Finland The Kalmar Union
Olavinlinna, the castle built at Savonlinna to defend Finland's
eastern frontier against the Russians
Courtesy Embassy of Finland, Washington
Only once has Scandinavia been united politically, from
1397
to 1523 under the Danish crown. The Kalmar Union came into
existence essentially to allow the three Scandinavian
states of
Denmark, Sweden, and Norway to present a united front
against
foreign--primarily German--encroachments. The driving
force
behind the union was Queen Margaret I of Denmark, who had
gained
the Norwegian crown by marriage and the Swedish crown by
joining
with the Swedish nobility against an unpopular German
king.
Under the Kalmar Union, monarchs sought to expand royal
power, an attempt that brought them into conflict with the
nobles. The union eventually came apart as a result of
antagonisms between the Danish monarchy and the Swedish
nobility,
which controlled both Sweden and Finland. Frequent warfare
marked
Danish-Swedish relations during these years, and there was
also
fighting between factions competing for the Swedish crown.
As a
result of the turmoil, Finland suffered from heavy
taxation, the
disruption of commerce, and the effects of warfare carried
out on
its soil.
The struggle between Denmark and Sweden diverted
essential
resources from Finland's eastern defenses and left them
open to
attack by the Muscovites. The late fifteenth century had
witnessed the steady expansion of the power of the Grand
Duchy of
Muscovy, which was eventually to become the basis for the
Russian
Empire. In 1478 Grand Duke Ivan III subdued Novgorod and
thus
brought Muscovite power directly to the border of Finland.
In
1493 Denmark and Muscovy concluded a treaty of alliance
aimed at
embroiling Sweden in a two-front war, and in 1495
Muscovite
forces invaded Finland. Although the fortress city of
Viipuri
held out, the Muscovites avoided the city, and, almost
unchecked,
devastated large areas of Finland's borderlands and
interior. The
Swedes made peace with Muscovy in 1497, and the borders of
1323
were reaffirmed, but the Swedish-Finnish nobility had to
defend
Finland without much direct assistance from Sweden.
A revolt, against the Kalmar Union, under the
leadership of a
Swedish noble named Gustav Vasa resulted in 1523 in the
creation
of a Swedish state separate from Denmark. Vasa became king
of
Sweden, as Gustav I Vasa, and he founded a dynasty that
ruled
Sweden-Finland for more than a century. He was generally
credited
with establishing the modern Swedish state. Under his
rule,
Finland remained integrated with the Swedish state, and
the
Swedish-Finnish nobility retained its primacy over local
affairs.
Data as of December 1988
|