I know the other nations don't think much of me. After all, I'm just Liechtenstein, I'm barely a nation and so small that lots of the others have trouble finding me on the map. Especially America, that guy really needs a new map.
Not Switzerland, though. Big brother Switzerland never forgets about me. He takes care of me like a real brother would, and we're neighbours too, so we can see each other almost whenever we want. When I'm not living with him, anyway, he doesn't like me staying on my own. In fact, Switzy's the reason I'm doing this right now.
The war is finally over. The second 'Great War', that is. I don't see what was so great about this one, or even the one before it. Just us nations fighting again and having our people suffer for it. I stayed neutral, just like I did the first time, just like big brother did. But I don't understand why the others were so ready to fight again, they saw what happened after the first war and yet they let the same thing happen again.
I can feel them suffering, my people. Even though we didn't take sides, we didn't fight- how could we when we don't even have an army? We can't afford one. But the war made us poor too, because it made everyone poor.
Russian soldiers. Approximately 500 of them, and I've given them asylum. It wasn't an easy decision for me to make. It wasn't the smartest either, but it was the right one. I know it was the right one, because years ago when I asked big brother why he'd taken me in, why he had given me what he didn't have himself, he told me this-
"I didn't do it to be a hero. I did it because it seemed like the right thing to do, there are some things that people should just do..." he had stumbled over the words. I hadn't understood very well then, but I understand now.
And thats why I took them in, the refugees, the soldiers who had fought and now had nothing left. Not to be a hero, not to make a point that I'd done what even Britain hadn't- I took them in because it was the right thing to do.
These soldiers had fought for their country, done their duty and given everything they had, and then been left stranded with nowhere to go. So now I have an extra 500 people to take care of, people I can barely afford to feed and give homes to, but I don't care. I've done the right thing, and that's really all that matters right now. It'll take a while for my country and I to get back on our feet. But it'll take even longer for things between us nations to go back to normal. Maybe it'd be better if we were all nicer to each other, instead of going back to being friends with only a few fellow countries and harboring grudges against others. That way we could avoid another awful, awful war.
I should probably get Switzy something nice later, to say thank you for taking care of me. Those pajamas I got him before are starting to look a bit threadbare…