I should think that by the eve of World War I, the country would most likely have been absorbed into either the German Empire or Austria-Hungary. In terms of history, it might be interesting to go at least as far back as the country's status as a state of the Holy Roman Empire.
Historically, there's plenty of room for a petty-kingdom that gets absorbed/annexed and demoted to a duchy/principality for martial protection, but they'd retain their culture on an everyday level, and Austria/Hungary would be the duke/prince's "ruler" In Name Only.
Just because you're "officially" in charge of someone on paper doesn't mean you literally control their every move, after all.
edited 15th Jun '17 11:50:04 AM by Sharysa
Do you know of any specific examples of this happening in the Austro-Hungarian Empire or any of the other Great Powers on the eve of World War I? What degree of autonomy did these territories have? For instance, if would war broke out, would their armies act independently of the national army?
Liechtenstein. The current royal house were Habsburgs vassals who were granted those lands so they could have a seat in the imperial diet. They maintained close relations with Austria, with the royal family primarily living in Austria until the end of World War I.
I'm trying to create a Central/Eastern European country. Here's what I've got so far: It's a small country, being a few thousand square kilometers in area. The government is an absolute monarchy. It's capital is a heavily fortified castle located, which was built to control a mountain pass in the region during the Middle Ages. Thus several larger powers want to annex the country. The country's main religion is catholicism. Ethnically the people are mostly slavic, though the language is German. It's economy is agrarian, with it's main export being grain. It also produces wool, resulting in the country developing a respectable textile industry. Currently, I'm at World War I and I'm wondering who it would make the most sense for them to ally with. Or would it make more sense for them to have been absorbed by a larger Great Power. Also, how far back should I go in terms of its history? Should I go back to the middle ages or even ancient times? If so, how would the country look back then?