The establishment of full, direct control over this strategically significant borderland strengthened Denmark's geopolitical position considerably and marked a major step toward Denmark's emergence as a centralised, unitary state. The alliance which shortly followed (contemporaneously called the "Eternal Alliance" ()) tied Denmark's foreign policy to Russia's and led directly to Danish-Norwegian involvement in the Theatre War of 1788–1789 and the Dano-Swedish War of 1808–09.