However, this failed and as a result of a highly publicized trial it held back the formation of an organized Nazi party in Liechtenstein until 1938.

[5] The VDBL itself formed after the Anschluss of Austria in March 1938 under the leadership of Rudolf Schädler, advocating for the integration of Liechtenstein into the Greater German Reich.

[11][12][13] In March 1939, the VDBL staged an amateurish coup attempt, first trying to provoke a German intervention by burning swastikas, followed by declaring an Anschluss with Germany.

The association launched a signature campaign to reaffirm Liechtenstein's independence in addition to a commitment to Franz Joseph II and the country's continued economic and political alignment towards Switzerland.

Until 1943, the party attempted to recruit Liechtensteiners into the Waffen-SS and gain public sympathy for the Nazi cause, which infuriated Switzerland.

[7] The German Ministry of Foreign Affairs in March 1943 forced the VDBL to hold talks with the Patriotic Union (VU) in Friedrichshafen, under the auspices of the Waffen-SS, in order to reach a fusion of both parties, which shared an anti-Bolshevik and anti-clerical programme.