The reign of Margaret I, queen of Denmark, is marked by efforts to bring together the three Scandinavian countries of Denmark, Norway and Sweden under a single crown. Surrounded by enemies, the queen's reasoning was that such a union would provide a stronger position than the individual states to stand against the Hanseatic League, Germany and other foreign threats to the region, as well as the Baltics.
"Margaret's achievement at a time when all Scandinavia was being threatened by German cultural and economic domination was to unite the kingdoms and not only hold back the Germans but also regain lands lost to the south. At the time of her death, the Scandinavian Union was by far the most powerful force in the Baltic; it was also the second largest accumulation of European territory under a single sovereign."[[1]]
