From the 1650s, the Nordic Region began to be increasingly drawn into the political power play in the rest of Europe, which consisted of alliance building between emerging strong nation states. At the same time, there was a power struggle in the Nordic Region between Denmark and Sweden. It was therefore important for both countries to forge strong alliances with outsiders while also trying to strengthen their own internal capacity to act forcefully. The latter was part of a state-building process. Previously, this process has been studied from a national perspective, but here the development is placed in a broader context. Drawing on Swedish, Danish, French and Austrian sources, we study the relationship between these countries and how the two great powers attempted, and sometimes succeeded, in influencing Swedish and Danish politics. For this purpose, subsidies at the state level, long-term patron-client relationships at the family level and bribes at the individual level were used. We show that there is reason to question whether freedom-era Sweden was as special in this respect as it has been portrayed. The project provides new knowledge about both the relationship between Denmark and Sweden in a time of conflict, and between the Nordic countries and the rest of Europe in a time of stronger European integration. Overall, the project provides a deeper understanding of the importance of Europe in the Nordic region.