In the early 1700's the Liechtenstein family had purchased the counties of Schellenberg and Vaduz. Shortly there after, the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire rewarded the Liechtensteiners for their faithful service by making the head of the family a Prince of the Empire and creating the present Principality of Liechtenstein. As an Imperial Prince, the ruler of Liechtenstein had absolute power over the citizens of the Principality and was only answerable to the Emperor. The freemen of the principality were in continuous struggle with the ruling prince and his administrators to maintain their ancient rights.
Then in 1806 the constitutional status of the Principality changed. Napoleon had defeated the allies and imposed his new order on Europe. He organized a number of German principalities into the Confederation of the Rhine (Rheinbundbund). Liechtenstein became nominally an independent state and its ruler a sovereign prince.
When Napoleon was defeated in 1815, Liechtenstein joined the new German Confederation created by the peace treaty. The prince however was required to grant a constitution. On November 19 1818, the prince "granted" his subjects this first constitution. It contained only 17 articles and recognizing only two ranks, the clergy and the peasants. The only nobility was of course the ruling family. There was no mention of towns or municipal government as only small villages existed in the tiny country. A small Diet or parliament was also set up. Two representatives of the clergy for Vaduz and one for Schellenbergenberg were elected for life while the pleasantry were represented by community chiefs, judges, treasurers and major land owners. Thus it was usually only supporters of the ruling prince who sat in the Diet which was controlled by the Prince's on site representative - the Chief administrator. As the prince retained the absolute right to veto any laws passed by the Diet, this first parliament was essentially just a tool of the ruling family.
The winds of change that swept Europe in 1848 changed the political scene and brought changes to the constitution. The people of Liechtenstein demanded more rights such as the free election of deputies instead of a selection based on property, the right to initiate administrative and legislative matters including the deciding of a budget. They also sought to retain their feudal privileges and duties, the commissioner position and their free hunting and fishing rights.
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