The Union of Kalmar united Sweden, Denmark and Norway under one ruler, Queen Margrethe. Formed to challenge the Hanseatic League, the union lasted 126 years.
Today Sweden, Norway and Denmark are some of the most prosperous countries in the world, offering their people some of the highest standards of living. But not too long ago these countries were fighting it out with one another, as well as with much of Europe for territory and trading rights.
The Hanseatic League Stranglehold in Norway
During the 1300s the Baltic Sea was controlled in large part by a German mercantile alliance known as the Hanseatic League. The league had ports all over northern Europe and Scandinavia. In Norway, these German merchants controlled the grain trade. This stranglehold on the Norwegian economy made it difficult to maintain political independence.
Sweden’s Nobel’s Fight it Out
While Norway was being controlled by the merchants of the Hanseatic League, Sweden had problems of its own. The nobles were fighting over who should be king. A German aristocrat was placed on the Swedish throne- Albrecht of Mecklenburg. This did not please many Swedes.
Queen Margrethe to the Rescue
Queen Margrethe of Denmark knew that the only way to deal with the Hanseatic League was to unite Denmark, Sweden and Norway. Norway was easy to bring into her alliance, since it had no political or financial power. In 1386 the Swedish nobles asked Queen Margrethe to help them oust King Albrecht. She complied, sending troops to Sweden in 1389. Now Queen Margrethe was the acknowledged ruler of all three countries. In 1397, she crowned her great nephew, Erik of Pomerania in the cathedral at Kalmar, a town in southern Sweden.
The Union of Kalmar
At its peak of power, the Union of Kalmar stretched from Greenland in the west to Finland (then part of Sweden) to the East. It controlled the Baltic Sea routes and brought Denmark to its own peak of political power. The Union succeeded in ousting the Hanseatic League from the Baltic. However, internal bickering soon led to the first fracture in the union. Sweden made the first break in 1523, taking Finland with it. This left Norway and Denmark tied together. Norway would remain under Danish control until 1814, when it was ceded to Sweden. It would not reach its own independence until 1905. Iceland would remain under the control of Denmark right up until 1944.
Throughout the 16th and 17th centuries, skirmishes and outright wars between Denmark and Sweden shaped the borders of modern day Scandinavia. In 1621 Gustavus Aldolphus, King of Sweden, began a well planned expansion into Poland and Prussia. This would later fall under the Thirty Years War. By 1648, Sweden had become an empire in the Baltic region, controlling trade and politics.
The Dutch Make Their Move
All the bickering between Denmark/Norway vs. Sweden/Finland had allowed the Dutch to expand their trading empire, ushering in the Dutch Golden Age. Initially the Dutch had helped Sweden in their expansion. However, by the second half of the 17th Century the Dutch decided that Sweden was getting a little too big for its britches and helped Denmark retain control of Copenhagen, ensuring that Sweden didn’t own both sides of the Sound, which was the only way in and out of the Baltic Sea.
Sources:
Burns, Ralph, Lerner, Meacham. World Civilizations, Sixth Edition. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1982.
Life World Library. Scandinavia. New York: Time Incorporated, 1964.
