Social:Real union

Short description: Situation in which two states merge some of their institutions without fully unifying

Real union is a union of two or more states, which share some state institutions in contrast to personal unions; however, they are not as unified as states in a political union. It is a development from personal union and has historically been limited to monarchies.

Unlike personal unions, real unions almost exclusively led to a reduction of sovereignty for the politically weaker constituent. That was the case with Lithuania and Norway , which came under the influence of stronger neighbors, Poland and Denmark respectively, with which each of them had shared a personal union previously. Sometimes, however, a real union came about after a period of political union. The most notable example of such a move is the Kingdom of Hungary (Lands of the Crown of Saint Stephen), which achieved equal status to Austria (which exercised control over the "Cisleithanian" crown lands) in Austria-Hungary following the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867.

Historical examples

• Denmark–Norway (1537–1814)
• Union between Sweden and Norway (1814-1905)
• Kingdom of England / Kingdom of Great Britain and Kingdom of Ireland (1542–1800)
• Poland–Lithuania (1569–1795)
• Habsburg Spain (1516-1700)
• Finland and Russia (1809–1917)
• Poland and Russia (1832–1867):

  The Organic Statute replaced the Constitution of 1815 in the aftermath of the failed November Uprising.

• Austria-Hungary (1867–1918)

See also

• Composite monarchy
• Dual monarchy