Sweden repeatedly came close to a sustainable critical mass. It needed enough population not merely to exist but to cooperate and deliver the military and economic effort demanded by expansion. A united core containing the rest of Norway and Denmark might have been more self-sufficient and defensible. From that base, Sweden could have expanded without exposing such a thin center. Political integration, population, and geography are treated here as prerequisites for lasting great-power status.
Chapter · 30:11-31:16
Sweden falls short of strategic critical mass
A unified Scandinavian core including Denmark and Norway might have supplied the population and defensible base Sweden lacked.