Staatenbund

What's more, the German constitutional court has ruled that the EU is a Staatenbund a group of states.

There is only one alternative to the euro's survival: catastrophe 2011

The Holy Empire, in spite of the protests of the Holy See, was not restored, Austria preferring the loose confederation of sovereign states (_Staatenbund_) actually constituted under her presidency.

Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 3, Part 1, Slice 1 "Austria, Lower" to "Bacon" Various

'First of all,' he says, 'we desire that Germany be transformed from a confederation of states (_Staatenbund_) to one federal state (_Bundesstaat_).'

The Continental Monthly, Vol. 6, No 4, August, 1864 Devoted To Literature And National Policy Various

The Confederation comprised simply a _Staatenbund_, or league of essentially autonomous states.

The Governments of Europe Frederic Austin Ogg 1914

_Staatenbund_ into a _Bundesstaat_ -- the measure of consolidation attained fell, and still falls, somewhat short of that which has been realized in the United States, and even in Germany.

The Governments of Europe Frederic Austin Ogg 1914

The party of German unity, represented by Stein and the Liberals generally, began by assuming it to be a _Bundesstaat_, or true federal state; but at the opening of the first session of the Diet (November 5, 1816) the Austrian authorities formally pronounced it a _Staatenbund_, or federation of states, and from this ruling, according strictly with both the facts of the situation and the intent of the founders, there was no possible escape.

The Governments of Europe Frederic Austin Ogg 1914

From the beginning of our history it has been a mooted question whether we are to consider the United States as a political state or as a congeries of political states, as a _Bundesstaat_ or as a _Staatenbund_.

American Eloquence, Volume 3 Studies In American Political History (1897) Various 1899

It calls the former a _Staatenbund_ and the latter

Civil Government in the United States Considered with Some Reference to Its Origins John Fiske 1871

"Undoubtedly," said the Authority, puffing quietly at his cigarette, as if personally he wouldn't lift a finger to stop the Staatenbund if he could, "that's the end of it, a Staatenbund.

Frenzied Fiction Stephen Leacock 1906