Commonwealth of Scandinavia

Update: Changed the information bar on the left to be more organized. I also added some new information, and shortened some of the footnotes.

I also updated the Scandinavian flag.

Download if you want to see the text and the details more clearly.

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Commentary
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I wanted to do a map of a Scandinavia unified in the modern era, and I also wanted to do a map featuring a victorious German empire, so I ended up doing both at once. There's a lot of very unrealistic wanking going on here, but I never intended this to be a realistic scenario to begin with, heh.

I have included a short overview of the history behind the Commonwealth below. The Paradox fans among you may recognize it as an elaborated version of the "Scandinavist Surge" event chain from Victoria.

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History: The Birth of the Commonwealth of Scandinavia (1/1)
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When the Prussians invaded Schleswig-Holstein in 1864, initiating the Second war of Schleswig, they found that Bismark's political calculations had been off. Not only did Denmark continue to put up stiff resistance, but Sweden-Norway once again came to their aid as well, as they had once before in the First War of Schleswig more than a decade ago.

While the Prussians might still have been able to take Holstein despite the unexpected Scandinavian resistance, Bismarck saw the potential future threat of a reborn - and hostile - "Lion of the North". He therefore offered a compromise: Schleswig-Holstein would be split in two, with Schleswig staying with Denmark and Holstein going to Germany.

Denmark reluctantly agreed to this compromise, as it saw that long-term resistance against Prussia would most likely be fatal. While this could hardly be considered a victory in the global scheme of things, it did have a profound effect on the people of Norway, Sweden and Denmark alike. The Pan-Scandinavist movement that had been formed after Sweden-Norway's participation on Denmark's side in the First War of Schleswig grew stronger, and a sense of common cultural, linguistic and historical heritage replaced the feelings of patriotism to one country alone.

The King of Sweden capitalized on this, suggesting to the King of Denmark a return to the days of the Kalmar Union, when all three kingdoms were as one. Denmark, no longer in a position to ever becoming a major power again, eventually accepted his proposal. On the 19th of August 1867, the three kingdoms were once again formally united. The Commonwealth of the Three Crowns of Scandinavia , or just the Commonwealth of Scandinavia, was thus born.

This initiated a period of strong militarisation in Scandinavia. Sweden's considerable industrial resources combined with the ports and naval traditions of Norway and Denmark soon resulted in a navy only rivalled by that of the United Kingdom.

The question of the Scandinavian navy would be the source of great conflict in the future, as Britain felt that its naval hegemony was threatened by this new "Viking fleet". This conflict would push Scandinavia further and further into the camp of the Central Powers, and later resulted in their participation on their side in the Two Years War of 1914-1916.

The map above shows the Scandinavian Commonwealth at its peak after their victory in the Two Years War.

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Extra information
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A bigger version of the Scandinavian flag can be found here: [link]

The compass rose was found here: [link]

The paper textures were found here: [link]

The base map was found here: [link]