Luxembourg is today the only state to be a grand duchy. Which grand duchies existed as independent states until 1918?

morgz87

Netherlands, Finland, Lithuania, Limburg Dec 15 06, 1:11 AM

Baloo55th

Netherlands was and still is a kingdom. Lithuania was a non-autonomous part of the Russian Empire, having previously been part of a joint kingdom with Poland. Limburg - the former Duchy had long previously been part of first the Netherlands, and then was split between Netherlands and Belgium, while the County of Limburg was in Germany and neither a duchy nor independent. Finland was an odd case, however. It was technically a Grand Duchy and autonomous, but the Grand Duke just happened to be the Czar of Russia, and there was a process of russification going on. FInland ran its own postal service and had its own currency, but it had no independence in foreign affairs. From the Russian takeover in 1809 to the end of the 19th century, Finland had become more Finnish after centuries of Swedish rule, but the new policy was unacceptable to the Finns. They had been fairly happy with being in the Russian Empire, but when things changed, they started becoming rather nationalistic. In 1917, after the Russian Revolution, independence was declared and Frederick Charles of Hesse was chosen as Grand Duke. He never took up the position, and the Grand Duchy was ruled by short term Regents until the republic was declared in 1918. So the answer to the question is Luxembourg and Finland, although Finland's actual independence as a Grand Duchy was rather short. See assorted Wiki pages for more detail. Dec 15 06, 4:22 AM

author

These grand duchys were formally independent states within the German union until 1918: The Grand Duchy of Baden (1806-1918, part of Germany since 1871) * The Grand Duchy of Hesse-Darmstadt (1806-1918, part of Germany since 1871) * The Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1815-1918, part of Germany since 1871) * The Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1815-1918, part of Germany since 1871) * The Grand Duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (1815-1918, part of Germany since 1871) * The Grand Duchy of Oldenburg (1829-1918, part of Germany since 1871) This one existed as a formally independent state within the union of Austria-Hungary: * The Grand Duchy of Cracow (1846-1918 in Personal Union with Austria, part of Poland) Dec 15 06, 4:37 PM

Baloo55th

I rather think those Grand Duchies would have had the same problems South Carolina had when it seceeded..... I'm listing only two that were de facto independent rather than the theoretical independence of states within an empire. Dec 15 06, 5:31 PM

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