Scandinavia

20th Century
Though Scandinavia did not exist in the 1900s, the simple idea of it had taken root around this time. When after the war, Scandinavian nations decided to become Social Democratic nations, a new period of economic prosperity began. With the Project X timeline having more socialist European nations, social democratism stayed in the nations into the early 20th century, when more conservative sentiment began more widespread due to the Cold War against Neo-Socialists. The 20th century, though unexciting, set the stage for an idea of Northern European (Scandinavian) unity. In the late 1990s, the European nations in the European Coal, Nuclear and Steel Community took a hit to their economy, which they recovered from in a few years. This economic recession led the way for the new EC (European Confederation) in the 2040s. The 20th century may have been “boring” in terms of tension in the world, though the 21st century will be a wild ride for, especially European nations.

21st Century: The Pact of Scandinavia
The Nations located on the Scandinavian peninsula saw great prosperity at the beginning of the 21st century, however, it was not long lived and a great economic crisis similar to the French one hit the nations hard.

Internal destabilization led to the collapse of most order, and the Police couldn’t contain the riots and protests. As oil prices skyrocketed, food was scarce and expensive while bribery and corruption spread rampantly. An emergency meeting of the Nordic Union was needed to counteract the chaos and return stability to the Nations. Following the conference, Denmark, Sweden and Norway agreed to form a Scandinavian Union in 2055 to try and bring back order and in addition signed pact between Germany and gave Schleswig-Holstein region to Germany in return for massive financial aid and better trading negotiations. Finland however, felt it threatened their independence and sovereignty and thus declined entry.

A Pro-Scandinavian uprising funded by Germany took place in Finland as a consequence as part of the agreement made with the other nations of Scandinavia. The USSR, worried about rising German influence funded the Finnish Government, sadly it was all for nought, Finland lost as the USSR was forced to cut short their funding when The Second Great Depression hit, and thus, Finland was finally annexed by Scandinavia. A few months later, dissatisfied Finnish nationalists rebelled against the union, supported by the USSR again at a lesser extent. Scandinavia successfully put the rebellion under control after a quick and bloody crackdown with military aid from Germany.

During this time period, many parties had merged with the Swedish parties ones and those Swedish parties had changed names to better suit the political climate of Scandinavia. The party that did not handle this so well was vänsterpartiet, their popularity fell and went under 4% later in the first election of the Scandinavian nation. In the end, the vänsterpartiet did not enter parliament, a year after the election, vänsterpartiet was disbanded.

During the Scandinavian political crisis Norwegian oil also started to quickly flood the Scandinavian market as all oil wells were opened at full capacity. This caused oil prices to plummet and return to a normal level. Finland and Sweden allocated funds from their welfare state to fund the Military police and subsidize the agricultural industry, and in less than 6 months, the situation stabilized but the effort has had overall mediocre success. Living standards are now only slightly higher than the European average compared to an 80% difference before the crisis. The future may seem brighter, but who knows what it may bring upon the Scandinavian Union. A new crisis has emerged as well, this time an ideological one.

Great Oil Crisis (2060-2067)
In 2060, during the heat of the Great Depression, the Great Oil Crisis struck. Due to the abundance of North Sea Norwegian oil, Scandinavia completely survived the blows and recovered within the year. Though Scandinavia recovered quickly, many other European nations cannot say the same. Germany in its power grab stole oil from Scandinavia as they had Scandinavia under their grasp, and barely did anything to their economy. Scandinavia, despite recovering from the Great Oil Crisis, still has to deal with the blows that are the Second Great Depression.

21st-century: Creation of Scandinavian Union
In 2093, the alliance (a coalition of centre-right parties)won the Scandinavian elections. They were doing well until the announcement of the project connect FUNEN. Project Connect FUNEN was a project to connect nearly all islands of Denmark to the mainland but not to connect the islands to each other, this project was supposed to show the Scandinavian new technological advancements and superiority in the field, while also providing more land and better infrastructure…

This was a disaster sadly, many Scandinavians criticised how there were already bridges connecting the islands but the alliance continued their project. After 3 years the project was finished but the damage was done, massive costs, people displaced, buildings destroyed, shipping routes blocked all for nothing more than a few meagre benefits. In 2097 elections, 2 of 4 members of alliance did not enter parliament (Kristdemokratern and Centerpartiet). Moderaterna lost a lot of support and had been thrown to only 20% and Liberalerna had only 6% of the votes. These supporters turned to more radical factions. Nya Vänsterpartiet was formed, it was a Neo-Socialist party that gained decent support.

The Confederatic party was also formed, and they gained popularity quickly. Now, in the coming election, liberalerna has only 4% popularity meanwhile moderaterna has 23%, Moderaterna is panicking knowing their alliance is a fraction of what it once was, radical factions are rising, confederation has risen to 20% and Socialdemokraterna fears what's next. Norway, once the oil powerhouse of Scandinavia, is starting to see a decrease in oil extracted for the first time in decades. Scandinavia, in a dire situation now, must find a way to supply it’s oil needs, or civil war will become unavoidable between these two coalitions. If civil war comes, with Scandinavians against Scandinavians, it will become a new battleground for two emerging superpowers, both old enemies, and ready for war. Should this happen, the Scandinavian Union, a united brotherhood between these 4 countries, will cease to exist.

Crisis in Scandinavia
The 22nd century could be the turning point in the young Scandinavia’s history. Oil reserves may be low, but new energy alternatives prove to be promising. Though Scandinavia has been a German dominion effectively since its formation, the Germans are already losing their grasp over Europe. The Social Democrats of the Scandinavian nations have long since faded, and in their place is a declining center right, “moderate” party. Confederatism has risen from the ashes, as the blend of it makes it the perfect fit for a nation ravaged by useless investments. The only thing that seems to have a chance at saving Scandinavia is confederatic ideologies. Seeing America reach new heights with the land has only increased Scandinavian nationalism, but separatists are now increasing with every day that goes by. Confederatism could stomp out the rebellion for good, and save the nation from utter collapse with a new wave of nationalism. Which path will Scandinavia take? Will, they split up or refresh the country with new policies? Only time will tell.