 Thus the troops of the Catholic League were otherwise occupied and Bremen seemed relieved.But soon after this the imperial troops under Albrecht von Wallenstein headed north in an attempt to destroy the fading Hanseatic League, in order to reduce the Hanseatic cities of Bremen, Hamburg and the Lübeck and to establish a Baltic trade monopoly, to be run by some imperial favourites including Spaniards and Poles.The idea was to win Sweden's and Denmark's support, both of which had for a long time sought the destruction of the "Hanseatic League".