Sweden

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History

For centuries, Swedes were well known for their seamanship skills, which made them fearsome warriors and canny businessmen. During the 11th and 12th centuries, Sweden gradually became a unified Christian kingdom that later included Finland. Until 1060 the kings of Uppsala ruled most of modern Sweden except the southern and western coastal regions, which remained under Danish rule until the 10th century. After a century of civil wars a new royal family emerged, which strengthened the power of the crown at the expense of the nobility, while giving the nobles privileges such as exemption from taxation in exchange for military service. Finland was taken over. Sweden never had a fully developed feudal system, and its peasants were never reduced to serfdom.

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About 1000, the first king known to rule over both Svealand and Götaland was Olof Skötkonung, but the further history is obscure with kings whose periods of regency and actual power is unclear. In the 12th century, Sweden was still consolidating with the dynastic struggles between the Erik and Sverker clans, which finally ended when a third clan married into the Erik clan and founded the Folkunga dynasty on the throne. This dynasty gradually consolidated a pre-Kalmar-Union Sweden to an actual nation, which essentially fell apart after the Black Death.

Birth of the Nation

Despite the existence of a king in Sweden, the Swedish monarch's bearing on political affairs, however, remained rather scanty if non-existent. Unlike elsewhere, feudalism didn't exist in Sweden, and the king didn't inherit the throne, but was elected by the aristocracy. This led to power struggles amongst powerful families and Great Men (Stormännen), causing politically unstable situations, which sometimes led to interferences from outside, such as by the Hanseatic League. In an effort to counterbalance the growing influence of the Hansa, Swedish nobles subsequently elected to join the Kalmar Union with Denmark.


Union with Denmark

Margaret, daughter of Valdemar IV Atterdag of Denmark, married Håkon VI of Norway in an attempt to join the two kingdoms, along with Sweden, since Håkon was related to the Swedish royal family. Originally her son, Olaf III was intended to rule the three kingdoms, but due to his early death she took on the role herself. Nevertheless, Margaret's capable rule would all Scandinavia, the Faroe islands and Greenland together in what was called the Kalmar Union, made official in 1397. Her successor, Eric of Pomerania, however, lacked his predecessor's skill and was directly responsible for the breakup of the Kalmar Union. However, there was still some enthusiasm for the idea, so when Christopher of Bavaria, a distant relative came to the throne, he managed to be elected in all three kingdoms, briefly reuniting Scandinavia.

Dissolution of the Union

The Swedish nobility grew increasingly unhappy with Danish rule and the union soon became merely a legal concept with little practical application, due to the wars of the Danes in Germany interfering in the trade in Swedish iron ore, and fears of Danish domination of the union. Thus, the history of the Kalmar Union revolved around civil war breaking out continuously in Sweden, with Kalmar forces having to be sent back to annex the country. By the time the Swedes elected Gustav Vasa as their king in 1523, the union was as good as dissolved. For the next three centuries after the Vasa in Sweden, Sweden and Denmark would be continuously at war with one another until the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815.