In my newly rekindled interest for history (and all thanks to EU for that 
I started doing some research on the latter years of the Kalmar Union (when this game starts), and discovered some very interesting facts.
When king Hans ascended to the throne of Denmark and Norway 1483, Sweden had already left the Kalmar Union, but there were still strong unionist elements in the country. In 1493, king Hans made an aggressive pact with Ivan III of Russia, aimed squarely at Sweden and the Hanseatic league.
Sweden managed to hold its own against Russia, but was later forcefully re-integrated into the Union in 1497, with the help of the unionist nobles. In the two decades that followed, the union was weak and fragile and ultimately did not hold together (despite the bloodbaths ordered by Kristian II).
Why do I bring this up? Well, obviously it is a false claim that Sweden was a vassal of Denmark's when EU starts, so there exists no problem in playing as Sweden in 1492 (beyond the very hostile relations with Denmark and possibly a low stability rating in southern Sweden).
I started doing some research on the latter years of the Kalmar Union (when this game starts), and discovered some very interesting facts.When king Hans ascended to the throne of Denmark and Norway 1483, Sweden had already left the Kalmar Union, but there were still strong unionist elements in the country. In 1493, king Hans made an aggressive pact with Ivan III of Russia, aimed squarely at Sweden and the Hanseatic league.
Sweden managed to hold its own against Russia, but was later forcefully re-integrated into the Union in 1497, with the help of the unionist nobles. In the two decades that followed, the union was weak and fragile and ultimately did not hold together (despite the bloodbaths ordered by Kristian II).
Why do I bring this up? Well, obviously it is a false claim that Sweden was a vassal of Denmark's when EU starts, so there exists no problem in playing as Sweden in 1492 (beyond the very hostile relations with Denmark and possibly a low stability rating in southern Sweden).