The Road to Baltic Supremacy
The first few years were spent trying to improve relations with Denmark. This was however not easy as they liked me less every month. In 1509 I moved another step towards a more aristocratic society hoping that it would convince Denmark that I'm not completely barbaric. Small states kept popping up in France's territory, mainly in Italy.
In November 1514 came a breakthough in the Swedish-Danish relations as they joined my alliance. They wanted to make the most out of the few years they still had on this earth so they declared war on Poland and Brandenburg in rapid succession. The war against Poland went well as they attacked Danzig over a river several times and were beaten back. I settled for a lenient peace only demanding 150 gold when I had 21% warscore. Brandenburg had to agree to harsher terms and became my vassal 1518.
In January 1521 Gustav Vasa rose to power in Sweden. This was excellent news as his high diplomacy rating would allow me to annex Denmark. Only a month after he gained the throne Gustav Vasa convinced Denmark to join Sweden as a nation! Gustav Vasa always manages to thrash Denmark. Ten years later I formed an alliance with Poland, this was a important step towards supremacy of the Baltic Sea. The Livonian Order declared war on Poland in October and of course I joined my ally against this vile enemy.
The war went well and in 1533 I reached infrastructure 4, allowing me to promote my legal counsels to chief judges. I made peace with the Livonian Order for Estland. For some strange reason that angered Bremen so much that they declared war on me. A few years later Prussia also declared war on me. This was dire news for me as I was still at war with Lithuania so Estland and Livland would be extremely hard to maintain control of. 1539 I gained a shock bonus as I became more offensive in my tactics. This would be crucial to allow me to fight the enemy's high tech troops.
Bremen had once been my vassal and they were to be humbled once more. Although I lost many battles I eventually managed to take control of both Bremen and Magdenburg as my fleet's blockade allowed me to siege faster than Bremen. In the end of 1541 and the beginning of 1542 I made peace with both Prussia and Lithuania paying them some gold.
Victory!
In April 1545 Poland declared war on the Ottoman Empire, I joined although I was not going to take a part in this war. Trade level 4 was reached in December, now Sweden had potential to become one of the greatest trading nations on Earth. The Livonian Order was attacked by Poland in December 1549 and I joined but had nothing to gain as they were already a vassal of Lithuania.
Political overview of the Swedish Realm.
Political overview of western and central Europe.
Political overview of eastern Europe.