A STATE THAT FAILED?

Abstract

This paper gives an overview of the history and historiography of the union between Denmark, Norway, and Sweden in the late middle ages, the Union of Kalmar, trying to overcome the national bias of previous research. When seen in a state formation perspective, the union must be regarded as a serious candidate for statehood. Focusing on its last decades, it is shown that it was an important mental structure in Scandinavian political culture much longer than has hitherto been assumed.Its dissolution was not inevitable and it left a considerable legacy to coming state formation in Northern Europe.