Eli5 how did it happen that in Monaco and Liechtenstein two men were able to create their own country?
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the question isn’t about how those countries were created, because that is just as any country via the feudal system establishing itself after the fall of Rome. The real question is how they remained independent with those much larger neighbors who could’ve easily conquered them.
In medieval Europe, there were loads of small countries, baronies, duchies or marches. Those slowly conglomerated into larger empires like France or Spain. With a much larger empire as your neighbor, you were either their friend, you get swallowed or you have protection.
Monaco and Luxembourg just managed their foreign policy well enough to always have either someone protecting their freedom from larger neighbors or they simply had good enough relations to them so there was no will to conquer them.
Same goes for Andorra, Liechtenstein, San Marino or the Vatican.
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