WI: Vorarlberg joins Liechtenstein after World War I

What if, after being denied access to Switzerland - the creation of a Catholic, German canton would've changed the ethnic and religious makeup of the Confederation - the people of Vorarlberg tried to join the bordering Alemannic and Catholic state of Liechtenstein instead, viewing it as the next best thing? Would the foreign powers and the government of the Principality have allowed this move (Liechtenstein being far less important as a state than Switzerland), and could the more than tenfold increase in the territory of Liechtenstein cause butterflies down the line, especially before, during and after World War II?

There was a sizeable Nazi movement in the Principality after all, maybe with a Liechtenstein that is a Greater Vorarlberg in all but name, a Kleinanschluß of Liechtenstein to Germany could've been possible.

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There legitimately was a movement in both Vorarlberg and Tyrol proper to join Switzerland during the confusion of Austria-Hungary's collapse. I recall a referendum happening as well. What killed it was Switzerland's inaction and IIRC unwillingness to expand the Confederation.

Remember, however, that Liechtenstein is in a precarious and strange situation in 1918. Their military protector and economic partner fell, leaving a huge vacuum in the region and led to the collapse of the traditional and outright ancient economic interdependence. The people were starving and vulnerable, thus they turned to Switzerland for protection. However, for the same reason that Vorarlberg and Tyrol were ignored, the Swiss were largely unwilling to annex and integrate the small principality.

Of course, that would have meant ousting the Prince, which was meaningless since the Princes of Liechtenstein were Austrian nobility and never stepped foot in their principality until A-H collapses. Thus, there was little loyalty to the Prince until they settled in the Principality itself and did a decent job.

Anyways, the point of me brining this whole ordeal up is that Liechtenstein cannot possibly provide Vorarlberg with what they were seeking and needing: integration into a stable economic region and protection. After all, Liechtenstein were seeking the exact same thing and both looked to the Swiss as their solution as they were spared from the war and seemed very stable and prosperous. I suppose they also assumed that Liechtenstein was about to do the same thing and join Switzerland; the whole region had arguably significant cultural ties and Switzerland was seen as its leader at that point.

tl;dr Vorarlberg is more likely to look to Switzerland like Liechteinstein did iOTL than to the small principality.
 
I can see a scenario where a successful Communist revolution in Germany, or at least in Bavaria, sparks a similar uprising in German Austria. Fearing the potential spread of revolution the allies back the movement for Voralberg and Tyrol to join Switzerland, and after Switzerland rejects the idea have them set them up as an independent state, later absorbing Liechtenstein.
 
Austria barely exists in 1918-19. They had two governments (if not more) pretending to be governing (the new German-Austria and the leftovers of the Imperial Council). Plus, they'll be absolutely nuttered by the Entente through Saint-Germain-en-Laye.

That is for the most part untrue - the parliament was basically a rump parliament (7 Bundesländer including Vorarlberg no Burgenland at the time), but goverment functions were usually upheld. The Military had retreated in good order for a large part and was the base for the Volkswehr (established as soon as Nov 1918) - for example the "Kärntner Awehrkampf",
 
That is for the most part untrue - the parliament was basically a rump parliament (7 Bundesländer including Vorarlberg no Burgenland at the time), but goverment functions were usually upheld. The Military had retreated in good order for a large part and was the base for the Volkswehr (established as soon as Nov 1918) - for example the "Kärntner Awehrkampf",
That is pretty much the opposite of what I've read. The KuK Army certainly did not retreat in good order. They simply left the frontlines , although the Entente had several nasty surprises when KuK units reformed in an impromptu and ad-hoc manner when they broke into the Armistice lines. The Volkswehr is one of those. It still doesn't change that the treaties will disarm them to nigh-uselessness.

Of course, logically, local governments and administrators continued to function almost normally- the problem was in the central administration, which is what I meant, though I wasn't clear on that. Still, the parliament of German-Austria had little to no control of what they claimed (alongside the Reichsrat which still convened). Renner's provisional government eventually managed to slowly take control as they were viewed as the legitimate government by the Entente- probably because they signed the treaty and no other government would be accepted by them.

Plus? I'd argue that the Entente wouldn't care if Vorarlberg or even Tyrol somehow joined Switzerland as long as the latter gave up Sudtirol and Trent. As long as it wasn't Germany.
 
Besides anything else, this isn't Liechtenstein annexing Vorarlberg. Vorarlberg has about 10x more people than Liechtenstein, and is 20x larger in area. This is Vorarlberg declaring independence, and then annexing Liechtenstein.
 
Gotta got quite a false (biased?) information on the subject ;)

You must distinguish between the kuk army and the units hailing from the different sucessor states. The kuk army disntegrated but many commanders saw to it that their units retreated to their home countries - often with (most) of their weapons.

Don't mess the armistice with the peace treaty. While the Isonzo army was beaten at Vittoro Veneto the total losses were less than 1/3 of 1.8 Million troops (theater). The rest DID retreat orderly to Austria (and the sucessor states)

The Landesregierungen DID have control and DID (early) declare FOR Deutsch Österreich. So the level of control was much higher than you assume.
 
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