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East Germany EARLY HISTORY
Ancient Period
The Germanic tribes, which probably originated from a mixture
of races in the coastal region of the Baltic Sea, inhabited the
greater northern part of the European continent by about 500 B.C.
By 100 B.C. they had advanced into the central and southern area
of present-day Germany. At this time, there were three major
groups: the eastern Germanic peoples living along the Oder and
Vistula rivers; the northern Germanic peoples inhabiting the
southern part of present-day Scandinavia; and the western
Germanic peoples inhabiting the extreme south of Jutland and the
area between the North Sea and the Elbe, Rhine, and Main rivers.
The Rhine was the temporary boundary line between Germanic and
Roman territory after the defeat of the Suevian tribe by Julius
Caesar about 70 B.C. The threatening presence of the warlike
tribes caused the Romans to pursue a campaign of expansion into
Germanic territory. However, the defeat of the provincial
governor Varus by Arminius in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest
(A.D. 9) halted Roman colonial policy; 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 300-mile fortification,
in the first century A.D.
The migration of Germanic peoples (Völkerwanderung)
from the second through the sixth century A.D. was a violent
period of change and destruction in which eastern and western
tribes left their native lands and settled in newly acquired
territories. This period of Germanic history, which later
supplied material for heroic epics, contributed to 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 established by the Franks and the AngloSaxons , the Germanic kingdoms founded during these centuries of
migration were of relatively short duration because of their
assimilation by the native Roman populations. The final conquest
of Roman Gaul by the Frankish tribes in the sixth century became
a milestone of European history; it was the Franks who were to
become the founders of a civilized German state.
Data as of July 1987
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