History of Germany (1658-2015)
Although less clearly defined by geography and other natural territories of Western Europe such as Italy, mainland Spain, France or Great Britain, the wide area identified as Germany has clear boundaries on three sides - the Baltic to the north, the Rhine to the west, the Alps and the Danube just south east, there is no natural boundary which caused a lot of conflict and confusion in European history .
The area is associated with the name Germany in the 1st century BC, when the conquest of Gaul makes the Romans aware for the first time there is an ethnic and linguistic distinction between the Celts or Gauls and their aggressive neighbors, the Germans.
The same Celts, in previous centuries, moved to West Germany, crossing the Rhine in France and driving before them the previous neolithic inhabitants of these regions More recently, the Celts were subjected to the same pressure west from various Germanic tribes the intruders are identified as a group by their closely related languages, defined as the Germanic or Teutonic subdivision of Indo-European language.
From the 2nd century BC, the Germans are putting increasing pressure on the Roman Empire The reign of Augustus Caesar sees a showdown between the Empire and the tribes, leading to a precarious balance of power.
The region in which Augustus makes the most effort to expand the empire is beyond the Alps in Germany by 14 BC the German tribes are subjugated to the Danube Over the next five years Roman legions grow before But the Elbe this other border proves impossible to stick AD 9 Arminius, a German chieftain of great military skill, destroys three Roman legions in the Teutoburg forest.
The Romans withdraw if they return briefly to avenge what seems a shameful defeat The conclusion, bequeathed by Augustus to his successors, is that the Roman Empire has natural boundaries; north are the Rhine and Danube.
The Germanic tribes continue to raid, often deep into the empire But their base remains north of the Rhine and Danube to the 5th century - when the Visigoths, Goths, Vandals, Burgundians and Franks move in vast migrations through Italy, France and Spain.
Their presence becomes part of the history of these regions in France and Spain - prosperous and stable parts of the Roman Empire - have become almost as Romanized as Italy itself, they are culturally strong enough to absorb their new German masters, as revealed by the limits of European languages French, Spanish, Portuguese and Italian are known as Romance languages because they share a Roman, Latin, origin.
Northern Europe, by contrast, speaks Germanic languages in Scandinavia done because it is the region where the German tribes migrate south Brittany did because the invading tribes 5th century Angles and Saxons were able to dominate a culture less than romanized Gaul and Germany, the Netherlands, did so because here the tribes are relatively unaffected by the Roman influence - security in a region which Tacitus described as covered either by bristling forests or fetid swamps.
Similarly the tribes in the German heartland are back to the first centuries of the post-Roman era, they are no match for the more sophisticated Franks who settled in Gaul.
HISTORY OF GERMANY, history, Germany.