Svealand (The Kalmar Union)

The Kingdom of Svealand, Svealand, is a large constitutional monarchy on the Scandianavian peninsular. It is bordered to the North by Lade, to the West by Hordaland and Denmark and to the South by Gothenland. It also administers a section of the Australische continent, which borders Alawaland and New Oland, and it also claims various Polynesian islands.

The population of Svealand proper is around 3 million and the capital is Stockholm.

The current Head of State is King Gustav IX.

The official language is Svealandic. There some small pockets of Livonian speakers in rural areas.

The currency is the Svealandic Krona (SVK).

History
In 970 King Eric V of Svealand attempted to unite the Eastern half of the Scandianavian peninsular by conquering Gothenland. However due to the temporary solidification of the Norwegian kingdoms a huge number of mercenary soldiers were available to the Gothenlandic king and Eric V's attempts would end in failure. Eric's successors appeared to be uninterested in trying again and instead turned their attention to Viken which drifted in and out of Danish rule. Several unions with Gothenland did occur, but these were usually imposed by Denmark and often barely lasted a particular king's reign.

Succession crises defined Svealand for 200 years and its nobles fought each other over vague and obscure claims of descent from Eric. A modicum of stability was reached after 1170 under the rule of the Ericsson dynasty. Both Aland and Finland were brought into the Svealandic orbit. The minority of John II slowed the eastward expansion and a 60 year civil war between the three surviving branches of the House of Eric led to Finland ceding away and eventually Svealand losing its independence.

Conquered by Olaf the Great, King of Viken and soon to be Holy Roman Emperor, in 1333, Svealand was brought into the wider arena of European politics. To stop the infighting at home Olaf used the latent military might of Svealand to further his ambitions in Germany. Under the House of Rugia Svealand enjoyed great freedom, could bring pressure to bear on Novgorod and saw its wealth increase dramatically. Personal union with Viken led eventually to union with Denmark once the Estridssons inherited the combined holdings of the House of Rugia. Creating the first Kalmar Union in 1431 Denmark effectively sidelined the nobles of its junior partners and monopolised the trade of Scandinavia. Svealand soon bristled at its reduced role and became the Union's black sheep.

It regularly rebelled against Danish rule, however a severe split between the noble families usually ensured the rebellions' defeat. Even in 1523, when Denmark was laid low by its near bankruptcy during the War of Anglian Succession and beset by revolts in Lade and Viken, Svealand managed to fall into civil war rather than fight the sparse Danish troops holding the kingdom. It was only after the Leijonhufvud family either out-married or simply dispensed with its rivals in the 1520-1550s that a clear figurehead appeared around which Svealandic independence could solidify. In 1551, with most of Kalmar's army in Germany supporting various shaky Schmalkaldic League regimes, Svealand rose in rebellion, this time with Gothenland's assistance. Within three years Svealand had pushed all Kalmar forces out of its borders and liberated Finland. The new king John IV Leijonhufvud recognised Svealand could not hold off Denmark indefinitely. Hoping to gain allies within Germany it joined a reconciled Denmark in the 2nd Schmalkaldic War. It balked at following its neighbours into the Schmalkaldic Empire however and merely allied with it and campaigned almost independently during the Fifty Years War, operating successfully out of Regensburg.

In the peace treaty following the war Svealand received the Imperial County of Güstrow, however it felt generally aggrieved by the lack of reward for what it saw as its considerable efforts and Svealand withdrew from the Kalmar Union totally. Instead it looked Eastwards at Tver and Novgorod. It had already spend much of the Fifty Years War pursuing a separate war against Tver and had in essence annexed Livonia. Through Finland it slowly encroached on Novgorod territory extending its rule over Karelia and Ingria.

The Great Baltic War
In 1761 Novgorod declared a general war against Svealand, citing an incident on the Ingrian border, and taking advantage of Svealand's new Queen Louise, only 14 and in her minority. The Great Baltic War had begun. Sweeping through Ingria Novgorod began besieging Vyborg and other fortresses on the Finnish/Kalerian borders. As the war dragged on with further setbacks Queen Louise was usurped by her more authoritarian uncle King Olaf IV who immediately appeared to stabilise the situation. Emergency powers were rushed through the Riksdag to allow to him mould the complacent army into a fighting machine. Meanwhile he ordered the complete domination of the Baltic Sea, occupying Saaremaa when they refused to hand over their navy. Pushing the Novgorodians back at the battle of Neva (April 1763) it gave the reforms time to bite and by 1765 Svealand's armies were marching through Novgorod with impunity, however, the Novgorodian government had fled to Poland-Lithuania and refused to make peace. Afraid that Svealand would now join the 1st Hungarian War against it Poland petitioned the Holy Roman Empire and the Kalmar Union for assistance. Emperor Frederick VII duly agreed, confiscating Gustrow and threatening Livonia. Meanwhile the Kalmar Union, barely functioning as an alliance any more was struggling to find support.

The arrival of Imperial troops in Livonia resulted in a fight back from Novgorod and the Svealandic armies were pushed into Estonia. The victories at the Battles of Kirishi and Hrodna once again gave Svealand some breathing space and, recognising Denmark was about to declare war, they declared war first and invaded Viken whilst raiding Estonia's treasury. The Svealandic fleet crushed its Kalmar equivalent in 1768 allowing it full reign of the Baltic.

At this point ambition got the best of Olaf IV. He allied with Hungary and ordered the invasion of Poland citing a distant ancestor to claim the Polish-Lithuanian throne. A second Imperial army blocked his path to Krakow whilst an Anglian-Manx army landed at Oslo and was soon deep within Dalarna. Olaf IV was killed at the Siege of Minsk by a Polish musketeer. The Svealandic position collapsed in the North and Novgorod soon overran the remaining defenses of Estonia and Livonia and returned to besieging Vyborg to gain access to Finland. Queen Louise was returned to power in early 1771 as Danish armies stormed, and accidentally burnt a portion of Stockholm. With Svealand restrained Denmark hoped that peace could be brokered with Novgorod and Poland, however they continued to attempt to force their way into Finland. Denmark and Anglia, as the two 'senior' Kalmar partners felt Novgorod had overstepped its mark and declared war.

This second phase was mainly fought in Estonia as Kalmar reconquered Estonia and Livonia. Again, Kalmar found it had to ally with Hungary to stop Poland supporting the Novgorodians and eventually Novgorod, with their positions improved but threatened, agreed peace.

The Treaty of Lubeck (1774) stripped Ingria from Svealand and handed it to Novgorod as an autonomous duchy. Svealand retained Livonia however. Svealand's government was reformed, severely reducing the power of the monarch. Gustrow was returned to Svealand in 1779. During the war many Svealanders and Finns had left their Ingrian farms and had emigrated to Leifia.

Post-War Svealand
Svealand would be one of the signatories of the 4th Kalmar Union, essentially giving up its right to pursue independent wars to the East, but this did not ease the tension that existed between it and Denmark and issues over the division of Australische threatened war and a break-up of the Union again. With Ingria lost to Novgorod it began to improve the defenses at Vyborg, however it taxed Finland heavily to pay for it and dissent began to spread. In 1801 Novgorod declared war once more. Taken off guard, and incompetently led by the future Gustav VI, the supposedly impenetrable fortress of Vyborg was lost after 3 days of siege. Finland rose in revolt and expelled the Svealandic government there. Svealand would attempt to retake Finland in 1803 but otherwise it had to under pressure from Kalmar. Henceforth Finland would largely take over Svealand's ambitions for the East.

To avoid a similar situation further south Svealand gave Livonia large amounts of autonomy. This however only allowed Tver to increase its influence and after the Treaty of Kuressaare Livonia would be carved up into Svealandic and Tverian spheres of influence. An unsatisfactory situation for the country that is only now being resolved.

Since the Livonian War Svealand has followed Kalmar policy much more closely, namely in improving relations with Novgorod to contain Tver and Vladimir, as well as finalising the borders with Lade which had been a source of minor dispute since Svealand's independence.

Svelandic Australische
The territory of Svealandic Australische is formed of the North-Eastern corner of Australische and various small islands of its coast. The population is around 1.8 million and is mostly concentrated around the capital Rebekkastadt in the South-East corner.

The discovery and charting of Australische led to a scramble for the virtually uninhabited continent in the 1860s. The Svealandic fort of Rebekkastadt fell into the territorial claim that Gothenland had made and an armed standoff began. Eventually, to make up for the still painful loss of Finland, Kalmar acquiesced to Svealand's territorial claims on the new continent. However, their standoff allowed both Aragon and the Byzantine Empire to stake claims on Australische too. It was to be at Svealand's insistence that the independent Alawaland was to be setup as a barrier state.

The territory is extremely rich in natural beauty, especially the Stor Barriärrev, and the rainforests in the north. Almost 40% of the entire territory is split into various national parks and residents of the territory pay a 'natural' tax to help preserve the environment.

Svealandic Polynesia
Svealand occupied several island chains in the middle Roasjoinn after Denmark began to do the same in the 1870s. This is chiefly a measure directed at both Mexica and Japan to contain their spread across the Roasjoinn.

The small population is chiefly employed in subsistance farming or fishing and servicing trading vessels whilst almost 40% of its male population is employed directly in the Kalmar navy, with several reaching high command positions, such as Iakoba Telavi, Captain of the HMS Sjölejon.

Svealand also previously claimed Samoa but this brought it into conflict with Tawantinsuyu which had fostered good relations with the Samoans for several decades. An agreement confirmed Samoa's independence and neutrality but continued friendship with Svealand.

Government
Svealand is a constitutional monarchy. King Gustav IX is the current head of state but has little real power. The majority of power lies with the lower house of the Riksdag and has done ever since the new constitution following the Great Baltic war. Elections are held every four years. Votes for women have been rejected three times now but the measure looks set to pass at the next vote as the requisite constitutional issues have been resolved. The Prime Minister is Christopher Alfvengren.