sweden has been a kingdom for a thousand years. in the middle ages, sweden had the same king as denmark and norway. in the early 16th century sweden got its own king, gustav vasa. during the 17th century sweden was a great power. sweden had taken estonia, latvia, and finland and parts of norway, germany, and russia. in the 18th century sweden became weaker and lost these places. in the early 19th century, sweden's king died without an heir and the swedish parliament voted for jean baptiste bernadotte as the new king. bernadotte fought denmark and made them allow norway to enter a personal union with sweden.