongst people who know about mid 20th century swiss politics. Which I don't think we have here.
usertron2020
Donor
IDK. I've always gotten the impression that in the event of a Martian Invasion
the Swiss would try to stay neutral.Despite Switzerland's reputation for defensive "invincibility". apparently in 1940 they were still considerably vulnerable to conquest, and their strategy for falling back to the Alps would not have been workable in 1940, as they were not yet prepared to feed the army and the civilian populations that would have followed them. Singapore to the Nth degree basically. Two years later it was a different story, and for the Germans to invade from 1943 and later would have been madness.
As I posted above, it depends on when they attack. Post-Barbarossa they don't have the forces available (unless Hitler wants to cancel Typhoon or Blue
), and before that, when? He can't attack before or during Yellow, and afterwards its either short-circuiting the threat of Sealion/Battle of Britain, or else launching an invasion of the Alps in winter! After that, the Balkans keep him busy until Barbarossa.Time and opportunity-wise, invading Switzerland was never in the cards for Hitler.
I don't think the Swiss joining NATO was ever in the cards, really. At best, a "limited partnership" like American treaties with Latin American countries, and probably dropped like the ANZUS Treaty eventually was, once a sufficiently hard left (or hard right/nationalist) government was elected in Berne.
Joining the EU tho...
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Should this occur I categorically state that Germany will lose the war, and the other Axis nations with it.
The 'the Lichteinstein army came back larger than it set out in a war' story referred to in the post I linked to.
Which war? Switzerland vs. Germany? Or yoour mean WWII with Allied Switzerland?
oberdada
Gone Fishin'
No way, Lichtenstein has to get divided like Germany and Austria, into 4 Sectors, same goes for the Capital, Vaduz...
The Liechtensteiners seem to like it. Anyway, they didn't simply annex Monaco to France after WW2, no reason to do away with Liechtenstein either...
Was Monaco incorporated into Vichy France? I think nobody really bothered with it during the war.
If Liechtenstein is eliminated by a homegrown Nazis, it would likely stay a part of Austria in the aftermath unless:
a) there's some stronge push to resurrect the country by locals, in which case I can see it reinstated and possibly even enlarged if it seen as another victim of Nazi aggression
b) Switzerland joins the Allies ITTL, in which case the principality might be given to it (and possibly resurrected by the Swiss as a very closely associated state as opposed to a full-fledged canton not to upset internal power balances). Switzerland might actually get all of Vorarlberg in this case, but they are unlikely to want it, so probably no.
Nope. It was first occupied by Italy but it wasn't formally annexed. [falling_offtopic]I think they only witheld annexation for the same reason they witheld annexation of parts of SE France and Corsica: Germany wouldn't let them, at least not then. [/falling_offtopic]
This is the vibe I get from Liechtensteiners.
Yeah, they had indeed turned down Vorarlberg before in 1919. Something about the balance of German-speakers within the Confederation.
The prince of Liechtenstein, Franz-Joseph, intervened against a planned German occupation of Lichtenstein. Originally, the Wehrmacht planned to send 600 German soldiers to occupay his country.
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