Eli5: why does the country Liechtenstein exist? It’s an incredibly small country in Europe, why isn’t it just part of Switzerland or Austria?

Question

Eli5: why does the country Liechtenstein exist? It’s an incredibly small country in Europe, why isn’t it just part of Switzerland or Austria?

In: 6939

Answer 1

What would be the point of not having small countries? Liechtenstein isn’t even the smallest, think of Monaco for instance, or San Marino. Why shouldn’t they exist?