Most people know that the smallest country in the world is the Vatican, but how many people know which is the second smallest country in the world? The answer is – Monaco! Are you right?
The view from Monaco
Europe now has four principalities, namely Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Andorra and Monaco. (There will be a lot of cold knowledge that is a bit off-topic later, and my habit of writing articles is that as long as I feel interested in points, I will expand a little bit, knowing that there is no harm in more knowledge.) ）
Duchy refers to the feudal autonomous state below the kingdom, and the head of the principality is called arch duke, and such an autonomous state is called a principality. This is also called this in ancient China.
If the autonomous states below the kingdom have multiple hierarchies, for example, the Chinese Zhou Dynasty princely states are divided into five grades of gonghou bozi male, then the principality is the highest princely state, for example, the lu state is a principality, the monarch title is lu gong (the early few are called zhou gong), the early chu state is a sub-state, and the monarch title is called Chuzi.
If the autonomous states below the kingdom are not hierarchical, such as the four european states, they are all called principalities, for example, in the history of Spain, the Kingdom of Aragon once had only one subordinate state, the Principality of Catalonia, and the Principality of Moscow was an autonomous state below the Mongolian Golden Horde. But in ancient Europe, under a particularly large empire, there were sometimes some ranks, but this was only a few cases, and many counts, although they had territories, rarely could actually claim the throne.
Anyone born in the 1980s and earlier should have seen a series of movies called "Princess Sissi", her full name is Elizabeth Amerie Eugenie, born on December 24, 1837, died in the assassination of September 10, 1898, Princess Sissi's home is in the Duchy of Bavaria.
The Duchy of Bavaria is a medieval southern German state, established as early as the 6th century AD, with the unification of the German region into the German Empire in 1871, Bavaria became a subordinate state of the new empire, the country also produced the Elector of the Holy Roman Empire, for details, you can see my other article "The Holy Roman Empire is also known as the GermanIc Empire", directly click on this title to jump to the main text. Now Bavaria is the largest federal state in Germany, accounting for one-fifth of the country's area, and is the second most populous federal state.
Princess Sissi's ancestors were all nobles, and she herself was the Grand Duke of Bavaria, and later married the Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph I, who was the Empress of Austria and the Queen of Hungary, and their three daughters also inherited the title of Grand Duke.
Grandfather: Johann, Count of Gernhausen
Great-grandfather: Duke William of Bavaria
Grandfather: Duke Pius Auguste of Bavaria
Grandmother: Princess Emily Louise of Areenberg
Maternal grandfather: King Maximilian I of Bavaria
Maternal grandmother: Princess Caroline of Baden
Father: Duke Maximilian Joseph of Bavaria
Mother: Princess Ludwika of Bavaria
Princess Sissi, who should actually be called Elizabeth, paid too much attention to her slender figure and beautiful appearance, she was still a hairdresser, but this also became a legend in her life. The Austrian prince and duke simultaneously pursued her to choose the prince and became the empress, and the other defeated suitor became the victor, the prime minister of the king.
She has long, stunningly beautiful chestnut hair, shiny and thick like a cloak, up to her legs. She took extra care of her hair, and she herself exclaimed, "I am a slave to my hair." She washes her hair every three weeks and knows why Europeans invent perfume? In the nineteenth century, the number of bathes by queens is more than that of commoners, but the total number is still pitifully small, not to mention the millennium of the European Middle Ages, many Europeans will not take a serious bath a year, and the ancient times of our country in the same period can not be compared.
It takes a whole day to wash your hair once, and you can use a variety of expensive essential oils to care for your hair, including brandy and eggs. She spent three hours combing her hair every day, and in order to make the queen happy, the barber would hide a rubber strip under the skirt and glue off the fallen hair, making her think that she had not lost a single hair. Sissi also elevated the beauty procedure to a religious ritual, and each bath, shampoo, and comb of hair was done with a religious ritual-like pious and sacred attitude. When combing her hair, the female hairdresser will carry a silver plate to hold her fallen hair, and finally hold it for her, and the barber will repent of this, and then fall to her knees and say softly: "I will always bow down at your feet." This way the whole combing process ends.
With her only son Rudolf and his mistress Marie Visela committing suicide in 1889 in the Hunting Lodge of Meyerin, Sissi suffered an unprecedented blow and never recovered from it. She left the Austrian court and traveled around without her family, and in 1898, in Geneva, Switzerland, Sissi was assassinated by the Italian anarchist Luigi Lucheni and died.
Sissy had only one son in her life, her husband was Franz Joseph I, and after the suicide of her only son, there was no heir, and only his nephew inherited the throne, and his nephew was Archduke Franz Ferdinand. He is remembered by posterity because he was assassinated by the Serbian nationalist Principe in 1914 while visiting Sarajevo, the then capital of the Then Austro-Hungarian province of Bosnia and Herzegovina, while visiting Sarajevo, with his wife, Duchess Hohenberg.
After that, the "Sarajevo Incident" became the fuse of the First World War.
Speaking of Monaco, it is a principality, and has followed many bosses - the Republic of Genoa, Spain, France, the Kingdom of Sardinia, and finally in 1861 it was back with the big brother France, and the geographical location determined that Monaco had to follow France. As a principality, it was protected by France, and at the same time had to pay tribute, and after being forced to sell two cities to France, it was also set up by the French king and signed an agreement - in 1919, Monaco signed a treaty with France stipulating that once the head of state died without male descendants, Monaco would be incorporated into France.
Fortunately, the Principality of Monaco has always had a male heir, and thanks to Monaco's efforts, in 2002, France waived this clause, and Monaco would not be incorporated into France even if the Queen came to power. Seeing this, I am very surprised that this inequality clause can continue into the 21st century.
Where is Monaco? Let's take a look at the map!
Monaco is at the southern tip of France, near the Mediterranean Sea, and is surrounded by France on three sides except for the sea to the south. There is an island called Corsica to the south of Monaco, and if you have seen my friends who write Napoleon's long stories before, you should remember that this is the island where Napoleon was born, although Napoleon is actually of Italian descent. Since starting my public account, I have found that there is a big gain, writing so many articles can make my original knowledge structure more extensive and deeper, and the intersection of multiple knowledge is very interesting.
The smallest country in the world is the Vatican, with an area of only 0.44 square kilometers, so how big is Monaco? The total area is 2.02 square kilometers, which was once as large as 20 square kilometers, and was later robbed by the French of 18 square kilometers.
How big is 2.02 square kilometers? Not as large as a village in China, equal to 2.02 million square meters, 3,030 acres of land.
Despite its small size, Monaco has one of the highest per capita incomes in the world and is a highly developed capitalist country. There are also few people, and the 2016 census data is 38,897 people, so Monaco is also the most densely populated country in the world.
How rich is Monaco? According to 2017 United Nations statistics, Monaco's per capita GDP is 165421 US dollars, ranking second in the world, after Liechtenstein's 166022 US dollars. But this is only the ranking of the United Nations, and the rankings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank are very different from this. However, Monaco's GDP in 2016 was more than $6.5 billion, divided by the total population, which adds more than $167,000 per capita.
Looking at the two rankings in the chart above, the per capita GDP of the first place did not exceed $120,000. Compared with the following figure, the United Nations 2017 per capita GDP ranking, the third place Luxembourg data is not much different, Luxembourg is also a principality, indicating that the principality can be counted in the ranking, so how come there is no Liechtenstein and Monaco in the above two rankings? It's unbelievable that the data from authoritative institutions is so different.
There is no numerical ranking in front of the top-down figure in the above figure, only the symbol "-" is Bermuda, Macau and the Cayman Islands, Macao belongs to our country, Bermuda and the Cayman Islands belong to the Overseas Dominions of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, are not countries, so they cannot be counted in the country ranking of GDP per capita.
Monaco has the lowest poverty rate in the world, the number of millionaires and billionaires per capita is also the highest in the world, and more than a third of the country's population is a wealth of more than one million dollars. For the fourth consecutive year, Monaco is the most expensive real estate market in the world, with an average price of $58,300 per square metre.
Because it is closest to France and only 15 kilometers to the Italian border, the French and Italians are the most numerous in addition to the Monacoes. The official language is French, and The Widespread Use of The Mongaysque, Italian and English languages are also widely spoken.
Monaco has never levied income tax on individuals, so foreigners can use it as a "tax haven" for their own taxation, since as an independent country Monaco is not obliged to pay taxes to other countries. The Principality does not have a personal income tax, which attracts a large number of wealthy "tax refugee" residents from European countries, who derive most of their income from activities outside Monaco.
However, as a result of the bilateral treaty with France, French citizens are still required to pay the applicable income tax and property tax to France, and even if they reside in Monaco, the Principality actively opposes the registration of foreign companies, imposing a corporate tax of 33.33 per cent on profits, unless it can be proved that at least three quarters of the turnover is generated in their territory, enjoying a low tax rate.
Because Monaco is not a member of the Eu, it is considered an entity within the EU customs territory under the relevant agreement. The VAT system and tax rate are the same as in France, with a normal tax rate of 19.6% and a preferential tax rate of 5.5%. Unlike the classic tax haven, it does not offer offshore financial services.
Our country often says a sentence: "To become rich, first build roads." Monaco's road to riches is to build a "road" - gambling! Since 1856, prince Charles III of Monaco opened the first casino in the north of the city to solve the financial crisis, in 1858, the Monte Carlo Grand Casino was completed, designed by the same designer of the Paris Opera Galar, one of the world's three major casinos, changed Monaco's tourism industry, but also made it rich, rushed to The Great Kang. (Macau's high per capita GDP also stems from the gaming industry!) ）
Casino Monte Carlo
One of Monaco's main sources of income is tourism, and every year many foreigners are attracted by its casinos and pleasant climate. It has also become a major banking center, with more than 100 billion euros of funds, but they are only 2.02 square kilometers. Banks in Monaco specialize in private banking, asset and wealth management services. The Principality has successfully sought to diversify its economic base into services and small, high value-added, non-polluting industries such as cosmetics and biomedicine.
Monaco is not a member of the European Union. However, it is closely linked to France through the customs union, so its currency is the same as France's, both using the euro. Before 2002, Monaco minted its own coin, the Monaco franc. Monaco was granted the right to mint euro coins with Monaco motifs in the country.
The casino gambling program was drafted in 1846 during the reign of Flores I. However, under the petty-bourgeois regime of Louis Philippe, high-ranking officials like the Prince of Monaco were not allowed to run casinos. This all changed during the period of the debauched Second French Empire under Napoleon III.
The House of Mardi is in dire need of funds. The towns of Manton and Roquebrunn have been the main source of income for the Maldi family for centuries, and now thanks to the intervention of Sardinia they have become accustomed to a substantial increase in the standard of living and the easing of taxes, and have loudly demanded financial and political concessions, even for independence.
The Maldi family hoped that the new legal profession would help them alleviate the difficulties they faced, especially the family's heavy debts, but Monaco's first casino could not open until after Charles III ascended the throne in 1856. The transferee of the royal franchise (license), unable to attract enough business to maintain operations, sold the franchise to French casino giants François and Louis Brown for 1.7 million francs after several relocations of the casino.
The Blanks had already built a very successful casino in Bad Holmesburg, the Grand Duchy of Hesse-Hormesburg (then the largest in Europe), a small German principality comparable to Monaco, and they soon asked Charles III to rename a depressed coastal area known as the "Thief's Den" to "Monte Carlo (Mount Charles)", and then they built a casino in the newly named "Monte Carlo", clearing the area of less harmonious elements and making the surrounding community more conducive to tourism.
The Blanc family opened the Grand Casino of Monte Carlo in 1858, which benefited from the new French railway system that created easier travel links. Thanks to the combination of casinos and railways, Monaco has finally recovered from the economic recession of the past half century, and the success of the principality has attracted other businesses to the local area.
In the years following the casino's opening, Monaco built the Maritime Museum and the Monte Carlo Opera House, built 46 hotels and nearly fivefold the number of jewelers operating in Monaco. Apparently in order not to overburden citizens, the Government at the time issued a decree prohibiting Monegasque citizens from entering casinos unless they were employees.
By 1869, casinos had made so much money that the principality finally had the ability to put an end to the collection of taxes from Monegasques – a brilliant trick designed to attract wealthy residents across Europe, a policy that still exists today. Today, Casino Royale Monaco still operates in the original building built by the Blanks, and has since joined several other casinos, including the Paris Casino Café, the Monte Carlo Sports Club and Casino, and the Casino del Sol. The most recent addition to Monte Carlo is the Monte Carlo Bay Casino, which sits on 4 hectares of land in the Mediterranean Sea and offers, inter alia, 145 slot machines, all equipped with the "In, Out" function (TITO); this is the first Mediterranean casino to use this technology.
Monaco is a constitutional monarchy and Prince Albert II is the head of state. Although Prince Albert II was a constitutional monarch, he wielded enormous political power. Unlike other European countries that still have monarchs, such as the British royal family, they have little political power.
The Palazzo Maldi has ruled Monaco since 1297 with brief interruptions. National sovereignty was only formally recognized in the 1861 Treaty of France-Monaco, which became a full voting member of the United Nations in 1993. Despite Monaco's independence and foreign policy, its defense was still dependent on France, with Monaco itself having only two small military units.
In 1789, the French Revolution broke out. Between 1793 and 1814, Monaco was occupied by the French (during this period, most of Europe was occupied by the French under the command of Napoleon).
The principality was re-established in 1814, but in 1815 was designated a protectorate of the Kingdom of Sardinia by the Congress of Vienna. Monaco maintained this position until 1860, when, under the Treaty of Turin, Sardinian troops withdrew from the duchy and the surrounding counties of Nice (as well as Savoy) were ceded to France. Monaco once again became a French protectorate.
Prior to this, there was a riot in Menton and Roquebrun, where the citizens were tired of the heavy taxes imposed by the Mardi family. They declared independence in the hope of being annexed by Sardinia. France protested. The unrest continued until Charles III of Monaco relinquished his ownership of two continental towns (about 95% of the principality at the time) that the Mardi family had ruled for more than 500 years. These were ceded to France in exchange for 4.1 million francs. The transfer and sovereignty of Monaco were confirmed in the Treaty of France-Monaco of 1861.
In 1869, the Principality stopped imposing income taxes on residents – thanks entirely to the extraordinary success of the casino. This makes Monaco not only a playground for the rich, but also a place where they like to live.
The Monaco Revolution took place in 1910, and before the constitution was adopted in 1911, the Prince of Monaco was the absolute ruler. However, the new constitution did little to weaken the autocratic rule of the Mardi family, which Prince Albert I soon suspended during World War I. In July 1918, the Franco-Monaco Treaty was signed, which provided for limited French protection of Monaco. The Treaty, endorsed by the Treaty of Versailles in 1919, established that Monaco's international policy would be aligned with France's political, military and economic interests and resolved the crisis of succession in Monaco.
In 1943, Italian troops invaded and occupied Monaco, forming a fascist government. Shortly thereafter, after Mussolini's fall, the Wehrmacht occupied Monaco and the Nazis began expelling Jews. René Bloom, a prominent French Jew who founded the Opera Ballet in Monte Carlo, was arrested at his paris home, imprisoned at the Derancie expulsion camp outside the French capital, and then sent to Auschwitz, where he was later killed. Bloom's colleague Raul Gamber, director of the Monte Carlo prison, escaped arrest with the help of the French resistance and fled to Switzerland. In August 1944, Germany executed resistance leaders René Borghini, Joseph Henry Lajos and Esther Poggio.
Rainier III ruled until 2005, succeeding to the throne after the death of his grandfather, Prince Louis II, in 1949. On April 19, 1956, Prince Rainier married the American actress Grace Kelly; the wedding was widely televised and reported by the masses, drawing the world's attention to the tiny principality.
The 1962 Constitutional Amendment abolished the death penalty, provided for women's right to vote and established the Supreme Court of Monaco to guarantee fundamental freedoms. In 1963, de Gaulle blockaded Monaco, which sparked a crisis because Monaco was a tax haven for the wealthy French. The 2014 film The Grace of Monaco is largely based on this crisis. In 1993, the Principality of Monaco became a Member of the United Nations with full voting rights.
France offered Monaco a wider defense. Monaco does not have a navy or air force, but in terms of per capita and per capita area, Monaco has the highest per capita police force in the world (515 officers). Its police include a special forces unit that patrols and monitors the vessels.
There is also a small military force. This includes a Prince's Guard, responsible for the security of the palace in Monaco-Ver, known as the Prince's Guard, armed with M16A2 rifles and weapons such as 9 mm pistols (Glock 17), Type 80, and the full public force of Monaco with the militarized armed firepower and civil defence forces (Sapris-Pompiris). The Prince's Guard was created by Prince Honoré IV in 1817 to protect the principality and the royal family. The guard had a total of 116 officers and men; although the non-commissioned officers and soldiers were natives, the officers usually served in the French army. In addition to the guard duties described above, the gendarmerie patrols the beaches and coastal waters of the Principality.
In addition to casinos in Monaco, there are also some sporting events that are talked about. It hosts the annual Monaco Grand Prix in street racing, one of the original Grand Prix for Formula One. The World Rally, formula 1 championship, and monte carlo circuit in Monaco are all important stops, which shows the deep relationship between Monte Carlo and motorsport.
Monaco International Circuit
The Principality of Monaco is too small, too few people to hold a football league, they have a club football team, they have participated in the French football league, and have become the French champion many times, this if not the fans should not have thought of it.
This is the second smallest country in the world, a beautiful and wealthy principality, and I hope my article brings you something you don't know.
Thank you for your patience in reading!
May the world be better! Less suffering! Guotai Min'an!