But just over 200 years ago, most of its current territory was a shambolic mess — part of the Holy Roman ... empire's territory was folded into a brief "Confederation of the Rhine" French puppet ...

By going back into history and investigating the effect of state fragmentation in the Holy Roman Empire in the 18th century, history will help to shed light on this question.

The Vatican, headquarters of the Catholic Church, is the smallest state ... Holy See, which is a sovereign juridical entity under international law. The Church itself is governed by the Roman ...