History of Schleswig-Holstein extremely harsh. King Christopher was only left in effective control of the small island of Langeland and faced the impossible task of raising 100,000 silver marks to redeem his country. Denmark had effectively been dissolved and was left without a king between 1332 and 1340. Gerhard, however, was assassinated in 1340 by a Dane. In 1340, King Valdemar IV of Denmark began his more than twenty-year-long quest to reclaim his kingdom. While succeeding in regaining control of Zealand, Funen, Jutland, and Scania he, however, failed to obtain control of Schleswig, and its ducal line managed to continue its virtual independence.
Political status of the Cook Islands and Niue to act as a sovereign entity, while others have argued that the participation of the Cook Islands in international organisations (such as the Pacific Islands Forum) shows that Cook Islands sovereignty is not limited by the free association arrangement. Some states, based on the close relationship the Cook Islands and Niue have with New Zealand, have declared that they do not consider them to be sovereign entities. These states are listed below. Formerly dependencies of New Zealand, the Cook Islands became a state in free association with New Zealand on August 4, 1965; Niue became a state in free association