Editing Germans (section)

===Medieval history===
{{See also|Kingdom of Germany}}
[[File:Bevölkerung Mitteleuropas um 895.jpg|thumb|Maps depicting the [[Ostsiedlung]], also known as the German eastward settlement. The left map shows the situation in roughly 895 AD; the right map shows it about 1400 AD. Germanic peoples (left map) and Germans (right map) are shown in light red.]]
[[File:Holy Roman Empire 1648.svg|thumb|The [[Holy Roman Empire]] after the [[Peace of Westphalia]], 1648]]
German ethnicity began to emerge in medieval times among the descendants of those [[Germanic peoples]] who had lived under heavy Roman influence between the Rhine and Elbe rivers. This included [[Franks]], [[Frisians]], [[Saxons]], [[Thuringii]], [[Alemanni]] and [[Baiuvarii]] – all of whom spoke related dialects of [[West Germanic]].<ref name="Heather">{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Germany/History#ref58082|title=Germany: Ancient History|last=Heather|first=Peter|author-link=Peter Heather|website=[[Encyclopædia Britannica Online]]|publisher=[[Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.]]|access-date=21 November 2020|quote=Within the boundaries of present-day Germany... Germanic peoples such as the eastern Franks, Frisians, Saxons, Thuringians, Alemanni, and Bavarians—all speaking West Germanic dialects—had merged Germanic and borrowed Roman cultural features. It was among these groups that a German language and ethnic identity would gradually develop during the Middle Ages.|archive-date=31 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190331232159/https://www.britannica.com/place/Germany/History#ref58082|url-status=live}}</ref>
These peoples had come under the dominance of the western Franks starting with [[Clovis I]], who established control of the Romanized and Frankish population of Gaul in the 5th century, and began a process of conquering the peoples east of the Rhine. The regions long continued to be divided into "[[Stem duchies]]", corresponding to the old ethnic designations.{{sfn|Minahan|2000|pp=288–289}} By the early 9th century AD, large parts of Europe were united under the rule of the Frankish leader [[Charlemagne]], who expanded the [[Frankish empire]] in several directions including east of the Rhine, consolidating power over the [[Saxons]] and [[Frisians]], and establishing the [[Carolingian Empire]]. Charlemagne was crowned emperor by [[Pope Leo III]] in 800.{{sfn|Minahan|2000|pp=288–289}}

In the generations after Charlemagne the empire was partitioned at the [[Treaty of Verdun]] (843), eventually resulting in the long-term separation between the states of [[West Francia]], [[Middle Francia]] and [[East Francia]]. Beginning with [[Henry the Fowler]], non-Frankish dynasties also ruled the eastern kingdom, and under his son [[Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor|Otto I]], East Francia, which was mostly German, constituted the core of the [[Holy Roman Empire]].{{sfn|Haarmann|2015|pp=313–314}} Also under control of this loosely controlled empire were the previously independent kingdoms of [[Kingdom of Italy (Holy Roman Empire)|Italy]], [[Kingdom of Burgundy#Kingdom of Arles within the Holy Roman Empire (after 1033)|Burgundy]], and [[Lotharingia]]. The latter was a Roman and Frankish area which contained some of the oldest and most important old German cities including [[Aachen]], [[Cologne]] and [[Trier]], all west of the Rhine, and it became another Duchy within the eastern kingdom. Leaders of the stem duchies which constituted this eastern kingdom — Lotharingia, [[Duchy of Bavaria|Bavaria]], [[Duchy of Franconia|Franconia]], [[Duchy of Swabia|Swabia]], [[Duchy of Thuringia|Thuringia]], and [[Duchy of Saxony|Saxony]] ― initially wielded considerable power independently of the king.{{sfn|Minahan|2000|pp=288–289}} German kings were elected by members of the noble families, who often sought to have weak kings elected in order to preserve their own independence. This prevented an early unification of the Germans.{{sfn|Haarmann|2015|p=314}}{{sfn|Minahan|2000|pp=289–290}}

A warrior nobility dominated the [[feudalism|feudal]] German society of the Middle Ages, while most of the German population consisted of peasants with few political rights.{{sfn|Minahan|2000|pp=288–289}} The church played an important role in the Holy Roman Empire in the Middle Ages, and competed with the nobility for power.{{sfn|Moser|2011|p=173}} Between the 11th and 13th centuries, German speakers from the empire actively participated in five [[Crusades]] to "liberate" the [[Holy Land]].{{sfn|Moser|2011|p=173}} From the beginnings of the kingdom, its dynasties also participated in a push eastwards into Slavic-speaking regions. At the [[Saxon Eastern March]] in the north, the [[Polabian Slavs]] east of the Elbe were conquered over generations of often brutal conflict. Under the later control of powerful German dynasties it became an important region within modern Germany, and home to its modern capital, Berlin. German population also moved eastwards from the 11th century, in what is known as the [[Ostsiedlung]].{{sfn|Minahan|2000|pp=289–290}} Over time, Slavic and German-speaking populations assimilated, meaning that many modern Germans have substantial Slavic ancestry.{{sfn|Haarmann|2015|pp=313–314}} From the 12th century, many German speakers settled as merchants and craftsmen in the [[Kingdom of Poland (1025–1385)|Kingdom of Poland]], where they came to constitute a significant proportion of the population in many urban centers such as [[Gdańsk]].{{sfn|Haarmann|2015|pp=313–314}} During the 13th century, the [[Teutonic Order|Teutonic Knights]] began conquering the [[Old Prussians]], and established what would eventually become the powerful German state of [[Prussia]].{{sfn|Minahan|2000|pp=289–290}}

Further south, [[Bohemia]] and [[Hungary]] developed as kingdoms with their own non-German speaking elites. The [[Margraviate of Austria|Austrian March]] on the [[Middle Danube]] stopped expanding eastwards towards Hungary in the 11th century. Under [[Ottokar II of Bohemia|Ottokar II]], Bohemia (corresponding roughly to modern Czechia) became a kingdom within the empire, and even managed to take control of Austria, which was German-speaking. However, the late 13th century saw the election of [[Rudolf I of Germany|Rudolf I]] of the [[House of Habsburg]] to the imperial throne, and he was able to acquire Austria for his own family. The Habsburgs would continue to play an important role in European history for centuries afterwards. Under the leadership of the Habsburgs the Holy Roman Empire itself remained weak, and by the late Middle Ages much of Lotharingia and Burgundy had come under the control of French dynasts, the [[House of Valois-Burgundy]] and [[House of Valois-Anjou]]. Step by step, Italy, Switzerland, [[Lorraine]], and [[Savoy]] were no longer subject to effective imperial control.

Trade increased and there was a specialization of the arts and crafts.{{sfn|Moser|2011|p=173}} In the late Middle Ages the German economy grew under the influence of urban centers, which increased in size and wealth and formed powerful leagues, such as the [[Hanseatic League]] and the [[Swabian League]], in order to protect their interests, often through supporting the German kings in their struggles with the nobility.{{sfn|Minahan|2000|pp=289–290}} These urban leagues significantly contributed to the development of German commerce and banking. German merchants of Hanseatic cities settled in cities throughout Northern Europe beyond the German lands.{{sfn|Minahan|2000|p=290}}