How did Lichtenstein remain neutral throughout the war? Someone told it to me once before, but I have since forgetten.
Were they neutral back then?
Well, it’s obviously not worth “invading” from a military or economic standpoint… IIRC they had nothing that could threaten Germany and in the end, trying to capture it would have been more or less a waste of resources…
Well the had the worlds largest false teeth factory at the time 
True.
the “little” countries never can be absolutely neutral unless they are not worth for diplomatic or military action as it is the case with that country which is like Luxembourg .For more bigger countries like Netherlands and my own was hard as hell to stay out of the reach of WW2 for many reasons which are for another topic of course
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_San_Marino
But San Marino was occupied…on the fly. What for ?
(it “says” it in wiki because of the nearby frontline…but it may have been decided (by the germans) to put the “next” frontline a bit back of San Marino…it didn’t have to run so close to it…)
Regarding San Marino - it is pretty clear why it was occupied, first (effectively) by the Germans and, in turn, by the British. At the time, the government of the republic was of Fascist hue, and closely allied to the Italian Fascist regime. It did assert its neutrality throughout, and after the war; presumably, Mussolini thought that the place was in good hands, and saw little advantage in forcing it to declare war on the Allies. However - by the time of the British assault on the tiny republic, the Germans had already placed substantial forces on its territory to “defend” it against Allied occupation. Not difficult to see why - the Republic, geographically, is effectively composed of a bloody great mountain (Monte Titano) embedded in a string of high ridges. Control of this territory gave the Germans a valuable observation post, not to mention control of a number of strategically important roads in a region not noted for a wonderful road network. The Brits had never (in their own view) recognized San Marino’s neutrality and, in any event, the Germans had already flouted this neutrality by effectively occupying the place. Not surprising, then, that confronted with German opposition from within San Marino, the British launched a full-scale attack and invasion/occupation, spearheaded, as it happens, by troops from Britain’s traditional “poor region” recruitment pool - Scotsmen, Sikhs and Gurkhas. The Germans didn’t have a chance.
Lichtenstein is a different case. It never got in the way of any major military operation and, from the point of view of Germany at least, its neutrality had certain advantages - such as being a location for money laundering and loot-storage. A similar, albeit much more complex, argument could be made as to why Germany never invaded Switzerland which is, after all, predominantly a creation of, and populated by, people of German ethnicity. Best regards, JR.
During World War II, Liechtenstein remained officially neutral, looking to neighboring Switzerland for assistance and guidance.The concept of neutrality in war is narrowly defined and puts specific constraints on the Liechtenstein, 1868, Neutral since its army was dissolved in 1868.How did Lichtenstein remain neutral throughout the war? Someone told it to me once before, but I have since forgetten.Prince Hans-Adam II: The Principality of Liechtenstein declared its neutrality during World War I and World War II.Switzerland and Liechtenstein were totally different matters. The Swiss had guaranteed Liechtenstein’s neutrality and independence.thereby breached its international obligation to respect the sovereignty and neutrality of Liechtenstein.