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Early History of Germany
The Germanic tribes, which probably originated from a mixture of peoples
along the Baltic Sea coast, inhabited the northern part of the European
continent by about 500 B.C. By 100 B.C., they had advanced into the central
and southern areas of present-day Germany. At that time, there were three
major tribal groups: the eastern Germanic peoples lived along the Oder
and Vistula rivers; the northern Germanic peoples inhabited the southern
part of present-day Scandinavia; and the western Germanic peoples inhabited
the extreme south of Jutland and the area between the North Sea and the
Elbe, Rhine, and Main rivers. The Rhine provided a temporary boundary
between Germanic and Roman territory after the defeat of the Suevian tribe
by Julius Caesar about 70 B.C.
The threatening presence of warlike tribes
beyond the Rhine prompted the Romans to pursue a campaign of expansion
into Germanic territory. However, the defeat of the provincial governor
Varus by Arminius at the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest in A.D. 9 halted
Roman expansion; Arminius had learned the enemy's strategies during his
military training in the Roman armies. This battle brought about the liberation
of the greater part of Germany from Roman domination. The Rhine River
was once again the boundary line until the Romans reoccupied territory
on its eastern bank and built the Limes, a fortification 300 kilometers
long, in the first century A.D.
The second through the sixth centuries was a period of change and destruction
in which eastern and western Germanic tribes left their native lands and
settled in newly acquired territories. This period of Germanic history,
which later supplied material for heroic epics, included the downfall
of the Roman Empire and resulted in a considerable expansion of habitable
area for the Germanic peoples. However, with the exception of those kingdoms
established by Franks and Anglo-Saxons, Germanic kingdoms founded in such
other parts of Europe as Italy and Spain were of relatively short duration
because they were assimilated by the native populations. The conquest
of Roman Gaul by Frankish tribes in the late fifth century became a milestone
of European history; it was the Franks who were to become the founders
of a civilized German state.
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