were solved in the end by the understanding of Gustav Vasa and Christian III, and peace lasted for 25 years as long as the two kings were alive. After the deaths of Christian III and Gustav Vasa, in 1559 and 1560 respectively, both countries now had young and hawkish monarchs, Eric XIV of Sweden and Frederick II of Denmark. Frederick II envisioned the resurrection of the Kalmar Union under Danish leadership, while Eric wanted to finally break the dominating position of Denmark. By 1563 and the Northern Seven Years' War, Sweden and Denmark were finding each other as competitors of the political and economical power over the Baltic region. In 1561, when a sizeable remnant of the Order states in the northern Baltics were secularized by its grand master Gotthard Kettler, both Denmark and Sweden were attracted to intervene in the Livonian War. A competition that lasts over 5 major wars between the countries until 1679 with the Scanian War. The Lutheran Reformation The dependencies were strong, the pope stood firm, Sweden was for 15 years under papal interdict, church strike (no functioning national church), and the Lutheran Reformation in Sweden was carried out. The regent got an offer by the Lutherans that can't be resisted, a state church with the clerical as the kings governmental civil servants, never reinstating a relation with the Catholic church. The nationalization of the Catholic church funded the new sovereigns regime. The Sovereign Swedish state It is 500 years later still seen as a general national "paradigm shift". The war freed Sweden from international economic and political dependencies and outspoken enemies influence. An independence that has lasted so far for the past 500 years (local security/peace since 1523, no foreign armies on its soil except in border areas and general peace for over 200 years since 1814). This liberation war is widely seen and held in high esteem by the Swedes as the root of the political and economic independence, the structure and organization of its society today. Seen by Swedes as a national "paradigm shift" where the foundations of society's views have radically changed to what is still fundamentally the case. Battles Battle of Falun (February 1521) Battle of Brunnbäck Ferry (April 1521) Battle of Västerås (29 April 1521) Conquest of Uppsala (18 May 1521) Conquest of Kalmar (27 May 1523) Conquest of Stockholm (16–17 June 1523) See also Wars of national liberation