According to wikipedia Lichtenstein "had sent 80 men out but did not engage in any fighting. When they returned, however, None of the stories seem to be substantiated — but no one has debunked them either.Meanwhile, Liechtenstein remains a thriving and successful country — that still has no army to this day.
It was named after the Princes of Lichtenstein, who united the County of Vaduz and the lands of Schellenberg in 1719, forming their small but charming Principality of Liechtenstein.They managed to remain neutral (and thus largely avoid) both world wars. The principality used to be under obligation to the old German Confederation to maintain an army, but that obligation ceased when the Confederation ceased to be, after many of the states in the Confederation united under Prussia to become Germany.During WWII, Liechtenstein was officially neutral and entrusted its diplomacy to Switzerland, though it did struggle with a nascent Nazi party of its own during the war. It rests on the banks of the Rhine between Switzerland and Austria. Once, a military campaign left with 80 men and came back with 81.
Its current ruler, the constitutional monarch His Serene Highness Prince Hans Adam II, has a personal worth of five billion dollars, which is more than the country exports and imports per year.The small German-speaking nation makes much money from tourism, but most tourists don’t stay long and are either in transit to Austria via Switzerland or vice-versa. Who knows, but I like to think that he made good friends with the strangers from a not so strange land, decided to go home with them and worked happily on a mountain farm for the rest of his life.
Some got in, many did not. The extra man was an Austrian liaison officer.Another version has it the same way, except that the Austrian officer was actually ethnic Italian: totally possible in an age when Austria-Hungary was made up of hundreds of ethnic groups.Some versions have it that the Liechtensteiners were enjoying themselves at the border, and the Italian soldier simply liked them, joined the group and decided to go home with them. - YouTube
Liechtenstein's final deployment in 1866 remains notorious for two reasons: first, they lost no battles and suffered zero casualties (having avoided all fighting). "One of the most successful military campaigns in history was Liectenstein during the Austro-Prussian War. Apparently an Austrian liaison officer joined up … Liechtenstein’s part in that war provides one of the quirkiest chapters in … When the war ended on July 22, the army of Liechtenstein marched home to a ceremonial welcome in Vaduz. While the deployed force was there to defend the territory against any attack from the Prussian-allied Italians, according to In the main theater of the war, the Battle of Königgrätz would earn Prussia a victory, decisively ending the war.So the men of Liechtenstein marched home. Though you may read accounts that say Liechtenstein sent a small contingent to serve in WWI on behalf of Austria-Hungary, this is untrue: its “army” of 80 men had been disbanded after the Austro-Prussian War of 1866. One has it that a Liechtenstein unit of fifty-eight men went out, and fifty-nine came back. The country is increasingly the destination of foodies from all over the world, coming to enjoy the food products made on small farms all over the nation.The thirty-seven thousand people of Liechtenstein are among the most well-off in the world, with a per capita income of nearly $140,000 a year.Today, Liechtenstein has no military.
In 1943, the principality went so far as to ban the Nazi party. A reserve of 20 men remained in Liechtenstein. The army was abolished soon after the Austro-Prussian War. Did Liechtenstein Really Gain a Soldier in a War? What was the true story of the 81st soldier who returned with Lichtenstein's army after the Astro-Prussian War? Second, they left with a force of 80 men — and returned home with 81. When the army marched back to Vaduz, the Liechtensteiner capital, they had one more man than they had left with – an Italian soldier who defected to Liechtenstein in search of work.Now, it should be known that there are variations on this story, none of which are substantiated.