Sentence:  There were therefore, in the cultivating communities of the German and Scandinavian races, causes at work which were leading to inequality of property in land. There were causes at work which were leading to the establishment of superiorities and <WSD>suzerainties</WSD> of one township over another. There were causes at work which tended to place the benefits of an unequal proprietary system and the enjoyment of these <WSD>suzerainties</WSD> in the hands of particular families, and consequently of their chiefs for the time being. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  A relation between states in which a subservient nation has its own government, but is unable to take international action independent of the superior state; a similar relationship between other entities.