Moving forward is incredibly difficult without preparation.

The great empires of

history were able to overcome their adversaries with the help of innovations. As one
advances in the world of discovery and information, they are granted knowledge of the
previously unknown, which gives them the upper hand. Many revolutionary inventions
have come from Scandinavia, or Northern Europe. From old inventions like the Celsius
temperature system and the loudspeaker, to new technological advancements like Skype,
Google Maps, Nokia, and Bluetooth, there is no doubt that Northern Europe is on the
front lines of innovation.
Medicine is a very important concept in Northern Europe, not only do they have
free healthcare, but they also distribute pharmaceuticals to other countries that need them.
One of the most prominent medical advancements from Northern Europe between 1750
and 1914 is Gram staining. Gram staining, developed by Dane Hans Christian Gram in
1882, is a method used to differentiate two different types of bacteria. The technique is
used very often, even today, due to the fact that it produces its results quickly, which can
be crucial to determining life or death situations. Also coming from Denmark is
Disulfiram. It was developed and tested in 1945 by two scientists working in the
Medicinalco Laboratory, Erik Jacobsen, who first discovered the drug, and his colleague
Jens Hald, who Jacobsen called upon to assist him. Disulfiram was actually discovered
by accident when Jacobsen, who was known to test new drugs on himself before giving
them to patients, ingested some pills, which he and Hald observed were supposed to help
with intestinal worms, to test the side effects on himself. After several tests and days of
observation, they came to the conclusion that the chemical within the drug, as described
by Jensen himself, really changed the effects of alcohol in a most unpleasant direction
(University of Aarhus). Today, the drug is being researched further due to promising signs
that it may aid scientists in the cure for cancer and HIV. In Sweden, during this time
period, another development emerged, though not fully for medical purposes, it is used in
everyday life. Developed in 1742 by Swedish astronomer Anders Celsius, the Celsius
temperature system is used in almost every country today, with exception to the United
States, the Bahamas, Belize, the Cayman Islands, and Palau who use Fahrenheit
(Brittanica). This system of measuring temperature was revolutionary, and certainly an
important contribution to science. Staying with the theme of temperature, Denmark also
created a temperature scale. Though it has been all but forgotten, the Rmer Scale,
developed in 1701 by Ole Christensen Rmer of Denmark, was the most useful and
accurate of its time.
Communication is an important part of conquest. The ability to communicate
allows groups to work as a system and receive the same information. This has sparked
several inventions to make communication easier. An example of this is the
Telegraphone. The telegraphone, a phonograph that records human speech using
magnetized wire, was patented in 1898 by Valdemar Poulsen while he was working for
the Copenhagen Telephone Company (Brittanica). Also from Denmark is the well-known
loudspeaker. Its inventor, Peter L. Jensen, was an apprentice in Valdemar Poulsens
laboratory in 1903 until he was promoted to assistant in 1905. He was then sent to the
United States to aid in the introduction of the Poulsen Radio Arc System in 1909. Jensen
developed and demonstrated his loudspeaker on Christmas Eve in San Francisco. This
invention earned him the title of the Danish Edison. He later came to regret his invention
after seeing how the Nazis used it for their propaganda (Denmark.dk).

To be blunt, one of the most noticeable components of successful conquest is

weaponry. In 1867, Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel invented dynamite. Though not
initially a weapon, it has since been developed into several new explosives, one being
military dynamite. In 1886, in a country to the northwest, Captain Ole Herman Johannes
Krag, Captain of the Norwegian army and director of the Norwegian government
weapons factory, and master gunsmith Erik Jrgensen developed the Krag-Jrgensen
rifle. Soon after, it was adopted by Denmark for their armed forces, serving for 51 years,
and later by the United States, but only for 9 years. Three decades later, on the other side
of Sweden, the Suomi-konepistooli, or Suomi KP/-31, was developed. Translating to
Submachine-gun Finland, the Suomi KP/-31 was produced by the Tikkakoski Oy
Company and was developed in Finland during World War II. It was a very successful
weapon, and is sometimes regarded as one of the most successful weapons of World War
II. The list of users is as follows: Bulgaria, NDH, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Isreal, Nazi
Germany, North Korea, Norway, Poland, Republic of Korea, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden,
Switzerland, the Soviet Union, the Vatican Swiss Guard, and West Germany. Invented
around the same time and also in Finland was the Molotov cocktail. The weapon,
jokingly named after Soviet foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov, was surrounded by
insulting references to the Soviet Union by the Finns, due to its use in the Winter War
between the Soviet Union and Finland. In the end, the Finns lost the war, but the Molotov
cocktail continues, although rarely, to be used today.
These inventions allowed the Northern European countries to develop along with
each invention. Today, the Nordic countries are some of the most advanced, with
Denmark holding the number 10 spot and Norway at the top. The Northern European
countries themselves are more suited for peace and neutrality rather than war, but their
inventions have influenced other countries in and off the battlefield.