The Forgotten Nordic Empire: Rise of The Swedish Empire

Through-out history, the world has seen the rise and fall of hundreds upon hundreds of

empires, and in that history as well, nations that today are rather small and minor on a

global scale, may very well have been a great power in its history.

One such example is that of the Swedish Empire, an empire that lasted little more then a century,

reaching its epix in the middle of its existence, so, How did this small state, become one of

the strongest empires in Europe?

For that, we need some history.

Alright, before that.

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We'll start by looking at the Kalmar Union.

The Kalmar Union was a union between the crowns of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway from its establishment

in 1397 until disolvement in 1521.

This was supposed to be a personal, rather then a political union, but Norway and Sweden

were largely left to the whim of the Danish politically, as they were the strongest partner

of the union.

This was further compounded when the Norwegian nobility was largely wiped out by the black

death, and the power in the union was largely between Denmark and Sweden.

The Danish monarch often wanted to consolidate the nation making it more unified internally.

However, the nobility of each state wanted the opposite, so an internal struggle between

the wills of the nobility and the monarch undermined stability in the union.

This, combined with costly wars against trading partners in North Germany, which had the union

on the losing side, constant tax raises, diverging interests, and a shift towards Danish dominance,

set in motion a series of revolts by the Swedes which ended with full independence in 1523.

Soon after its independence, Sweden was able to gradually consolidate and centralize unlike

its neighbors.

Now, how were they able to do this?

Two reasons: First, Sweden had never been a feudal state.

At the turn of the 16th century, the free-holding Swedish peasants amounted to 62% of the population

and owned around 52% of the arable land.

The nobility held only 22% of this land, while the rest was largely split between Merchants,

clergy, and other classes.

Swedish peasants, compared to continental serfs were relativity well-off, as well as

motivated, and able to fight for their rights and violently resisted any attempt to enserf

them or encroach on their rights � this also included representation in the riskdag,