Franz Joseph II, Prince of Liechtenstein

Franz Joseph II (Franz Josef Maria Alois Alfred Karl Johannes Heinrich Michael Georg Ignaz Benediktus Gerhardus Majella; 16 August 1906 – 13 November 1989) was the reigning Prince of Liechtenstein from 25 July 1938 until his death in November 1989.

Franz Joseph was the son of Prince Alois of Liechtenstein and Archduchess Elisabeth Amalie of Austria.

Franz Joseph was born on 16 August 1906 in Schloss Frauenthal, Deutschlandsberg, Austria-Hungary as the first child of Prince Alois of Liechtenstein and Archduchess Elisabeth Amalie of Austria.

He had 7 siblings throughout his lifetime.

His god-parent was Franz Joseph I of Austria.

He spent most of his youth throughout various family-owned estates in Austria-Hungary (later Czechoslovakia), notably the Groß Ullersdorf castle in Moravia.

He succeeded his childless grand-uncle, Prince Franz I, after his father renounced his right of succession in his favour in 1923.

Franz Joseph was an extremely popular sovereign in Liechtenstein.

He was the first ruling prince to live full-time in the principality.

He also oversaw the economic development of Liechtenstein from a poor agricultural backwater into one of the richest countries (per capita) in the world.

Franz Joseph was made heir presumptive of Prince of Liechtenstein on 26 February 1923 when his father renounced his right of succession in his favour as he was concerned about his age should he assume the role.

He attended the Schottengymnasium in Vienna, where he graduated from in 1925 with a passion for mathematics, natural history and the Greek language.

He then went on to study forestry at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences in Vienna, which he received a diploma on forestry engineering in 1930.

On 17 April 1930 Franz Joseph was appointed to be the deputy of Franz I, in which he frequently travelled between the principality as a representative of him.

He also visited several European countries during this time and the United States.

On 31 March 1938, Franz I made Franz Joseph his regent following the Anschluss of Austria.

After which he moved to Feldberg, Czechoslovakia and on 25 July, he died while at one of his family's castles, and Franz Joseph formally succeeded him as the Prince of Liechtenstein.

Although officially Franz stated that he had given the regency to Franz Joseph due to his old age it was speculated that he did not wish to remain in control of Liechtenstein if Nazi Germany were to invade, primarily because his wife, Elisabeth von Gutmann was of Jewish relation.

Upon becoming Prince of Liechtenstein in 1938 Franz Joseph settled permanently in the principality, making him the first ruling prince to live there full-time.

Liechtenstein remained neutral throughout World War II, and its neutrality was not violated by any of the combatants.

Franz Joseph supported then Prime Minister of Liechtenstein Josef Hoop's policy of non-binding, non-provocative diplomacy towards Nazi Germany while personally tying the country as closely as possible to Switzerland during the war in hopes of retaining Liechtenstein's neutrality.

He visited the Swiss Federal Council in April 1938 and again in 1943, along with to Victor Emmanuel III of Italy in November 1941.

Franz Joseph oversaw the formation of a coalition government between the Progressive Citizens' Party and the Patriotic Union that would prevent government deadlock and help retain Liechtenstein's neutrality.

In March 1939 he along with Josef Hoop paid an official visit to Berlin where they met Adolf Hitler and Joachim von Ribbentrop where they discussed safeguarding Liechtenstein's independence and neutrality while maintaining good relations.

Franz Joseph later reminisced on the visit and stated that Hitler showed little interest in them and that it only took place in order to "flatter Hitler's ego".

While Franz Joseph was on this visit in March 1939, the German National Movement in Liechtenstein (VBDL) staged an amateurish coup attempt, first trying to provoke a intervention from Nazi Germany by burning swastikas, followed by declaring an Anschluß with Germany.

The leaders were almost immediately arrested and the hoped-for German invasion failed to materialise.

Despite this, he periodically sent congratulatory letters to Hitler throughout the war, such as the thwarting of the 20 July plot, of which he briefly replied.

During the war, Liechtenstein’s princely family owned land in Austria whose managers hired Nazi forced labour, but a much later inquiry found the family not to have known about this.

In 1945 all the family’s estates in Czechoslovakia and Poland were expropriated without compensation by the Third Czechoslovak Republic and the Provisional Government of Poland.

Just before the end of the war, Franz Joseph granted political asylum to First Russian National Army pro-Axis pro-emperor Vladimir White emigres led by General Boris Smyslovsky, who were being cared for by the Liechtenstein Red Cross.

On 16 August 1945, the Soviet Union sent a delegation to Liechtenstein in an attempt to repatriate the Russians, which was refused despite increasing Soviet pressure to participate in the repatriation program.

Eventually the government of Argentina offered the Russians asylum, and about a hundred people left.

According to Alexander Frick, Prime Minister of Liechtenstein at the time, the Russians were at no point in danger of being extradited.

Franz Joseph had explicitly given support for the asylum of the Russians.

The general population of Liechtenstein supported the government in providing asylum to the Russians.

He and Georgina von Wilczek hosted Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, Charles III (then Prince of Wales) and Anne, Princess Royal in the Vaduz Castle on 29 December 1965 and again for Prince Philip and Elizabeth II in April 1980.

After losing roughly 80% of their property, Franz Joseph and his family sought to sell artworks from their collection in order to generate income, such as Leonardo da Vinci Ginevra de' Benci in 1967 and Frans Hals's Willem van Heythuysen portrait that was sold to the Bavarian State Painting Collections in 1969.

Franz Joseph oversaw a family-owned bank ran by the House of Liechtenstein with branches in London, Zürich, New York City and Frankfurt which made the principality an ideal tax haven for wealthy individuals and private foreign companies, this allowed Liechtenstein to experience rapid economical growth throughout his reign, transforming the principality into one of the richest countries in the world.

Franz Joseph played a role in maintaining Liechtenstein's diplomatic relations.