The Provisional Executive Committee () was the governing body of

Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (, ; ; ), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein ( ), is a Landlocked country#Doubly landlocked, doubly landlocked Swiss Standard German, German-speaking microstate in the Central European Alps, between Austria in the east ...

from 7 November to 7 December 1918. Established following the

November 1918 Liechtenstein putsch The November 1918 Liechtenstein putsch (), also known as the Beck putsch was a '' de facto'' coup d'état by the leaders of the Christian-Social People's Party ( or VP) against the government of Governor of Liechtenstein, Leopold Freiherr von Im ...

, it was chaired by

Martin Ritter Martin Ritter (; 3 March 1872 – 5 September 1947) was an advocate and political figure from Liechtenstein who served as the Chairman of the Provisional Executive Committee in 1918. Early life Ritter was born on 3 March 1872 in Mauren to th ...

History and legacy

In November 1918 Landtag members

Wilhelm Beck Wilhelm Beck (, ; 26 March 1885 – 20 January 1936) was a lawyer and politician from Liechtenstein who was the founder of the Christian-Social People's Party and later served as the President of the Landtag of Liechtenstein from 1922 to 1927 ...

, Martin Ritter and

Fritz Walser Fritz Walser (16 November 1870 – 26 March 1950) was a politician from Liechtenstein who served as President of the Landtag of Liechtenstein from 1919 to 1921. He also served in the Landtag of Liechtenstein from 1906 to 1914, 1918 to 1922, and ...

, who were deeply dissatisfied with Governor of Liechtenstein

Leopold Freiherr von Imhof Leopold Freiherr von Imhof (7 July 1869 – 30 April 1922) was an Austrian civil servant who served as the List of heads of government of Liechtenstein, Governor of Liechtenstein from 1914 to 1918. Early life and career Imhof was born on 7 Ju ...

's handling of the economy and who wanted a Liechtensteiner head of state, plotted to overthrow him. In the Landtag on 7 November 1918 they proposed a motion of no confidence against him. Imhof asked for a vote of confidence and at the same time agreed to submit his resignation. While the Landtag unanimously expressed its confidence in him it was decided, against the

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

and the princely appointed Landtag members, to transfer the power of governor to a provisional executive committee led by Martin Ritter. The committee was accepted "in grace" by Johann II on 13 November and he accepted Imhof's resignation. He remained in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

throughout the committee's duration but did not make any efforts to act against it, primarily due to its popularity within the country. The committee did not intend to break with the monarchy, its proclamation itself ended with the phrase "May the prince and the country live long." It was agreed to last one month when a replacement cabinet could be found. On 7 December 1918 it was dissolved and succeeded by the Prince Karl Aloys cabinet. Within the general population of Liechtenstein the coup was popular, as Imhof was largely seen as the reason for the country's economic crisis. However, in the Landtag it was far more controversial. Martin Ritter in particular was a controversial figure in the government, due to him being the first Liechtensteiner head of state and the unconstitutional means in which he came into power, despite only serving for one month. In response to the coup, all three members of the Landtag appointed by Johann II resigned in protest.

Members

References

Bibliography

* {{Cabinets of Liechtenstein Cabinets of Liechtenstein 1918 establishments in Liechtenstein Cabinets established in 1918 Cabinets disestablished in 1918