Quote:
Originally Posted by White Rabbit
That wasn't by Danish military conquest. It was a unity of crowns. It didn't last long and after that, Denmark was never a player.
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Denmark was a regional great power throughout the Middle ages. they had their ups and downs, not every Danish king was as successful as Canute the Great who ruled Denmark (including the southern parts of present day Sweden), Norway, and England.
The Kalmar Union was a unification of crowns, but under the lead of the Danes. Through it, they held Sweden for more than a hundred years, and Norway until 1814. Sweden became independent in 1521, but was beaten by Denmark in many wars later in that century.
The United Kingdom considered the Danish fleet so important in the beginning of the Napoleonic wars, that they bombarded Copenhagen to make the Danes give it up. Instead, they turned Denmark into an ally of France.