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Afederal monarchy is afederation ofstates with a single monarch as overall head of the federation, but retainingdifferent monarchs, or having a non-monarchical system of government, in the various states joined to the federation.
The term was introduced into English political and historical discourse byEdward Augustus Freeman, in hisHistory of Federal Government (1863). Freeman himself thought a federal monarchy only possible in the abstract.[1]
Historically, the most prominent example of a federal monarchy in theWestern world was theGerman Empire (1871–1918) and, to a lesser extent, its predecessors (North German Confederation andGerman Confederation). The head of state of the federation was a monarch, theGerman Emperor, who was also head of state of the largest constituent part to the federation asKing of Prussia; other constituent monarchies, such as the kingdoms ofBavaria,Saxony andWürttemberg and various grand duchies, duchies and principalities, retained their own monarchs and armies. Besides the 23 monarchies (22 constituent monarchies and the German emperor) there were also three republicancity-states –Bremen,Hamburg andLübeck – andAlsace-Lorraine, a semi-autonomous republic since 1912.
In the Eastern Hemisphere, an example is the system of government inIndia in the 3rd century BCEMaurya Empire, where regional rulers appointed by the emperor headed the regional administration that governed the distant regions of the empire. It was revived in 16th century under the rule ofMughal EmperorAkbar, in which thesubahs (other thanDelhi) were controlled bysubahdars appointed by the emperor and the regional kings. The emperor himself supervised the regional rulers and thus personally looked after the welfare of his people.[citation needed]
The concept played a role in political debates inItaly andAustria-Hungary in the nineteenth century and inYugoslavia in the twentieth century, but it was not put into effect in any of the cases. For example, modern Italy had not unified untilRisorgimento of the late 19th century, with the several smaller kingdoms, duchies, republics, etc., each headed by a different dynasty or ruling class, being disestablished in favor of a unitary monarchy under the house of Savoy.
Currently, the term can be applied in the fullest sense to theUnited Arab Emirates andMalaysia.[2] In both, the head of state of the entire federation is selected from among the heads of states (Emir,Sultan orRaja, respectively) who rule theconstituent states of the federation.
While not officially declared as such,Spain has been referred to as a federal monarchy, due to having manyautonomous communities helmed by presidents who all answer to theSpanish crown.[3] Officially, Spain is a unitary state displaying a high degree ofdevolution.
SeveralCommunities, regions and language areas constitute theKingdom of Belgium, a federal state with a constitutional monarchy.
There are currently only two countries which qualify as federal monarchies, where the sovereign of the nation is a different person from the sovereigns of constituent states.
| Federation | Subdivisions | Number of subdivisions | Monarch | Head of government |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Malaysia | States of Malaysia | 13 states and 3 federal territories | ||
 United Arab Emirates | Emirates of the United Arab Emirates | 7 emirates |
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