Editing History of Germany (section)

==Early history: Germanic tribes, Roman conquests, and the Migration Period==

===Early migrations, the Suebi and the Roman Republic===
{{Germanic tribes (750 BC – 1 AD)}}
{{Main|Germanic peoples|Germania}}
{{Further|List of Roman governors of Germania Inferior}}The [[ethnogenesis]] of the [[Germanic peoples|Germanic tribes]] remains debated. However, for author [[Averil Cameron]] "it is obvious that a steady process" occurred during the [[Nordic Bronze Age]], or at the latest during the [[Pre-Roman Iron Age]]<ref>{{cite book |doi=10.1163/9789004289529_007 |chapter=The Debate about the Ethnogenesis of the Germanic Tribes |title=East and West in Late Antiquity |date=2015 |last1=Liebeschuetz |first1=Wolf |pages=85–100 |isbn=978-90-04-28952-9 }}</ref> (Jastorf culture). From their homes in southern Scandinavia and northern Germany the tribes began expanding south, east and west during the 1st century BC,{{Sfn|Kristinsson|2010|p=147|ps=: "In the 1st century BC it was the Suebic tribes who were expanding most conspicuously. [...] Originating from central Germania, they moved to the south and southwest. [...] As Rome was conquering the Gauls, Germans were expanding to meet them, and this was the threat from which Caesar claimed to be saving the Gauls. [...] For the next half-century the expansion concentrated on southern Germany and Bohemia, assimilating or driving out the previous Gallic or Celtic inhabitants. The oppida in this area fell and were abandoned one after another as simple, egalitarian Germanic societies replaced the complex, stratified Celtic ones."}} and came into contact with the [[Celt]]ic tribes of [[Gaul]], as well as with [[Iranian peoples|Iranic]],{{Sfn|Green|2003|p=29|ps=: "Greek may have followed the Persians in devising its terms for their military formations, but the Goths were dependent [...] on Iranians of the Pontic region for terms which followed the Iranian model more closely in using the cognate Gothic term for the second element of its compounds. (Gothic dependence on Iranian may have gone even further, affecting the numeral itself, if we recall that the two Iranian loanwords in Crimean Gothic are words for 'hundred' and 'thousand')."}} [[Balts|Baltic]],{{Sfn|Fortson|2011|p=433|ps=: "Baltic territory began to shrink shortly before the dawn of the Christian era due to the Gothic migrations into their southwestern territories [...]."}} and [[Slavic peoples|Slavic]] cultures in [[Central Europe|Central]]/[[Eastern Europe]].{{Sfn|Green|2000|pp=172–173|ps=: "Jordanes [...] mentions the Slavs (''Getica'' 119) and associates them more closely than the Balts with the center of Gothic power. [...] This location of the early Slavs partly at least in the region covered by the Cernjahov culture, together with their contacts (warlike or not) with the Goths under Ermanric and almost certainly before, explains their openness to Gothic loanword influence. That this may have begun early, before the expansion of the Slavs from their primeval habitat, is implied by the presence of individual loan-words in a wide range of Slavonic languages."}}

Factual and detailed knowledge about the early history of the Germanic tribes is rare. Researchers have to be content with the recordings of the tribes' affairs with the [[Ancient Rome|Romans]], linguistic conclusions, archaeological discoveries and the rather new yet auspicious results of [[Archaeogenetics|archaeogenetic]] study.{{Sfn|Claster|1982|p=35}} In the mid-1st century BC, [[Roman Republic|Republican Roman]] statesman [[Julius Caesar]] erected the [[Caesar's Rhine bridges|first known bridges across the Rhine]] during his [[Gallic Wars|campaign in Gaul]] and led a military contingent across and into the territories of the local Germanic tribes. After several days and having made no contact with Germanic troops (who had retreated inland) Caesar returned to the west of the river.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Brown |first=Robert D. |date=2013 |title=Caesar's Description of Bridging the Rhine (Bellum Gallicum 4.16–19): A Literary Analysis |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_classical-philology_2013-01_108_1/page/41 |journal=Classical Philology |volume=108 |pages=41–53 |doi=10.1086/669789 |s2cid=162278924}}</ref> By 60 BC, the [[Suebi]] tribe under chieftain [[Ariovistus]], had conquered lands of the Gallic [[Aedui]] tribe to the west of the Rhine. Consequent plans to populate the region with Germanic settlers from the east were vehemently opposed by Caesar, who had already launched his [[Gallic Wars|ambitious campaign]] to subjugate all Gaul. Julius Caesar defeated the Suebi forces in 58 BC in the [[Battle of Vosges (58 BC)|Battle of Vosges]] and forced Ariovistus to retreat across the Rhine.<ref>[[Julius Caesar]], ''[[Commentarii de Bello Gallico]]'' [[s:The Gallic War (Caesar)/Book 1#31|1.31–53]]</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=C. Julius Caesar |title=C. Julius Caesar, Gallic War |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0001%3Abook%3D4%3Achapter%3D5 |access-date=20 March 2019 |publisher=Perseus Project}}</ref>

===Roman settlement of the Rhine===
{{Further|Roman campaigns in Germania (12 BC – AD 16)|Crossing of the Rhine}}
{{multiple image| align = right | direction = horizontal | header = | header_align = left/right/center | footer = | footer_align = left | image1 = Germanic limes.jpg | width1 = 150 | caption1 = The ''[[Limes Germanicus]]'' border of the [[Roman Empire]] and modern boundaries| image2 = Germania inferior roads towns.png| width2 = 150 | caption2  = Map of [[Germania Inferior]] – settlements and forts accessible via the navigable rivers, as the hinterland escapes Roman control}}
[[File:Trier Porta Nigra BW 2.JPG|thumb|The [[Porta Nigra]] in [[Trier]], capital of the [[Roman province]] of [[Gallia Belgica]], constructed in 170 AD]]
{{multiple image
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| image1            = Roman Trier model 1.jpg
| width1            = 171
| caption1          = Modern miniature model of [[History of Trier|Augusta Treverorum]] ([[Trier]]) in the 4th century CE
| image2            = Wall painting with Dionysian scenes from a luxurious Roman villa excavated to the south of the cathedral, Romisch-Germanisches Museum, Cologne (8119154487).jpg
| width2            = 150
| caption2          = Fresco with [[Dionysian mysteries|Dionysian scenes]] from [[Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium|Colonia]] ([[Cologne]]), 3rd century CE
}}

[[Augustus]], first [[Roman emperor]], considered conquest beyond the [[Rhine]] and the [[Danube]] not only regular foreign policy but also necessary to counter Germanic incursions into a still rebellious Gaul. Forts and commercial centers were established along the rivers. Some tribes, such as the [[Ubii]] consequently allied with Rome and readily adopted advanced Roman culture. During the 1st century CE Roman legions conducted extended campaigns into [[Germania|Germania magna]], the area north of the Upper Danube and east of the Rhine, attempting to subdue the various tribes. Roman ideas of administration, the imposition of taxes and a legal framework were frustrated by the total absence of an infrastructure. [[Germanicus]]'s [[Roman campaigns in Germania (12 BC – AD 16)|campaigns]], for example, were almost exclusively characterized by frequent massacres of villagers and indiscriminate pillaging. The tribes, however maintained their elusive identities. A coalition of tribes under the [[Cherusci]] chieftain [[Arminius]], who was familiar with Roman tactical doctrines, defeated a large Roman force in the [[Battle of the Teutoburg Forest]]. Consequently, Rome resolved to permanently establish the Rhine/Danube border and refrain from further territorial advance into Germania.{{Sfn|Bordewich|2005}}{{Sfn|Ozment|2004|pp=2–21}} By AD 100 the frontier along the Rhine and the Danube and the [[Limes Germanicus]] was firmly established. Several Germanic tribes lived under Roman rule south and west of the border, as described in [[Tacitus]]'s ''[[Germania (book)|Germania]]''. Austria formed the regular provinces of [[Noricum]] and [[Raetia]].{{Sfn|Fichtner|2009|p=xlviii}}<ref>{{Cite journal |date=1917 |title=The Journal of the Anthropological Society of Bombay |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2hg7AQAAMAAJ |journal=The Journal of the Anthropological Society of Bombay |volume=10 |page=647}}</ref>{{Sfn|Ramirez-Faria|2007|p=267}} The provinces [[Germania Inferior]] (with the capital situated at [[Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium]], modern [[Cologne]]) and [[Germania Superior]] (with its capital at [[Roman Mogontiacum|Mogontiacum]], modern [[Mainz]]), were formally established in 85 AD, after long campaigns as lasting military control was confined to the lands surrounding the rivers.{{Sfn|Rüger|2004|pp=527–528}} [[Christianity in Germany|Christianity was introduced]] to Roman controlled western Germania before the Middle Ages, with Christian religious structures such as the [[Aula Palatina]] of [[Trier]] built during the reign of [[Constantine I]] ({{R.|306|337}}).<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://oyc.yale.edu/history-art/hsar-252/lecture-23 |title=Lecture 23 – Rome of Constantine and a New Rome: Overview |series=[[Open Yale Courses]] |publisher=Yale University |access-date=22 November 2021}}</ref>

=== Migration Period and decline of the Western Roman Empire ===
{{Main|Migration Period|Decline of the Western Roman Empire}}

Rome's [[Third Century Crisis]] coincided with the emergence of a number of large West Germanic tribes: the [[Alamanni]], [[Franks]], [[Bavarii]], [[Chatti]], [[Saxons]], [[Frisii]], [[Sicambri]], and [[Thuringii]]. By the 3rd century the Germanic speaking peoples began to migrate beyond the ''[[Limes (Roman Empire)|limes]]'' and the Danube frontier.{{Sfn|Bowman|Garnsey|Cameron|2005|p=442}} Several large tribes – the [[Visigoths]], [[Ostrogoths]], [[Vandals]], [[Burgundians]], [[Lombards]], [[Saxons]] and [[Franks]] – migrated and played their part in the [[decline of the Roman Empire]] and the transformation of the old [[Western Roman Empire]].{{Sfn|Heather|2010}} By the end of the 4th century the [[Huns]] invaded eastern and central Europe, establishing the [[Hunnic Empire]]. The event triggered the [[Migration Period]].<ref name="Halsall2007">{{Cite book |last=Halsall |first=Guy |title=Barbarian Migrations and the Roman West, 376–568 |date=20 December 2007 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-5214-3491-1 |pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=S7ULzYGIj8oC&pg=PP1 1ff.] |author-link=Guy Halsall}}</ref> Hunnic hegemony over a vast territory in central and eastern Europe lasted until the death of [[Attila]]'s son [[Dengizich]] in 469.{{Sfn|Heather|2006|p=349|ps=: "By 469, just sixteen years after [Attila's] death, the last of the Huns were seeking asylum inside the eastern Roman Empire."}} Another pivotal moment in the Migration Period was the [[Crossing of the Rhine]] in December of 406 by a large group of tribes including [[Vandals]], [[Alans]] and [[Suebi]] who settled permanently within the crumbling Western Roman Empire.<ref name="Empired Besieged">{{Cite book |title=Empires Besieged |date=1988 |publisher=Time-Life Books |isbn=0-7054-0974-0 |location=Amsterdam |page=38 |chapter=The Roman Decline |ol=11194180M |quote=For on the bitterly cold night of 31 December 406, there was apparently no Roman army on guard when a host of Vandal, Alan, Suevi and Burgundian warriors, with their families and possessions, crossed the frozen Rhine and headed southwest through Gaul. This time, Rome's frontiers had been breached by barbarians who meant to stay.}}</ref>

=== Stem duchies and marches ===
[[File:Stem Duchies and Principalities of the early Holy Roman Empire, map 1.jpg|thumb|right|Depiction of the German stem duchies and principal states in East Francia and the early Holy Roman Empire]]
{{Main|Stem duchy}}
[[Stem duchy|Stem duchies]] ({{Langx|de|Stammesherzogtümer}}) in Germany refer to the traditional territory of the various Germanic tribes. The concept of such duchies survived especially in the areas which by the 9th century would constitute [[East Francia]],{{Sfn|Bradbury|2004|p=154|ps=: "East Francia consisted of four main principalities, the stem duchies – Saxony, Bavaria, Swabia and Franconia."}} which included the [[Duchy of Bavaria]], the [[Duchy of Swabia]], the [[Duchy of Saxony]], the [[Duchy of Franconia]] and the [[Duchy of Thuringia]],{{Sfn|Rodes|1964|p=3|ps=: "It was plagued by the existence of immensely strong tribal duchies, such as Bavaria, Swabia, Thuringia, and Saxony – often referred to as stem duchies, from the German word Stamm, meaning tribe [...]."}} unlike further west the [[County of Burgundy]] or [[Lorraine (duchy)|Lorraine]] in [[Middle Francia]].{{Sfn|Historicus|1935|p=50|ps=: "Franz von Lothringen muß sein Stammherzogtum an Stanislaus Leszinski, den französischen Kandidaten für Polen, ueberlassen [...]. [Francis of Lorraine had to bequeath his stem-duchy to Stanislaus Leszinski, the French candidate for the Polish crown [...].]"}}
<ref>Compare:
{{Cite encyclopedia |title=ANCIENT HISTORY |encyclopedia=An encyclopedia of world history: ancient, medieval and modern, chronologically arranged |publisher=Harrap |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_KlmAAAAMAAJ |date=1968 |editor-last=Langer |editor-first=William Leonard |editor-link=William Leonard Langer |edition=4 |page=174 |quote=These stem duchies were: Franconia [...]; Lorraine (not strictly a stem duchy but with a tradition of unity); Swabia [...] .}}</ref>

The [[Salian dynasty|Salian emperors]] (reigned 1027–1125) retained the stem duchies as the major divisions of Germany, but they became increasingly obsolete during the early high-medieval period under the [[House of Hohenstaufen|Hohenstaufen]], and [[Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor|Frederick Barbarossa]] finally abolished them in 1180 in favour of more numerous territorial duchies.

Successive kings of Germany founded a series of border counties or [[March (territory)#Germany and Austria|marches]] in the east and the north. These included [[Lusatia]], the [[North March]] (which would become [[Margraviate of Brandenburg|Brandenburg]] and the heart of the future [[Kingdom of Prussia|Prussia]]), and the [[Billung March]]. In the south, the marches included [[Carniola]], [[Styria]], and the [[March of Austria]] that would become [[Austria]].