"...Bismarck was no stranger to patching together culturally similar yet independent nations into a larger entity, and for his next project after unifying Germany he saw a relatively blank slate that also served him a critical strategic advantage. Sweden and Norway already had the same King - Oscar II of the House of Bernadotte - and though they deployed separate consular services and merchant marines, Europe treated them largely as one entity. Before the First Unification War, it had indeed seemed as if Scandinavism could unite the three Nordic kingdoms under one parliament; dismay in Denmark over Sweden-Norway not coming to her defense against Germany seemed to kill that dream, and by the time of the late 1870s indeed it seemed more likely that Sweden and Norway would drift apart, perhaps even under separate crowns. Oscar II, for his part, was a staunch neutralist and not a man who cared much for the intrigues of the continent. Bismarck, of course, had other plans for him, particularly with an eye towards the potential combined weight of Sweden and Norway's navies under one flag directly to the north of Denmark, which all of Europe understood to be part of the "Iron Triangle" organized by Paris against Germany. Though Denmark alone was no particular threat against the Reich on her own and European cabinets lacked enthusiasm for a general war, Bismarck's gambling days were over. Removing a corner of Bazaine's famed Triangle was something the Iron Chancellor was determined to do to one-up the rival who had somehow not allowed France to go quietly into the night despite her loss on land to Germany's armies..."
- Scandinavia: The Birth of Union
- Scandinavia: The Birth of Union