Ur svenska hjärtans djup en gång: An History of Sweden

[WGPower]

Thanks for another good read While it pains me to see Denmark beaten down like that, your writing makes up for it.

You're welcome I am glad you're enjoying it! I'm sorry but life doesn't improve much for the Danes... 20% trade income and a strategic bottleneck is too much a temptation!

 

[Icendoan]

Excellent AAR!

I was wondering if you could package up your edits into a mod, because it looks exciting.

 

[Rifal]

"Westwards she faced the mighty Republic of Novgorod"

Novgorod is East of you as far as I know
Great job crippling the Danes, securing the sound for yourself will help your economy greatly.

 

[WGPower]

Excellent AAR!

I was wondering if you could package up your edits into a mod, because it looks exciting.

It already is a mod my friend. CanOmer's Balance of Power. I'll post a link tomorrow. My changes are purely superficial, aside from adding ATAGE submod. Thank you for reading and commenting I hope you continue to enjoy it! The next update concerns wider Europe and internal.development, while part three of Chapter two is the big dance with the Teutons.

"Westwards she faced the mighty Republic of Novgorod"

Novgorod is East of you as far as I know
Great job crippling the Danes, securing the sound for yourself will help your economy greatly.

Not only do you write superior Swedish aars to me, you impugn my geography! I'm in Australia and thus everything is upside down and reversed (its true I swear!) I'll edit the proper location of Russia in proximity to Sweden in the morning. I can't believe I missed that in my edit.

Yes, I have been fortunate with Gustav's DIP stat making annexation of the Danes possible without breaking the house rules. Sweet sweet 20% extra trade income mmm.

 

[mttwrldpz]

I really like it so far and I will continue to read it but I have to say, as a swede reading the name Natt och Dag really pains me

 

[WGPower]

I really like it so far and I will continue to read it but I have to say, as a swede reading the name Natt och Dag really pains me

Welcome to the forums, your first post in my aar! I wondered about that, is Natt ov Dag the correct spelling or some other? I have no wish to murder the Swedish language.

 

[Jakethecap]

Welcome to the forums, your first post in my aar! I wondered about that, is Natt ov Dag the correct spelling or some other? I have no wish to murder the Swedish language.

Natt och Dag is correct it just sounds Ridiculous.

 

[Icendoan]

It already is a mod my friend. CanOmer's Balance of Power. I'll post a link tomorrow. My changes are purely superficial, aside from adding ATAGE submod.

I know about CanOmer's Balance of Power. How do you merge ATAGE with it?

 

[Merrick Chance']

This is great! Also what map thing are you using I'm sick of clipping the savegame editor.

Also, so you're going straight for Scandinavia?

 

[WGPower]

Natt och Dag is correct it just sounds Ridiculous.

Haha! Well at least I've not made a mistake. Perhaps Vasa would've been better after all! But I like it.. so bad luck!

I know about CanOmer's Balance of Power. How do you merge ATAGE with it?

Oh, well I just copy pasted ATAGE files into the balance of power folder. Easy

This is great! Also what map thing are you using I'm sick of clipping the savegame editor.

Also, so you're going straight for Scandinavia?

Thank you. Again certainly not up to your standard. I'm taking print screens and using paint. With the expanded dominion pic I used a map CanOmer provided and replaced various provinces with their respective colours by using the eye dropper and fill tools. Nothing exciting although Chris Taylor very kindly helped me with some Photoshop advice and I'm going to try and poorly imitate his efforts in the next update.

In regards to Scandinavia, I will not be tag changing. I am to control the Sound but Norway's provinces are simply too poor and sparsely populated. I'd rather vassalise and then at least have the utility of their navy, useful CBs against England when it goes for Orkney and a secure WESTERN flank (cheers Rifal ). I'm roughly following the missions at this stage but Estonia is of primary interest to deny the Russians a window for the west. I will post a gameplay strategy update at some point, because I've also made mistakes which made murdering the AI just a bit longer and less enjoyable.

edit: It appears I'll have to split the rest of Europe update between Sweden internally and the hundred years war/reconquista. Spoiler but as an outcome of the HYW, something amazing happens which I've never seen in all my years of EU3.

 

[Merrick Chance']

I didn't know that Chris Taylor was still around.

But a warning about other country entries--they can become really difficult to write later on. Even when soething really cool happens it becomes nearly impossible to describe it. However I really look forward to seeing what's going on in your HYW

 

[WGPower]

Chapter Two Part Two: Love and War

Robert Le Poer came to Ireland in 1176, as a ‘new official’ of King Henry II of England. The King was wary of Richard de Clare, known as Arc-Fort (Strongbow), 2nd Earl of Pembroke, establishing a rival Norman state across the Irish Sea, after his invasion at the bequest of Diarmait Mac Murchada (Dermot Macmurrough) to regain his lost Kingdom (Leinster) [1]. Sent to reign in the conquests of Raymond Le Gros (Fitzgerald) who had already conquered Limerick and North Munster, Robert was soon named Lord Justice of Ireland and Governor of Waterford and Wexford, effectively controlling the greater part of County Waterford.

Dying in battle against the Ui Tuathail (O’Tooles) of Ui Muirdag in 1178, Robert’s heir, Roger Le Poer, in 1177 with John De Courcy conquered Ulidia. Described by Gerald of Wales (Giraldus Cambrensis) as there being “not one man who did more valiant acts than Roger Le Poer, who, although he was a young man and beardless, yet showed himself a lusty, valiant, and courageous gentleman”. He is similarly described as “the youngest, bravest, and handsomest of all the Anglo-Norman knights”.

Gaelic Ireland, Roger Le Poer and the Le Poer arms​

With the other Norman families of Prendergast, Fitzstephen, Fitzgerald and Fitzhenry, the Le Poer’s actively carved out a petty kingdom. By the time of Roger’s great grandson Arnold, in the 1300s Norman influence in Ireland was in great decline.

The Irish Bruce Wars of 1315-18 ravaged the island, Edward Bruce of Scotland sekking to open a second front against the English. Arnold Le Poer was a famous commander of Edward I, slaying Sir John Bonneville in single combat. At the same time (1315-18) a European wide famine also severely affected Ireland. The Burke civil war of 1333 lost all of Ireland west of the Shannon to the Dublin administration. The bubonic plague devastated the Norman towns when it arrived in 1348, while the native Irish, living in small agricultural settlements were less affected. As the Hundred Years War began and the English Crown turned its attention to its traditional continental holdings, the Lordship of Ireland could not withstand the autonomous Hiberno-Norman Lords, who soon began to intermarry with the old Gaelic nobility of Ireland. [2]

Le Poer was gaelicised sometime between 1350 and 1375 as the next mention is of Nicholas de Paor who sat in Parliament in 1375 as Lord of Wexford. His son Eustace was of a similar age to King Gustav born circa 1395, and was a faithful Knight to the King of Leinster, Art Macmurrough Kavanagh, and came to be known as “Samhildànach”, that is, skilled in many arts.

Art Macmurrough Kavanagh was regarded as the most formidable of the Kings of Leinster. From 1394-5 King Richard II campaigned against him, with Art swearing fealty, and then renouncing it upon Richard’s departure. Owing to his fearsome hit and run tactics honed through Irish endemic warfare, Leinster became a veritable death trap for any hostile force, and Art was dealt with cautiously by the English Crown being granted amnesty in 1409. [3]

As his forebears, Eustace was renowned for his martial prowess, but fell in love with princess Aoife (Eva) his liege’s daughter, and after personally stopping an assassination attempt upon the King, Art’s blessed the betrothal. Art’s natural sons had all predeceased him and holding Eustace in high regard, Art named him his heir. When Art died Eustace de Paor became King of Leinster.

Aoife and Eustace as Tristan and Iseult​

Meeting a Swedish noble named Gustav at the University of Paris, the similar interests of both men and their inclination towards martial pursuits ensured the two quickly became lifelong friends, the strategy and tactics of Irish cattle raids intriguing the impressionable Gustav. The two cut an odd pair at sword play or at the frequent social events they attended as young Nobles. Both fluent in French, they endeavoured to learn the others native language without success, much to the consternation of the other. Whereas Gustav was physically a typical Scandinavian, and well known for his amorous nature, Eustace was by nature taciturn and unusually tall for the time, standing at some six foot two, with dark brown hair and hazel eyes.

In 1446, Gustav married Eustace’s daughter Joan, a beautiful brunette with striking blue eyes. Joan soon became known for her delightful laugh, disarming smile and a kind nature that seemed to dance in her eyes. Interestingly, she brought with her a contingent of men called gallóglaigh, who wielded immense massive sparth axes and Claymore swords (claidheamh mór). These men soon became Gustav’s personal guard, their intractability and irresistible charge stiffening the ranks of the Swedish army, fearlessly wading into the fray when needed most. The attitude and Norse ancestry of these Irishmen soon meant the Swedish army improved.

The Emergence of Raiding in Swedish Tactics
​

Gustav’s marriage to Joan was one of political expediency, as from 1400 the King of England had been reasserting control over the errant Irish Lords. Both Connaught and Munster had been annexed, and Tyrone was a client state. Eustace feared only his own reputation and his father in laws legacy protected Leinster from the English, and thus spirited Joan away to protect her, and to also seek formal alliance with Sweden. Knowing that such an asymmetric alliance would never last, the Kings exchanged solemn oaths of mutual defence (Sweden guarantees Leinster) against any enemy.

Leinster, last of the Irish Kingdoms​

While a matter of realpolitik for Eustace, his old friend found Gustav truly loved his wife, forgetting his youthful recklessness, having a daughter, Christina in 1448. For the Realm, the succession seemed secure, and Sweden remained ascendant.

Many saw a streaking comet in the night sky in 1452 as a bad omen, and worrying Gustav fell gravely ill, the sudden onset and lack of symptoms suggesting poisoning. Certainly, with his Irish bodyguards shadowing him whenever in public, it was the only method by which disgruntled nobles could attempt assassination. Gustav was unable to fully rule for some time, devolving power towards local town mayors and wealthy burghers, skilled in administration. As a particularly pretentious noble named Mikael Haraldsson led demands for compensation given Sweden’s newfound wealth, and Gustav had refused, the rumour of attempt was likely.

On fourth June 1453, Haraldsson led a mob to publicly protest at Gustav’s centralising reforms and supposed favour to the burghers. Gustav confined to bed, Joan a constant companion to her ailing husband, his gallóglaigh attempted to disperse Haraldsson’s supporters.

Impetuously drawing his sword, Haraldsson threatened a gallóglaigh. The one eyed man had been fighting since before he was born, and was not slightly intimidated by the pretentious noblemen in his blue finery. Stepping toward One Eye, his sword rose, demanding and threatening. In no mood for such foolhardiness, One Eye snarled, clamped his hand around Haraldsson’s sword arm simultaneously drawing his own claymore. Forcing the arrogant noble to his knees as the sword clattered to ground, One Eye stepped back savagely cleaving head from neck. As blood slicked the steps, and Haraldsson’s blue finery stained crimson, One Eye spat at the corpse and stepped back in line with his comrades. The mob stood in muted horror as the gallóglaigh dared any more foolishness, their silence and lack of reaction to death terrifying. As leaves scatter in the wind, the square was soon empty.

Haraldsson did not know One Eye’s native cognomen was “Lonnbeimnech” translated to fierce striker or sword shouter [4]. Nor could he know his tongue was cut out by his lord, a man delighted by inflicting pain. He could not know One Eye avenged himself on the Lord with his bare hands at the age of thirteen. Fleeing to a rival Lord, the scars that covered his body like lattice, mastery of combat and unshakeable loyalty to those he saw as friends meant by the age of twenty he was a feared and respected veteran.

An omen, and the Silent One-Eye with his Claymore​

Fortunately by the end of the year Gustav had recovered. The Lancaster’s attention was firmly turned away from Ireland to France as they fought for ancient claims in Flanders, Normandy and Gascony. Not for the first time, the Pope was a weapon against other Catholic monarchs, the King of Aragon excommunicated, spiritual isolation becoming temporal.

French victory in the Hundred Years War

The King of Aragon is politically excommunicated, and "Pious" Catholic monarchs inflict righteous vengeance upon him.​

The Valois similarly consolidated their power, annexing the lands of cadet branches as they died out, expanding particularly viciously against the upstart Bourgogne dynasty of Burgundy. Burgundy was so wholly crushed by France that the Duke of Lorraine annexed vast amounts of the remaining Burgundian patrimony.

France, Apex Predator

A dream of Lotharingia?

The Habsburg Holy Roman Emperor resorting to more diplomatic methods to expand his realm. ​

Further north, the cities of Lubeck and Hamburg annexed Holstein, securing the trade route across the Jutland peninsula, and closing off a border to the Holy Roman Empire to Sweden. Such closure needed circumvention.

A growing friend, easily turned rival​

The Castilian Trastàmara’s conquered Granada in 1447. However in doing so, the Iberians disturbed the Viper’s nest, as Mehmed II, Turkish Sultan proclaimed his Holy Defence of Granada, invading Iberia even after Granada fell. For Iberia, the Reconquista has no end in sight.

The Reconquista continues...​

This new threat to Christendom rose in the east, as the invincible Turks capture the City of the World’s Desire, Constantinople in 1448. They continue driving through the Balkans towards Austria and Hungary.

City of the Worlds Desire​

This was of especially keen interest to Gustav as Byzantine refugees fled to Stockholm, helping form a company with his Royal Charter specifically to compete in the enormously profitable spice trade. Known as the Company of Swedish Merchant Adventurers to New Lands (officially: The Mystery, Company, and Fellowship of Merchant Adventurers for the Discovery of Regions, Dominions, Islands and Places Unknown), the company is hugely successful, increasing overseas income greatly. The Byzantine influence is felt through all strata of society.

The first Swedish Chartered Company​

The Sultan of Turkey, Mehmed II had recently added Sultan of Swahili to his long list of titles. Rumoured to be near the fabled Kingdom of Prester John, the actual location of Swahili is of keen gossip and rumour throughout Europe. Could this land be where the Turks garner their spices?

Nota Auctoris:

[1]: Can be played in CK2 as a member of the Ui Chenneslaig dynasty. The Norman Conquest of Ireland is worthy of an AAR itself, as the Papal Bull of Laudabiliter and the circumstances surrounding Macmurroughs deposition are highly intriguing.
[2] Up until the death of Art MacMurrough-Kavanagh in 1417, everything is factually accurate. Aside from Eustace de Paor as Nicholas’ son is apparently unknown.
[3] I didn’t mean to delve into my own family history so much, but I had researched quite a lot for an AAR I planned to write, but decided on Sweden instead as I was annexed by England six times and I gave up before 1410. I didn’t want this research to go to waste.
[4] Both are epithets of the Irish god Lugh, similar to Odin. One Eye and Silent also happen to be characters in a series I am reading. Any guesses?

 

[Merrick Chance']

That knight dude shows up in a lot of AArs

Also that is a pretty cool-ly powerful Lorraine

Also wait wat, the Turks are building a new sultanate in Andalusia?

 

[WGPower]

That knight dude shows up in a lot of AArs

Also that is a pretty cool-ly powerful Lorraine

Also wait wat, the Turks are building a new sultanate in Andalusia?

Yeah I've seen him in four or five! When I saw the peace treaty and the state of Burgundy I almost spat out my coffee. So often it is "Lorraine accepts vassalisation" so a bit of irony was highly enjoyable!

Yeah all the 'majors' are doing well this game, except for Castille. Wouldn't mind a crusade into Turkey but it sets up the age of discovery pretty well. Now to tempt Vasco De Gama to Sweden as no one has picked qftnw yet so an interesting strategic choice...

 

[CanOmer]

Nice AAR, thanks.

 

[WGPower]

Nice AAR, thanks.

Thank you for making it possible !

 

[WGPower]

Chapter Two Part Three: Flight of the Teutons

Following the defeat of the Danes, King Gustav hurried to counter the Teutons in Finland. 5,000 men were left in Fyn as a constabulary force, a kinsman of one Mikael Haraldsson given honour of command. Arriving in Nyland in December 1453, Gustav wintered for three months with the army in Borgå. The Kings prompt payment and shipment of supplies through the Gulf of Finland resulting in almost no trouble for the small town.

King Gustav maneuvers to Borgå
​

As Pskov fell, many Boyars loyal to the Knyaz fled, continuing the war in the deposed Prince’s name. Many had found their way into King Gustav’s army, fighting as cavalry, involved in the two major battles of the campaign.

Loyal Boyars of Knyaz Ivan of Pskov​

In early march before Lake Saimaa had thawed, Gustav manoeuvred his army around the town of Vyborg, to approach the Teutons from the south east. In doing so he looked to force the Teutons into a pitched battle from which there could be no retreat towards friendly territory. Gustav was confident enough by now in the ability of his Finnish light cavalry to force the Teutons away from any settlement to the desolate Finnish wilds where they would perish of cold, hunger and Swedish steel.

Light Cavalry are a continual terror for the Teutonic Knights​

For days the Finns skirmished with more savagery and higher intensity, some of the Irish gallóglaigh joining on their own small horses. These Irishmen were called hobelars, and were used in similar fashion to their Finnish counterparts, excelling in scouting, reconnaissance, patrols and raiding.

Although the heavily clad Knight was superior on the field of battle, for the harassing nature of warfare in Finland, they were ideally suited. Cohesion between the two was coordinated by Swedish officers, noblemen who spoke French, the lingua franca of the Swedish army. Frequently though, the Irish and Finns were independent, mutually supportive in objective but executing alone.

Stealing into the enemy camp, the Finns slew and mutilated their victims, striking with impunity, their savagery inspiring horror. The apparent invulnerability and gaunt ghostly appearances of these men soon gave rise to rumoured terrible witchcraft. Of course, as a devout Christian, King Gustav is not so sure...

Finnish Cavalrymen officially become a part of the Swedish Army​

Deliberately setting his camp in view of the Teutons, King Gustav revealed that retreat to friendly territory required bloody battle against a well-positioned army. Perhaps panicking, or perhaps wishing to retreat through Savolax and into the Russian side of Greater Finland, Johan decamped towards Lake Saimaa, as Gustav predicted. The Finns followed, harassing, demoralising and confusing the Teutons.

Finding a strong defensive position at a narrow point on Lake Saimaa, Gustav formed his army behind broken ground and fronted by icy ridges. Johan was trapped, and prepared to slip out of the closing noose. From an original 15,000 Teutons, already 3,000 were lost, captured or dead, the remainder with their backs to frozen Saimaa formed in a wedge.

The Teutons caught at Lake Saimaa​

Gustav employed his cavalry on the wings, with the bowmen anchoring the centre, waiting. In reserve behind the centre were the gallóglaigh and Boyars of Pskov, awaiting a chance to exploit any break in the line. After hours of hand to hand cavalry fighting, the Swedes attempting to circle, the Teutons had been slowly pushed back onto the frozen lake. Gustav ordered the archers to join battle. The Teutons, exhausted due to fighting on the ice retreated under the hail of deadly arrows, further onto Saimaa.

The impetuous Boyars swarmed forwards; the Russian cavalry causing the Teutons to flee for their lives. Attempting to rally on the lake’s far side, the ice beneath them gave way under their weight and many drowned. Fearing for his own to suffer the same fate, Gustav broke pursuit, the Teutons fleeing west.

A watery grave for fleeing Teutonic Knights​

It was not until the Teutons crossed the River Torne that Gustav could bring them to pitched battle again. Fearing some other ruse or witchcraft, Johan had withdrawn repeatedly through Finland, skirmishing as little as possible, terrified of the Finnish cavalry.

A Dane in the Swedish Army slays a foe​

Johan drew up on the west bank, confident he could repel any crossing of the Swedes. The river was deep and fast enough to doom any frontal assault, leading Gustav to manoeuvre for an alternate fording. The light cavalry moved up and down the river, shadowed by Teutons on the other bank. After several nights of move and counter move, Gustav chose a crossing. Leaving his general Johan Kristiernsson Vasa behind with most of the army, he crossed upstream with a strong contingent, many of them Finns and gallóglaigh. Before he left, Vasa was instructed to ford the river and attack if Johan faced Gustav with his whole army, but to hold if not.

Stealthily traversing the river with great secrecy, Gustav arrived on the far shore. Seizing the initiative, Vasa engaged in frequent feints convincing Johan that the entire Swedish army would cross the river in a direct attack. The Teutons were lulled into belief of no attempt coming from the darkness, resting finally without fear of merciless Finns stalking the night. Warned by pickets of Gustav’s move, Johan sent a mixed force to prevent what he thought was a diversionary attack. Already having landed, the Swedes annihilated the small Teuton detachment. With none returning to camp after some hours, Johan realised Gustav had crossed, and rapidly attempted to face him with the bulk of his army, leaving a small force to disrupt any attempt by Vasa to ford the river.

Advancing south and downstream, King Gustav had the muddy bank of the Torne to his left, his infantry, mainly archers and gallóglaigh in the centre and light cavalry on the right flank. Using such a disposition he intended to trap the Teutons against the river, with Vasa catching them in the rear, or splitting them piecemeal. Johan, reaching the Swedes, had arranged cavalry on both flanks with his remaining infantry in the centre.

Ordering his archers to target the stronger Teutonic left flank, Gustav lead a charge at the showered and exposed Teutonic left. Upon hearing the melee, Vasa’s contingent attacked the rear, the Teuton’s trying to form square, the complicated movements necessitated by this sowing confusion in the early light. Swedish cavalry swarmed through the broken Teutonic flank as the archers fired volley after volley into the scattered centre and right flank pressed against the river. The gallóglaigh advanced in unison against the confused enemy, the Teutonic morale breaking fully against the onslaught. A rarely smiling One Eye threw a dishevelled Teuton at King Gustav’s feet, the smell of urine permeating the air. The Teutons were destroyed, and Johan captured.

One-Eye unseats Johan I at the River Torne​

With the Teutonic army destroyed and the Hochmeister captured, Teutonic allies sued for peace. As elector in the Holy Roman Empire, and the Emperor himself, King Gustav was highly amenable to status quo ante bellum. The entire Teutonic lands lay open for Swedish invasion, beginning with Danzig.

In the delta of the Vistula River, Danzig was a prosperous town, with waterway reaching 60 percent of Poland and the growing city of Warsaw. Hawks within the Riksrådet demanded annexation of the city and surrounding area, but as it was claimed by the mighty Union of Poland-Lithuania, Gustav was wary of any lasting occupation. Instead, he detached his army into three contingents of 5,000, determined to raid towards Ostpreussen and the seat of the Order, Konigsberg. As Gotland was occupied, and the Hungarians had no means of intervention, Gustav sought to end the war quickly with siege and blockade of the Order’s lands, the Novgorod Republic occupying much of the north.

The Swedish Army lands near Danzig​

Within weeks, Gotland is fully Swedish, Prince Ivan is restored to Pskov, and Hochmeister Johan is ignominiously ransomed for 4.9 million örtugs. The King of Hungary reluctantly accepts the dictation of Swedish terms.

A suitable peace

Sweden circa 1456
King Gustav I Natt och Dag (ADM:7 DIP:9 MIL:9)

Treasury: 27.5 million örtugs (275 ducats)
GDP: estimated 91.6 million örtugs (916.60 ducats)
Domestic COTs: Stockholm 25.8 million örtugs (258.97 Ducats)

Army: 8,000 Cavalry (Latin Knights) 12,000 Infantry (Longbowmen)
Reserves: 7,037
Navy: 19 Carracks, 5 Cogs
Discipline: 109.0%
Tradition: Army: 13.2% Navy:0.50%

Prestige: Third (91)
Reputation: Slightly Tarnished (5.0)
Legitimacy: 48
​

Can anyone name the two battles I have used as inspiration? A hint is Alexander

 

[Herbert West]

I have no idea

[video=youtube;pXr0m7SaGvs]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXr0m7SaGvs[/video]

 

[Rifal]

"The light cavalry moved up and down the river, shadowed by Teutons on the other bank"

Battle of the Hydaspes (Spelling?) River

With the Teutonic Order humiliated are there any powers left to challange Sweden in the Baltic?
Will Denmark come knocking with hopes of reclaiming the Swedish crown?
What will Norway do now that they are free?

 

[WGPower]

I have no idea

[video=youtube;pXr0m7SaGvs]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXr0m7SaGvs[/video]

Certainly the first!

"The light cavalry moved up and down the river, shadowed by Teutons on the other bank"

Battle of the Hydaspes (Spelling?) River

With the Teutonic Order humiliated are there any powers left to challange Sweden in the Baltic?
Will Denmark come knocking with hopes of reclaiming the Swedish crown?
What will Norway do now that they are free?

Certainly the second!

I didn't touch Danzig for fear of antagonising the PLC, who are absolutely monstrous... and ironically annex Brandenburg in a few years, and I was concerned about Novgorod who turned out to be less fearsome than expected. It is now that Sweden ranks as one the Great Powers (albeit the smallest IMO) that any tango with the PLC, France, Turkey, England or Austria would not be the curb stomping of the Baltic powers.

The Danes are troublesome but not a major player anymore, and Norway expand in an unexpected direction.