For Want of A Sandwich - A Franz Ferdinand Lives Wikibox TL
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…The Principality of Liechtenstein would remain neutral during the whole Great European War, in spite of being closely tied to Austria-Hungary at the time : however, as peace returned to the continent under a bright sky for Mitteleuropa, the small country would adopt a new Constitution by 5 October 1921, establishing a parliamentary monarchy, using referendums.
However, with the establishment of the Danubian Federation and the outbreak of the Danubian War, Liechtenstein, that had abolished its army, found itself willing to strength its ties with neighboring Switzerland : after the 1928 military coup in Vienna, the Principality was occupied by Austrian troops, that would remain for the whole duration of the war to avoid any further temptation from Vaduz. The Austrian troops left after the Copenhagen Conference and Liechtenstein renewed its customs’ union with the Danubian Federation. Due to the utter traumatism of the occupation, Hereditary Prince Alois, who had thought of abdicating in favor of his son, ruled anyway as Prince Alois III. During the World War, the Principality was again neutral and was in fact totally ignored by the Syndicalist troops, due to its insignificance and lack of strategic value, while Switzerland and Austria were occupied ; the Principality nevertheless made a profit during the conflict, welcoming refugees from both countries and by the way their wealth.
As the Danubian Federation voted for union with Germany, Liechtenstein, left without any major partner, chose, under its new Prince Franz Josef II, to tie its links with the German Empire and to become its latest member state, allowing the Prince to become a full member of the Bundesrat and Liechtenstein to gain a seat in the Reichstag. Liechtenstein would become a very peaceful principality, a swing member state between the Zentrum and the DVP and, more controversially, a financial centre known for a bank secrecy as tight as Switzerland’s, becoming in fact a tax haven within Germany, as Delaware was in the United States.
In 2003, in a context of austerity measures, the Imperial government of Horst Seehofer petitioned the government of Liechtenstein to cease all banking secrecy and its lax taxation rates, seeing it as an unfair and unlawful competition with other German states. After Prince Hans Adam II had threatened leave the German Empire if Liechtenstein’s financial independent was at stake, the Prince convened of a referendum with the Imperial government, promising to abdicate should it pass ; the referendum effectively passed with a small majority of little more than 52 %, prompting Prince Hans Adam II to abdicate and Liechtenstein to align its banking and taxation on other German states.
Alois IV (born Alois Philipp Maria von Liechtenstein on 11 June 1968) is the reigning Prince of Liechtenstein, having succeeded his father Hans Adam II after his abdication on 15 August 2003. He hails from the House of Liechtenstein.
A graduate of the Prussian Staff College and the University of Salzburg, the Hereditary Prince would succeed his father after the 2003 referendum, on which Hans Adam II had put his crown at stake in order to preserve Liechtenstein’ status as a tax haven within the German Empire. After the vote passed, Alois IV’s father abdicated yet remained in Liechtenstein, while Alois IV ascended.
Since coming to power, Alois IV pledged to align Liechtenstein’s financial policies on its neighbours, allowing the Principality to be removed from the World Council’s list of tax havens by 2008; thanks to his princely veto, he was however adamant in rejecting laws that would allow abortion and birth control in 2005 and 2011.
Wilhelm V (born Wilhelm Johann Ludwig Maria on 18 March 1960 in Berg Castle, Colmar-Berg, in Luxemburg) is the reigning Grand Duke of Luxemburg, having succeeded his father Joseph on 15 April 2009. He hails from the House of Habsburg-Nassau.
The eldest son and second child of Grand Duke Joseph and Maria del Carmen of Bourbon-Two-Sicilies, Wilhelm received his Christian name as a gesture of good neighbourhood towards the Kaiser, honoring his three predecessors and acknowledging Luxemburg’s pride of being integrated inside the German Empire for almost forty years. As most German princes, the Hereditary Prince received military officer training at the Prussian Staff College and studied political science at the University of Vienna and served in the German Army, occasionally filling in for his father as he became older, before acceding to the throne in 2009.
Since his accession, Grand Duke Wilhelm has maintained Luxemburg’s position as a green tourism destination along with a high place of finance, even if the Grand Duchy’s status has since fallen behind Frankfurt since the turn of the century ; still a Zentrum stronghold, the Grand Duke, a devout Catholic, has been intransigent in refusing to pass legislation in favor of abortion, euthanasia, gene therapy and human cloning, all of which are legal in Prussia. He also offered asylum to Walloon refugees during the Second Belgium War and to political exiles after the beginning of the military dictatorship in France ; Luxemburg hosted peace talks in the aftermath of the Second Belgium War.
Married to Princess Maria of Hesse, Grand Duke Wilhelm has four children : Hereditary Grand Duke Joseph (born 1992), Prince Johann (born 1994), Prince Ludwig (born 1996) and Princess Adelheid (born 1998).
Beatrix, Duchess of Oldenburg (born 1971) is a German princess who also served as Reich Minister of Social Affairs, from 24 September 2017 to 13 December 2020, in the Söder II-III Cabinets. The granddaughter of Grand Duke Nikolaus, she adhered to the DVP, belonging to the Integralist faction. First serving as German Ambassador to the Netherlands, she joined the government in 2017.
Michael Benedikt (born Michael Benedikt Georg Jobst Carl Alexander Bernhart Claus Friedrich on 15 November 1946 in Weimar, Germany) is the regning Grand Duke of Saxony and Prince of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach-Altenburg, having succeeded his father Karl August II on 14 October 1988. He hails from the House of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach-Altenburg.
Born in Weimar during the World War, while his father had been under house arrest by the Syndicalists, being a reigning German monarch and a general officer in the German Army, Michael Benedikt von Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach (Altenburg was added to his father’s realm in 1985, after the passing of the last Duke of Saxe-Altenburg) had a most uneventful life for a German heir, having a short career in the military and diplomacy, he devoted himself to the preservation and progress of Weimar, taking a passion in the city’s artwork and archives, including those of Schiller and Goethe. His first marriage with Baroness Christina von Amsberg ended in divorce before he married Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna, a scion of a minor line of the Romanovs, giving him one daughter, Leonie, born in 1986. Michael was one month shy of his 42nd birthday when he succeeded to the Grand Duchy of Saxony.
Since, Michael Benedikt kept a low profile in the somehow colorful landscape of German monarchs, devoting himself to the progression and preservation of his beloved city of Weimar, taking a passion in embellishing Weimar’s museums and collections and preserving the archives of Schiller and Goethe. Nevertheless, the Grand Duke also became a figurehead for Progressives, having abandoned most of the etiquette and ceremonies that defined his court, considering that as “historical carnaval”, preferring to live the life of an average man. As such, as he had no male heir in a Grand Duchy formerly organized by Salic Law, he made his daughter Leonie as the heir to the monarchy, encouraging her nevertheless to pursue a career in journalism; upon Michael’s death, the throne of the Grand Duchy of Saxony would’ve gone to his first cousin, Prince Wilhelm Ernst.
On another side, Michael Benedikt is also, according to the Dutch monarchists (known as Orangists), the heir to the Dutch throne, after the assassination of the entire House of Orange-Nassau in Indonesia in 1945, being the great-great-grandson of Princess Sophie of the Netherlands ; from 1890 to 1909, Michael’s grandfather Wilhelm Ernst had been next in line to Queen Wilhelmina. Grand Duke Carl August II had pursued the claim, the issue of his stepping in the throne was even raised during the negotiations for Dutch Anschluss in the 1950s before the negotiations broke down. Unlike his father, Grand Duke Michael never actively pursued his claim in the Netherlands, never officially endorsing it while in private commenting that “the Dutchs are happy with their republic, and I’m content with Weimar”. Nevertheless, his supporters in the Netherlands refer to him as “Michaël I”, forming a fringe movement like the French Legitimists and Bonapartists or the Spanish Carlists.
Ernst II von Wettin (Altenburg 31 August 1871-Mexico 22 March 1955) was the Duke of Saxe-Altenburg from 7 February 1908 , succeeding his uncle Ernst I, to his abdication on April 14 1945, and, under the name of Ernst Rieseneck, Regional Commissionner for Saxony under the Confederation of Workers’ Republic, from May 1 1946 until he abandoned his position on 15 July 1949. Also known as the Red Duke, he is one of the few exemples of a reigning monarch actively collaborating with the Syndicalist occupation forces.
Acceding to the throne of the small Duchy of Saxe-Altenburg after the death of his father, Ernst II von Saxe-Altenburg served for a time during the Great European War as General der Infanterie on the Eastern Front, before having to relinquish his command due to illness. A great lover of science, he was known as a great supporter of wireless telegraphy, telephony and aeronautics. Nevertheless, he also pursued a great interest into Sorelian theories and advocated for a Syndicalist regime in Imperial Germany, distancing himself from his wife and children ; his status as a reigning prince protected him from any prosecution.
As such, Ernst II took the occupation of Germany by the Syndicalists with great enthusiasm ; as his peers and his family fled Germany to continue the World War, he happily abdicated his throne and divorced his wife, becoming a proud private citizen under the name of Ernst Rieseneck, committing himself to the CWR. His zeal convinced Doriot to appoint him as Regional Commissionner for Saxony in 1946, a figurehead title where he could be heralded as a major success for propaganda, inviting the elderly former prince to mass meetings, while all matters were directly addressed by the occupation forces. Behind the scenes, the Syndicalists distrusted the elder ; his offer to return to active service in the Syndicalist Army in 1947 wasn’t granted, owing both to this concern and his great age at the time (75).
As the Allied forces reconquered Germany, Commissionner Rieseneck saw the tide turning and hastily fled Weimar, embarking on a plane throughout Southern Europe, before settling himself as a fugitive in Mexico along with other exiles. Hated by the exiled community, living in poverty, old and sick, the former DUke of Saxe-Altenburg died at 83 in a hotel in Mexico City.
Due to this quite unusual status of an aristocrat who adhered with devotion to the Syndicalist cause, as opposed to the many nobles who fought gallantly during the World War, Ernst II von Saxe-Altenburg was condemned to death in absentia by a German Court in 1950. His portrait was removed from the Palace of the Dukes of Saxe-Altenburg by his own son, and to this day, “Rieseneck” remains in the German language as a synonym for “traitor”. However, recent studies tended to consider that the Duke’s change of heart had more to do with opportunism and eccentricity.
He was succeeded as Duke by his second son Friedrich II. Ernst’s eldest son and former heir, Georg Moritz von Wettin abdicated his position in 1931 in order to pursue his interest in anthroposophy, founding a school in Hamborn Castle. Friedrich II was the last Duke, dying childless in 1985, at which the Reichstag decided to merge the small Duchy with the Grand Duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, ruled by his heir, Grand Duke Michael.
Josias von Waldeck und Pyrmont (Arolsen, Germany 13 May 1896 - 30 November 1967) was a German prince and colonial administrator, ruling as Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont from 26 May 1946, succeeding his father Friedrich, until his death, when he was succeeded by his son Wittekind.
Born at the princely family’s castle in Arolsen, heir to a principality dating back to the 13th Century and now state of the German Empire, Erbprinz Josias served in the Great European War and suffered serious injuries ; after the war, the Hereditary Prince applied for the Imperial Colonial Office due to the new opportunities ; seeing German princes serving in the colonies was a common sight during the Wilhelmine Era, as a good preparation for their future administrations in the motherland. After serving in various administrative positions at the Colonial Ministry in Berlin, Josias, before he turned 40, was appointed Governor-General of German South West Africa (now Kalahari) in 1935.
Josias’ colonial record remains divisive to this day : an able administrator, he was also an ardent German nationalist and a strong believer in the superiority of the German race, he intensified German settlements and exploitation of Kalahari’s rich resources, turning the Native population into virtual slaves for the sake of the colony’s prosperity, granting his subordinates power of life or death over them ; efforts from the Kalahari government to rename the various places and statues commemorating Prince Josias have been blocked by the German government. In 1939, owing to his royal status and his record in South West Africa, he was appointed to the prestigious position of Resident General to the Protectorate of Morocco, where his rule somewhat softened, enjoying the pleasures of Casablanca, cultivating his links with the Alawite family but still repressing all velleities of independence within the kingdom. His more compassionate rule owed to the fact that the Moroccans ranked higher than Black Africans in his regard, as he wrote in his diary.
The World War caught Josias in Morocco ; the German Empire had been defeated by the Syndicalists and retreating to its colonial empire when his father died in Syndicalist captivity in 1946, making him the new Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont. According to Imperial Colonial Office’s rules, Josias should have resigned by then, but the wartime emergency allowed him to remain in Morocco. Organizing the German colonial forces in Morocco and serving as an advisor to Prince Louis Ferdinand, Prince Josias commanded troops during the Morocco Campaign (1947) and helped to defeat Syndicalist troops there, and helped to the organization of the Andalusia landings later in the year, even if the Prince was upset that he was not granted overall command of Allied troops in the Iberian Peninsula. Remaining as Resident General of Morocco until the end of the World War, Josias resigned from office after peace had returned and came back to his principality, where he ruled until his death in 1967.
As a former colonial administrator, even if his princely role kept him from active politics, Josias was known as a key ally for Reinhard Heydrich’s military-industrial-academic complex, forming a rabid ultranationalist and supremacist lobby within the German Junkers and military officers and influecing the German government ; his demise in 1967 in seen by historians as one of the causes for the complex’s fading influence in the 1970s. After dying in his castle in Arolsen, he was succeeded by his son Wittekind, who rules to this day.