The cantons had enough to do with their own affairs, but the result of the discussion was that, on March 14th, a ten-year Alsatian confederation was formed in imitation of the Swiss.
The chief members were Basel, Colmar, Mulhouse, Schlestadt, and two dioceses, and it is referred to as the Basse-Union or the Lower Union, the purposes being to guarantee mutually the rights of the contracting parties, to meet for discussion on various questions, and, specifically, to help Mulhouse pay her debts. A few days later, March 19th, there was a fresh proposition to make an alliance between this Basse-Union and the Swiss confederation. This required a referendum.

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/14496/14496-h/14496-h.htm

Die Niedere Vereinigung war ein Bündnis zwischen den Reichsstädten Straßburg, Basel, Colmar und Schlettstadt, den Bischöfen von Basel und Strassburg, der Alten Eidgenossenschaft sowie Herzog Siegmund von Österreich, Regent von Vorderösterreich und Tirol, das während der Burgunderkriege 1474–1477 die antiburgundische Liga zusammenhielt. Der Begriff «Niedere» Vereinigung leitet sich von der Unterscheidung der «oberen», d.h. oberdeutschen Vereinigung der Eidgenossen her.

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niedere_Vereinigung