Editing History of Germany (section)

===Eastward expansion===
{{Main|Ostsiedlung}}
[[File:Osadnictwo niemieckie na wschodzie.PNG|thumb|Stages of the [[Ostsiedlung|German eastern expansion]], 700–1400]]
[[File:Marienburg19001.jpg|thumb|[[Malbork Castle|Marienburg Castle]] of the [[Teutonic Knights]]]]
The ''Ostsiedlung'' (lit. Eastern settlement) is the term for a process of largely uncoordinated immigration and chartering of settlement structures by ethnic Germans into territories, already inhabited by [[Slavs]] and [[Balts]] east of the [[Saale]] and [[Elbe]] rivers, such as modern Poland and [[Silesia]] and to the south into [[Bohemia]], modern Hungary and Romania during the [[High Middle Ages]] from the 11th to the 14th century.<ref name="Murray2017">{{Cite book |first=Alan V. |last=Murray |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KgokDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT23 |title=The North-Eastern Frontiers of Medieval Europe: The Expansion of Latin Christendom in the Baltic Lands |date=15 May 2017 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-3518-8483-9 |page=23}}</ref><ref name="Berend2017">{{Cite book |first=Nora |last=Berend |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SgokDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT194 |title=The Expansion of Central Europe in the Middle Ages |date=15 May 2017 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-3518-9008-3 |page=194}}</ref> The primary purpose of the early imperial military campaigns into the lands to the east during the 10th and 11th century, was to punish and subjugate the local [[Paganism|heathen]] tribes. Conquered territories were mostly lost after the troops had retreated, but eventually were incorporated into the empire as [[March (territory)|marches]], fortified borderlands with garrisoned troops in strongholds and castles, who were to ensure military control and enforce the exaction of tributes. Contemporary sources do not support the idea of policies or plans for the organized settlement of civilians.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.grin.com/document/106527 |title=Ostsiedlung – ein gesamteuropäisches Phänomen |publisher=GRIN Verlag |date=2002 |isbn=978-3-6400-4806-9 |access-date=7 March 2019}}</ref>

[[Lothair II, Holy Roman Emperor|Emperor Lothair II]] re-established feudal sovereignty over Poland, Denmark and Bohemia from 1135 and appointed [[margrave]]s to turn the borderlands into hereditary [[fief]]s and install a civilian administration. There is no discernible chronology of the immigration process as it took place in many individual efforts and stages, often even encouraged by the Slavic regional lords. However, the new communities were subjected to German law and customs. Total numbers of settlers were generally rather low and, depending on who held a numerical majority, populations usually assimilated into each other. In many regions only enclaves would persist, like [[Sibiu|Hermannstadt]], founded by the [[Transylvanian Saxons]] in the medieval Hungarian Kingdom (today in Romania) who were called on by [[Géza II of Hungary|Geza II]] to repopulate the area as part of the ''Ostsiedlung'', having arrived there and founding the city in 1147 [Saxons called these parts of Transylvania "Altland" to distinguish them from later immigrant Saxon settlements established in about 1220 by the Teutonic Order].<ref name=":0">A SZÁSZOK BETELEPÜLÉSE ÉS A DÉLI HATÁRVÉDELEM ÁTSZERVEZÉSE[Establishment of Saxons and reorganisation of border defence in Transylvania] In: Erdély története három kötetben[History of Transylvania in three volume]. Editor: Köpeczi, Béla. Budapest, 1986, Akadémiai Kiadó. {{ISBN|9-6305-4203-X}}

http://mek.oszk.hu/02100/02109/html/59.html#67</ref><ref name="Bünz2008">{{Cite book |first=Enno |last=Bünz |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T9g1H7prV00C&pg=PA17 |title=Ostsiedlung und Landesausbau in Sachsen: die Kührener Urkunde von 1154 und ihr historisches Umfeld |publisher=Leipziger Universitätsverlag |date=2008 |isbn=978-3-8658-3165-1 |page=17}}</ref>

{{Main|State of the Teutonic Order}}
In 1230, the Catholic [[Christian monasticism|monastic]] order of the [[Teutonic Knights]] launched the [[Prussian Crusade]]. The campaign, that was supported by the forces of Polish duke [[Konrad I of Masovia]], initially intended to Christianize the Baltic [[Old Prussians]], succeeded primarily in the conquest of large territories. The order, emboldened by [[Golden Bull of Rimini|imperial approval]], quickly resolved to establish an independent [[State of the Teutonic Order|state]], without the consent of duke Konrad. Recognizing only papal authority and based on a solid economy, the order steadily expanded the Teutonic state during the following 150 years, engaging in several land disputes with its neighbors. Permanent conflicts with the [[Kingdom of Poland (1138–1320)|Kingdom of Poland]], the [[Grand Duchy of Lithuania]], and the [[Novgorod Republic]], eventually led to [[Battle of Grunwald|military defeat]] and containment by the mid-15th century. The last [[Grand Master of the Teutonic Order|Grand Master]] [[Albert I, Duke of Prussia|Albert of Brandenburg]] converted to [[Lutheranism]] in 1525 and turned the remaining lands of the order into the secular [[Duchy of Prussia]].{{Sfn|Carsten|1958|pp=52–68}}<ref>{{Cite web |title=Staat des Deutschen Ordens |url=http://www.ordensstaat.de/orden/sr.htm |access-date=7 March 2019 |publisher=Ordensstaat de}}</ref>