Before considering the very essence of the history of the ancient Germans, it is necessary to define this section of historical science.
The history of the ancient Germans is a branch of historical science that studies and tells the history of the Germanic tribes. This section covers the period from the creation of the first German states to the fall of the Western Roman Empire.

History of the ancient Germans
Origin of the ancient Germans

The ancient Germanic peoples as an ethnic group formed on the territory of Northern Europe. Their ancestors are considered to be Indo-European tribes who settled in Jutland, southern Scandinavia and in the Elbe River basin.
As an independent ethnic group, Roman historians began to distinguish them, the first mention of the Germans as an independent ethnic group refers to the monuments of the first century BC. From the second century BC, the tribes of the ancient Germans begin to move south. Already in the third century AD, the Germans began to actively attack the borders of the Western Roman Empire.
When they first met the Germans, the Romans wrote about them as northern tribes distinguished by a warlike disposition. Much information about the Germanic tribes can be found in the writings of Julius Caesar. The great Roman commander, having captured Gaul, moved west, where he had to engage in battle with the Germanic tribes. Already in the first century AD, the Romans collected information about the settlement of the ancient Germans, about their structure and customs.
During the first centuries of our era, the Romans waged constant wars with the Germans, but it was not possible to completely subdue them. After unsuccessful attempts to completely capture their lands, the Romans went on the defensive and made only punitive raids.
In the third century, the ancient Germans were already threatening the existence of the empire itself. Rome gave some of its territories to the Germans, and went on the defensive in more successful territories. But a new, even greater threat from the Germans arose during the great migration of peoples, as a result of which the hordes of the Germans settled on the territory of the empire. The Germans never stopped raiding Roman villages, despite all the measures taken.
At the beginning of the fifth century, the Germans, under the command of King Alaric, captured and plundered Rome. Following this, other Germanic tribes began to move, they fiercely attacked the provinces, and Rome could not defend them, all forces were thrown to the defense of Italy. Taking advantage of this, the Germans capture Gaul, and then Spain, where they establish their first kingdom.
The ancient Germans showed themselves excellently in alliance with the Romans, defeating Attila's army on the Catalaunian fields. After this victory, the Roman emperors begin to appoint German leaders as their commanders.
It was the Germanic tribes, led by King Odoacer, who destroyed the Roman Empire, overthrowing last emperor- Romulus Augustus. On the territory of the captured empire, the Germans began to create their kingdoms - the first early feudal monarchies of Europe.

Religion of the ancient Germans

All the Germans were pagans, and their paganism was different, in different parts, it was very different from each other. However, most of the pagan deities of the ancient Germans were common, only they were called by different names. So, for example, the Scandinavians had the god Odin, and to the Western Germans this deity was represented by the name Wotan.
The priests of the Germans were women, as Roman sources say, they were gray-haired. The Romans say that the pagan rituals of the Germans were extremely cruel. The throats of prisoners of war were cut, and predictions were made on the decomposed entrails of prisoners.
In women, the ancient Germans saw a special gift and also worshiped them. In their sources, the Romans confirm that each Germanic tribe could have their own unique rites and their own gods. The Germans did not build temples for the gods, but dedicated any land to them (groves, fields, etc.).

Occupations of the ancient Germans

Roman sources say that the Germans were mainly engaged in cattle breeding. They mainly raised cows and sheep. Their craft was developed insignificantly. But they had high quality furnaces, spears, shields. Only selected Germans could wear armor, that is, they could know.
The clothes of the Germans were mainly made from animal skins. Worn, both men and women, capes, the richest Germans could afford pants.
To a lesser extent, the Germans were engaged in agriculture, but they had a fairly high quality tools, they were made of iron. The Germans lived in large long houses (from 10 to 30 m), next to the house there were stalls for pets.
Before the great migration of peoples, the Germans led a sedentary way of life and cultivated the land. Of their own free will, the Germanic tribes never immigrated. On their lands they grew grain crops: oats, rye, wheat, barley.
The migration of peoples forced them to flee their native territories and try their luck on the ruins of the Roman Empire.

THE WORLD OF ANCIENT GERMANS

Scheme of the settlement of the Germanic tribes

The Germans, a motley mixture of different tribes, got their name, the meaning of which remains unclear, thanks to the Romans, who, in turn, probably took it from the language of the Celts. The Germans came to Europe from Central Asia and in the second millennium BC. e. settled between the Vistula and the Elbe, in Scandinavia, Jutland and Lower Saxony. They almost did not engage in agriculture, but mainly carried out military campaigns and predatory raids, during which they gradually settled in more and more vast territories. At the end of the II century. BC e. Cimbri and Teutons appeared on the borders of the Roman Empire. The Romans at first mistook them for the Gauls, that is, the Celts, but quickly noticed that they were dealing with a new and hitherto unknown people. Half a century later, Caesar in his Notes definitely distinguished between the Celts and the Germans.

But if the majority of the Celts were basically assimilated by the Greco-Roman civilization, then the situation was different with the Germans. When the ancient Roman historian Tacitus, after many unsuccessful campaigns of the Roman legions across the Rhine, wrote his famous book about the Germans, he depicted an alien barbarian world, from which, however, the charm of simplicity of manners and high morality, in contrast to the licentiousness of the Romans, emanated. However, Tacitus, who condemned the vices of the Romans, most likely exaggerated the virtues of the Germans, arguing that they were “a special people that retained their original purity and only looked like themselves.”

According to Tacitus, the Germans lived in small settlements scattered among dense forests, swamps and sandy wastelands overgrown with heather. Their society was built on a hierarchical principle and consisted of the nobility, free commoners, semi-free litas and non-free schalks. Only the last two groups were engaged in agriculture, which included previously captured captives and their offspring. Elected kings began to appear among some of the larger tribes, claiming that their ancestors were descended from the gods. Other tribes were led by military leaders or dukes, whose power did not claim to be of divine origin.

The Germans revered the gods, ideas about which underwent changes. Often, as a result of tribal clashes, the winners appropriated the gods of the defeated tribe, as if capturing them. Germanic gods surprisingly resembled mere mortals. They were not alien to such feelings as anger, rage, they were distinguished by a warlike spirit, experienced passions and even died. Chief among them is the warrior god Wotan, who reigns in the afterlife Valhalla, where the soldiers who fell in battle end up. Among other gods, the lord of thunder and lightning Thor (Donar) with his terrible hammer, the cunning and treacherous god of fire Loki, the beautiful god of spring and fertility Baldr stood out. They all live in a world of blood and fire, rage and revenge, fury and horror, in a world where an inevitable fate rules everyone. The gods of the Germans weaved conspiracies and committed crimes, suffered defeats and won victories. The gloomy poetry of the first song of the ancient German epic Edda depicts an invasion of dark forces, in the struggle against which gods and people perish. Everything disappears in an all-devouring great fire. But then the renewed world will be reborn, the bright Balder will return from the kingdom of the dead, a time of calm and abundance will come.

The picture created by the Germans themselves reflects the difficulties they faced on the way of their Christianization. It took a powerful external and internal upheaval before the concept of a loving and compassionate God, the idea of ​​mercy and forgiveness replaced the former world of fierce struggle, in which only honor or shame was known.

German mythology tells us about the people who lived in a harsh and poor environment. It was a world ruled by spirits and hidden forces, where evil and good dwarfs and giants lived, but there were no muses and sylphs. However, the role of women both in society and in religion among the Germans was much more significant than in the ancient world. For the Germans, something prophetic and sacred lurked in a woman. It is impossible to imagine the militant and domineering German Brunhilde locked up in a gynaecea. Only supernatural powers and Siegfried's magic belt could pacify her.

The Germans entered the stage of history when they left their northern settlements and began to move south. They not only displaced or assimilated the local Celtic-Illyrian population, but also adopted its higher culture. By the time of Caesar's reign, the Germans in the west had reached the banks of the Rhine, in the south they had broken through the Thuringian mountains and descended into Bohemia, in the east they had stopped in front of the impenetrable swamps between the Vistula and the Pripyat.

What reasons prompted the Germans to migrate? This question can only be answered hypothetically. First of all, it is necessary to take into account climate changes associated with a sharp cooling in southern Scandinavia. A decrease in temperature by an average of one or two degrees over the course of one century leads to such a change in flora and fauna that the life of people, already difficult, becomes unbearable. Subjective motives also played their role - the thirst for conquest, the extraction of wealth and warlike inclinations, to which religious ideas were also mixed.

The advance of the Germans to the south was not straightforward and steady. Between the time when the Cimbri and Teutons appeared on the Roman border, and the era during which the ancestors of the German people - the tribes of the Franks, Saxons, Thuringians, Swabians, Bavarians - settled their territories, seven centuries of wars and conflicts lay. Most of the tribes disappeared into the darkness of the past. Usually these were temporary associations for military campaigns, which arose as quickly as they disintegrated. Since there were not enough means of subsistence, the nomadic tribes and groups remained small. The largest ethnic groups of the era of resettlement usually numbered several tens of thousands of soldiers, and together with women, children, the elderly and slaves, their number ranged from 100-120 thousand people.

The Cherusci tribe, who settled in Westphalia, was widely known. One of their leaders was the famous Herman (the Latinized form of the name is Arminius), who led the fight against Rome. In his youth, he was brought up in this city, participated in the campaigns of the Roman legions, and even received Roman citizenship under the name Gaius Julius Arminius. In 9 A.D. e. he utterly defeated the three legions of the proconsul Publius Varus in the Teutoburg Forest. This, as is commonly believed, put an end to the plans of Emperor Augustus to push the Roman frontier to the Elbe. Strictly speaking, the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest was just one of countless frontier skirmishes. And in the future, the Romans repeatedly tried to reach the banks of the Elbe, but all their campaigns were unsuccessful. In the end, Rome stopped the unsuccessful and costly war and set about fortifying the border along the Danube and the Rhine. The southwestern part of Germany from Koblenz to Regensburg, still inhabited by wild Celts, and mainly by bears, wild boars and deer, remained in his power. Along the entire border, the Romans built a limes - a fortified rampart with moats and watchtowers, which was built over a hundred years.

It was not the Romans who succeeded in conquering the Germanic tribes, but the creator new empire, stretching from Spanish Barcelona to Magdeburg, from the mouth of the Rhine to Central Italy, to the Frankish king, and then to Emperor Charlemagne (747–814). In Carolingian Germany, a class-status system gradually developed, in which the position of a person was determined by his origin and occupation. Most of the peasants slowly but steadily turned into semi-dependent, and then personally not free people. In those troubled times, the institution of "guardianship" became widespread, when the peasants voluntarily went under the authority of the master, who promised them protection and patronage.

Division of Charlemagne's empire by the Treaty of Verdun 843

The empire of Charlemagne collapsed after the death of his successor Louis the Pious in 840. The grandchildren of Charles, according to the Treaty of Verdun in 843, divided the empire into three parts.

In the historical literature for a long time there was no clear distinction between the concepts of "German", "Frankish" and "German". Even today in popular writings there is an assertion that Charlemagne was the "first German emperor". However, the Carolingian Empire was, as it were, the common progenitor of modern France and Germany. But even today, it has not been possible to determine a universally recognized date from which one can trace the beginning of "German history." Some scientists, as before, take the Treaty of Verdun as a starting point; in the latest works, the formation of the German state dates back to the 11th and even the 12th centuries. Probably, the exact date generally impossible to determine, since the transition from the Carolingian East Frankish state to the medieval German Empire was not a one-time event, but a long process.

abstract in the academic discipline "History of the World"

on the topic: "History of Germany. Germanic tribes".

Plan

1. Introduction.

2. Germany. prehistoric times.

3. Germanic tribes within the Roman Empire.

4. The history of the German lands until the beginning of the X century.

5. Conclusion.

6. List of references.

1. Introduction.

The history of Germany has many blank spots, myths and dubious facts. The fact is that it never had any clearly fixed borders, nor a single economic, political and cultural center. The territory of present-day Germany was a place constantly traversed by various nomadic tribes. The ancient Germans, migrating from the northern part of Europe, gradually colonized these lands. The tribes of the Germans were not united, sometimes at enmity with each other, sometimes making alliances. The difference between them, even despite the established Germanic ethnic group, was fixed for many centuries. Advancing in southbound, they systematically ousted and assimilated the Celts. They were to play a decisive role in the fate of the Roman Empire, as well as participate in the formation of a number of European peoples and states. Therefore, in the future, the Germans will be closely connected with the British, French, Belgians, Swiss, Scandinavians, Czechs, Dutch, etc. This abstract work will be devoted to the early period in the history of Germany.

2. Germany. prehistoric times.

In prehistoric times, glaciers advanced on Central Europe four times. On the territory of present-day Germany, there were sites and migration routes of the most ancient hominids. The found remains of the Heidelberg man belong to the first interglacial warming, approximately 600 - 500 thousand years ago. Later, other finds were discovered by archaeologists: parts of the skeleton from Bilzingsleben, bone remains of a Steinheim man discovered near Stuttgart (second interglacial period), Scheningen and Lehringen wooden spears, Neanderthal remains found near Düsseldorf (third interglacial period). Neanderthal Man is now known to have evolved from Heidelberg Man. These prehistoric people lived in difficult climatic conditions and waged a tense struggle for survival. In particularly dangerous areas, on the border of glaciers, they tried to settle as close to each other as possible. Of course, it is still too early to talk about tribes, and even more so to consider these ancient people as Germans. After all, archaeologists believe that Germany was hardly inhabited until the Middle Paleolithic.

During the Upper Paleolithic period, traces of the migration of the Cro-Magnon man (an early representative modern man). The onset of the Mesolithic is distinguished by tools characteristic of this time, made of bones. The Dufensee culture is considered dominant, but the Tardenois culture is gradually beginning to penetrate. Over time, stone tools began to be used in everyday life. Near Rottenburg, several sites were discovered and explored, in which dwellings and workshops are clearly expressed. The Late Mesolithic (6000-4500 BC) brings climate change, from a continental climate to an Atlantic climate. Large forests appear in which deer, wild boars and other animals live, becoming one of the main sources of food for ancient man. In addition to animal food, there is also plant food: nuts, berries, acorns. Improved stone processing.

In the early Neolithic era, new population groups gradually penetrate into the lands of Germany from modern Austria and Hungary. Their main activity is animal husbandry and crop production. Ceramic products (linear-band ceramics) appear. With the advent of the Middle Neolithic, a culture of pricked pottery developed. The Münchshöfen culture belongs to the Late Neolithic, which includes the Copper Age. It was largely formed under the influence of cultures from neighboring Bohemia and Moravia. It is characterized by large ceramic vessels and goblets with legs. Copper products are not common, but apparently, even then it was mined in the Alps. The Münchshöfen culture was inherited by the Altheim culture, with the advent of which dwellings began to be erected in the swampy area on stilts in Bavaria. Archaeologists attribute the Hamer culture to the Late Copper Age.

In the Bronze Age, Germany is inhabited by peoples who speak Indo-European languages. This period is dominated by the culture of Corded Ware, as well as bell-shaped goblets. The era of hunters, forced to get their own food with the help of primitive weapons, is replaced by the era of shepherds. They have livestock that are moved from one pasture to another, followed by their families. It is known about a major battle that took place near the Tollense River around 1250 BC. e., which was attended by several thousand well-organized and armed warriors. In general, few historical monuments are known to us during this period. For the most part, these are burial mounds, in which there are jewelry in the form of a necklace or bracelets, dishes made of clay or copper. These grave hills suggest that a person was already thinking about the future afterlife, leaving various objects in the graves.

In the process of the continuous formation of an ethnic community, which continued throughout the Bronze Age in Germany, the following ethnic groups appeared: the Celts, who inhabited from the XIII century BC. e. before the Roman invasion most Europe; the Venets, who settled east of the Germans (they completely disappeared from the map of Europe after the Great Migration of Peoples, which began in the 4th century AD); northwestern block - the peoples who lived in the territory of the modern Netherlands, Belgium, Northern France and Western Germany, speaking languages ​​​​other than the Celtic language or Germanic and assimilated by these ethnic groups in the future.

Additions of the Proto-German ethnic and linguistic community scientists attribute to the 1st millennium BC. e. and are associated with the Jastorf culture, which bordered on the Celtic La Tène culture. The ancient Germans lived in the north of Germany, their closest neighbors were the Celts who settled in the south. Gradually, starting from the Iron Age, the Germans forced them out or assimilated them. By the 1st century BC. e. The Germans settled in lands approximately coinciding with the territory of present-day Germany.

3. Germanic tribes within the Roman Empire.

The ancient Germans, as a single ethnic group, formed in the northern part of Europe from various tribes who were carriers of the Indo-European language. They led a settled way of life in the lands of Jutland, Scandinavia and in the region of the lower Elbe. Approximately from the II century BC. e. the Germans begin to move south, displacing the Celts. The Germanic tribes were numerous, but there was no unity among them. They can be divided into groups on a geographical basis. Batavs, Bructers, Hamavs, Hutts and Ubii lived between the Rhine, Main and Weser. Hawks, Angles, Varins, Frisians settled on the coast North Sea. Marcomanni, Quadi, Lombards and Semnons inhabited the lands from the Elbe to the Oder. Vandals, Burgundians and Goths lived between the Oder and the Vistula. Svions and Gauts entrenched in Scandinavia.

The ancient Germans had a tribal system. The council of warriors at a special meeting chose a leader for themselves, after which he was raised on a shield. The ruler was only the first of equals and did not have absolute power, his decrees and decisions could be criticized and challenged. During the war, the tribe is led by a military leader - the duke. The main type of occupation is cattle breeding and internecine wars. The land was collectively owned. The migration of many tribes is very difficult to trace, they often mixed up and even changed names. So the Suebi suddenly became Alemanni, Franks and Saxons, the Bavarians will begin their origins from the Bohemian Marcomanni, etc. Over time, they will have common gods and beliefs. They are not afraid of death, because they know that after they die in battle they will go to Valhalla, where Wotan awaits them.

The ancient world first learned about the Germans from the writings of the Greek navigator Pytheas from Massalia, who traveled to the shores of the North and Baltic Seas. Later, Caesar and Tacitus wrote about the life of the Germanic tribes. The strength and power of the Roman military machine for a long time frightened and inspired fear in the Germans, who were in constant search for new lands, but their clash was only a matter of time. From 58 BC e. to 455 AD e. the territories west of the Rhine and south of the Danube were under the control of the Roman Empire. Moreover, from 80 to 260 years. n. e. it included part of present-day Hesse and part of present-day Baden-Württemberg. Roman possessions on the site of modern Germany were divided into a number of provinces: Germania Superior, Germania Inferior and Rhetia. During the period of Roman domination, such cities as Trier, Cologne, Bonn, Worms and Augsburg appeared.

Rome first encountered a military confrontation with the Germans during the invasion of the Cimbri and Teutons in the 2nd century BC. e. (113-101 BC). They moved from Jutland in search of new lands. In 113 BC. e. The Cimbri defeated the Romans in the Danubian Alpine province of Norik. Later, uniting with the Teutons, they defeated the Romans at the battle of Arausion. In 102-101 BC. e. Gaius Marius defeated the barbarians, pushing them back over the Alps. The second contact took place already in the 1st century BC. e., after Gaius Julius Caesar subjugated Gaul and went to the Rhine. In 72 BC. e. Sueves under the command of Ariovistus to support the Celtic tribes in the war against the allies of the Romans, the Aedui, invade Gaul. After Ariovistus defeated them, other Germanic tribes headed to Gaul. In 58 B.C. e. Julius Caesar opposed the barbarians and, having defeated them, threw the Germans back behind the Rhine. Three years later, Caesar destroyed the Usipetes and Tencteri tribes and crossed the Rhine for the first time, after which this river became the natural northwestern frontier of the Roman Empire for four centuries.

In the second half of the 1st century BC. e. rebellions often broke out in Gaul, which were supported by the Germanic tribes. The Romans had to invade the German lands in order to conduct punitive expeditions against the Germans. The second Roman commander to cross the Rhine was Mark Agrippa, who founded a fortress on the left bank of the Rhine. In 29 BC e. Guy Carrina fought against the Suebi, helping the Gauls, and in 25 BC. e. Mark Vinicius had already tried to punish the Germans for robbing Roman merchants. In 17 or 16 BC. e., Sugambri, Usipets and Tencters, again entered the borders of Gaul. It became clear that without decisive action the Germans simply could not be pacified. Octavian Augustus begins preparations for a large anti-German campaign, which resulted in a series of operations from 12 BC to 12 AD. e. to 12 n. e., which will be headed by Drusus the Elder and Tiberius. Some tribes were exterminated, their lands devastated. Drusus advanced to the Elbe, but after he died, Tiberius took his place. However, Rome did not want to annex the poor lands, at the cost of such efforts it was decided to create a German kingdom under the protectorate of Rome, which was destined to not last long until Arminius, the Cheruscan leader, rebelled, during which the Romans suffered a crushing defeat in the Teutoburg Forest. The rebels were defeated only in 16 AD. e. after which Arminius was killed by his inner circle. As a result, only Upper and Lower Germany remained under the rule of Rome. In 69, the Batavians, led by Julius Civilis, raised an uprising. They captured a number of fortresses along the Rhine. In 70, the rebels were pacified. The new emperor Domitian finally decided not to conquer the poor and hard-to-reach lands of the Germans. He decided to protect himself from barbarian raids by the defensive line of the Rhine-Danube, which stretched for more than five hundred kilometers. This stopped the migration of unsubdued Germanic tribes for a long time and isolated them. In the second half of the 2nd century A.D. e. the barbarians crossed the Rhine-Danube border and invaded Italy. In 180, Emperor Commodus managed to make peace with them and agree on the restoration of the former borders. In the III century, German raids on the eastern provinces of the empire resumed, which escalated into the Gothic wars. Ready managed to stop and defeat Emperor Aurelian on their own lands. On the western frontier, the Romans were threatened by the Alemanni, who were only held back with the help of loyal Marcomanni. In the 270s, part of Gaul was captured by the Franks, whom the emperor Probus managed to squeeze out.

In the IV century, the appearance of the Huns in the steppes of the northern Black Sea region set in motion the Germanic tribes, pressed by the hordes of these nomads. All this century, the Romans held back pressure from the Goths, Alemanni, Franks, and others in the area of ​​the Rhine and Danube. Somewhere success accompanied the Romans, somewhere they had to cede land to the barbarians, on which they settled, such as in Thrace. But oppressed by the imperial authorities, they often raised uprisings. One of the largest happened in 395, under the leadership of the Visigothic leader Alaric, in 410 he even ravaged Rome.

Relations between the Germans and Rome consisted not only of a series of endless wars, but also of mutually beneficial agreements. Rome saw that the Germans were not united and took advantage of this. The Romans realized that it was better to have tribes loyal to themselves than to constantly keep legions in the provinces. With the help of the allied Germans, other barbarian tribes could be held back. Many Germans entered the service of the Roman troops and served in the border garrisons, for which they received land. Over time, the Germans appeared among the military elite officers. Some, before becoming leaders of their tribe, managed to succeed in the service of the Romans. One of the first who chose friendship with the Romans were the Frisians and Suevi-Nikrets. Communication was not limited only to military alliances, trade was also carried out. Many items of Roman production: wine, jewelry, silverware, were found by archaeologists in the tombs of German leaders. In turn, Roman merchants imported fish, furs, skins, and amber. Diplomacy did not lag behind, for the loyalty and humility of one or another leader, Rome paid in gold and silver. Therefore, before the empire fell under their onslaught, which by the way was never organized and spontaneous, it had close relations with the Germanic tribes.

5th century AD e. was the last in the history of the Roman Empire, which is in the process of decay and decline. And leading role it was the Germanic tribes that had to play in this. The Goths were the first to rush into the empire in large numbers back in the 4th century, followed by the Franks, Burgundians, and Sueves. Rome could no longer hold many provinces, as soon as the legions left Gaul, the Vandals, Suebi, Alans, and later the Burgundians and Franks came there. In 409 they broke into Spain. On the fragments of the Roman state, the first prototypes of the German states began to appear. The Kingdom of the Suebi was located in most of the Iberian Peninsula and lasted until 585. The Visigoths in 418 formed their state in Aquitaine. The Burgundians founded their kingdom in Gaul, which fell in 437 at the hands of the Huns. The Vandals settled on the shores of North Africa, founding the kingdom of the Vandals and Alans. In 455 they temporarily captured Rome. In 451, on the Catalaunian fields in Gaul, the Germans managed to defeat Attila, the leader of the Huns. The Roman emperor became very dependent on the Germanic tribes and in the period from 460 to 470. even appointed the Germans to the post of his commanders. In 476, the Germanic Wars, who were in the service of the Roman army under the leadership of Odoacer, overthrew the last Roman emperor, Romulus Augustus, without putting anyone in his place, this was the end of the Western Roman Empire.

4. The history of the German lands until the beginning of the X century.

After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the Frankish tribes became the strongest and most important among all the Germans. The Kingdom of the Franks was formed by Clovis I of the Merovingian dynasty. He, in the role of the first king of the Franks, began his conquests from Gaul. In the course of further campaigns, the lands of the Alemanni on the Rhine in 496, the possessions of the Visigoths in Aquitaine in 507 and the Franks who lived along the middle reaches of the Rhine were subjugated. The sons of Clovis defeated the leader of the Burgundians Godomaru in 534, and his state was included in the kingdom of the Franks. In 536, the leader of the Ostrogoths, Vitigis, ceded Provence to them. Further, the Franks extended their influence to the Alpine territories of the Alemanni and Thuringians between the Weser and the Elbe, as well as the possessions of the Bavarians on the Danube.

The Merovingian state was a loose political entity that did not have economic and ethnic unity. After the death of Clovis, his heirs divided the empires, occasionally joining forces for joint military campaigns. There were continuous internecine conflicts, during which power fell into the hands of senior dignitaries of the royal court - mayors. In the middle of the VIII century, Major Pepin the Short son of the famous Charles Martel, deposed the last ruler from the Merovingian family and became a monarch himself, thus founding the Carolingian dynasty. In 800, Charlemagne, son of Pepin the Short, assumed the title of Roman emperor. The German city of Aachen became the capital of the empire. At this time, the peak of the power of the Frankish power comes. Louis the Pious became the last king of the united Frankish state. He waged endless wars that brought the country to a crisis. After his death, the empire broke up into several independent states.

In 843, the grandchildren of Kard the Great signed the Treaty of Verdun, according to which the West Frankish kingdom was assigned to Charles the Bald, the Middle Kingdom went to Lothair, and the German part passed to Louis the German. It is the East Frankish kingdom that is considered by scientists as the first full-fledged German state. It controlled the lands east of the Rhine and north of the Alps. The East Frankish state showed stable development, which led in 870 to the expansion of its borders. The eastern part of Lorraine was included in its composition, including the Netherlands, Alsace and Lorraine proper. The process of development by the Germans of the territory along the Elbe, where the Slavs had previously lived, began. Louis the German chose Regensburg as his capital. The German state consisted of five semi-independent duchies: Saxony, Bavaria, Franconia, Swabia and Thuringia (Later Lorraine was added). The king did not have absolute power and was dependent on large feudal lords. The peasants still had a number of personal and property freedoms, the process of enslavement began somewhat later. By the end of the 9th century, the principle of the inseparability of the state had developed, the throne of which was to be inherited from father to eldest son. In 911, the German line of Carolingians ceased to exist, but this did not lead to a transfer of power to the French Carolingians. The East Frankish aristocracy elected the Franconian Duke Conrad I as their king. This secured the rights of the German princes to appoint a successor, if the deceased ruler had no sons to whom the throne could pass. Conrad turned out to be a weak monarch, who practically lost influence on the duchies. After his death in 918, the Duke of Saxony Henry I the Fowler (918-936) became king. He led several successful military campaigns against the Hungarians and Danes and erected defensive fortifications that protected Saxony from the invasion of the Slavs and Hungarians. Thus, by the 10th century, all the conditions had developed for the creation of a full-fledged German statehood and the formation of its own ruling dynasty, independent of the French line of the Carolingians.

5. Conclusion.

In this paper, we examined the early history of the Germanic lands and tribes. As you can see, the territory of modern Germany from prehistoric times was the site of ancient human settlements, on which traces of various cultures were found. In the first millennium BC. e. German tribes begin to penetrate into central Europe, from Scandinavia, gradually mastering these lands and squeezing out the Celts. At the turn of II-I centuries. BC e. The Germans first encounter the Romans. This confrontation will last for several centuries. The disunity of the Germans will play into the hands of the Romans, who will use this to their advantage. By fighting with some, they will be able to make alliances with others. The invasion of the Huns into Europe in the 4th century, which began, will set in motion the Goths, who will begin to massively move to the lands of the empire, followed by other tribes. As a result, in the 5th century, the Germans form their first kingdoms on the fragments of Ancient Rome, which will finally fall at the hands of all the same Germans who deposed the last emperor. In the future, the leading Germanic tribe would be the Franks, who formed the Frankish state, subjugating other tribes and even Gaul. According to scientists, it will become, in fact, the first full-fledged German state.

6. List of references.

1. Short story Germany / Schulze Hagen - Publisher: Ves Mir, 2004. - 256 p.

2. History of Germany. Volume 1. From ancient times to the creation of the German Empire / Bonwetsch Bernd - Publisher: Publisher: KDU, 2008. - 644 p.

3. History of Germany / Andre Morua - Publisher: Azbuka-Atticus, 2017. - 320 p.

4. A Brief History of Germany / James Howes - Publisher: Azbuka-Atticus, 2017. - 370 p.

5. German history. Through the thorns of two millennia / Alexander Patrushev - Publisher: "Publishing House of the International University in Moscow", 2007. - 708 p.

6. German tribes in the wars against the Roman Empire / S. Evseenkov, V. Mityukov, A. Kozlenko - Publisher: Reitar, 2007. - 60 p.

The name of the Germans aroused bitter sensations in the Romans, evoked gloomy memories in their imagination. From the time the Teutons and Cimbri crossed the Alps and rushed in a devastating avalanche to beautiful Italy, the Romans looked with alarm at the peoples little known to them, worried about the continuous movements in ancient Germany beyond the ridge that fences Italy from the north. Even Caesar's brave legions were seized with fear as he led them against the Suebi Ariovistus. The fear of the Romans was increased by the terrible news of the defeat of Varus in the Teutoburg Forest, the stories of soldiers and captives about the severity of the German country, about the savagery of its inhabitants, their high growth, about human sacrifices. The inhabitants of the south, the Romans, had the darkest ideas about Ancient Germany, about impenetrable forests that stretch from the banks of the Rhine for nine days of travel east to the headwaters of the Elbe and whose center is the Hercynian Forest, filled with unknown monsters; about swamps and desert steppes that stretch in the north to the stormy sea, over which lie thick fogs that do not allow the life-giving rays of the sun to reach the earth, on which swamp and steppe grass is covered with snow for many months, along which there are no ways from the region of one people to the region another. These ideas about the severity, gloominess of Ancient Germany were so deeply rooted in the thoughts of the Romans that even the impartial Tacitus says: “Who would leave Asia, Africa or Italy to go to Germany, a country of harsh climate, devoid of any beauty, making an unpleasant impression on everyone, living in it or visiting it, if it is not his homeland? The prejudices of the Romans against Germany were strengthened by the fact that they considered barbaric, wild all those lands that lay beyond the borders of their state. So, for example, Seneca says: “Think of those peoples who live outside the Roman state, about the Germans and about the tribes wandering along the lower Danube; Does not an almost continuous winter weigh on them, a constantly overcast sky, is not the food that the hostile barren soil gives them?

Family of ancient Germans

Meanwhile, near the majestic oak and leafy linden forests, already then grew in ancient Germany fruit trees and there were not only steppes and swamps covered with moss, but also fields abundant in rye, wheat, oats, barley; the ancient Germanic tribes had already mined iron for weapons from the mountains; healing warm waters were already known in Mattiak (Wiesbaden) and in the land of the Tungros (in Spa or Aachen); and the Romans themselves said that in Germany there are a lot cattle, horses, a lot of geese, the fluff of which the Germans use for pillows and feather beds, that Germany is rich in fish, wild bird, wild animals suitable for food, that fishing and hunting bring delicious food to the Germans. Only gold and silver ores in the German mountains were not yet known. “The gods denied them silver and gold, I don’t know how to say whether it was out of mercy or dislike for them,” says Tacitus. Trade in ancient Germany was only exchange, and only the tribes neighboring the Roman state used money, which they received a lot from the Romans for their goods. The princes of the ancient Germanic tribes or people who traveled as ambassadors to the Romans had gold and silver vessels received as a gift; but, according to Tacitus, they valued them no more than earthenware. The fear that the ancient Germans initially inspired in the Romans later turned into surprise at their tall stature, physical strength, and respect for their customs; the expression of these feelings is the "Germany" of Tacitus. At the end wars of the era of Augustus and Tiberius relations between the Romans and the Germans became close; educated people traveled to Germany, wrote about it; this smoothed out many of the old prejudices, and the Romans began to judge the Germans better. The concepts of the country and climate remained with them the same, unfavorable, inspired by the stories of merchants, adventurers, returning captives, exaggerated complaints of soldiers about the difficulties of campaigns; but the Germans themselves began to be considered among the Romans as people who have much good in themselves; and finally, the fashion appeared among the Romans to make their appearance, if possible, similar to the German one. The Romans admired the tall and slender, strong physique of the ancient Germans and German women, their flowing golden hair, light blue eyes, in whose eyes pride and courage were expressed. Noble Roman women artificially gave their hair the color that they liked so much in the women and girls of Ancient Germany.

In peaceful relations, the ancient Germanic tribes inspired respect for the Romans with their courage, strength, militancy; those qualities with which they were terrible in battles turned out to be respectable in friendship with them. Tacitus extols the purity of morals, hospitality, straightforwardness, fidelity to the word, marital fidelity of the ancient Germans, their respect for women; he praises the Germans to such an extent that his book on their customs and institutions seems to many scholars to have been written with the intention that his wicked compatriots devoted to pleasures would be ashamed when they read this description of a simple, honest life; they think that Tacitus wanted to vividly characterize the depravity of Roman customs by depicting the life of Ancient Germany, which was the exact opposite of them. Indeed, in his praise of the strength and purity of marital relations among the ancient Germanic tribes, one hears sadness about the depravity of the Romans. In the Roman state, the decline of the former beautiful state was everywhere visible, it was clear that everything was leaning towards destruction; the brighter was drawn in the thoughts of Tacitus the life of ancient Germany, which still retained primitive customs. His book is imbued with a vague foreboding that Rome is in great danger from a people whose wars are more deeply etched in the memory of the Romans than the wars with the Samnites, Carthaginians and Parthians. He says that "more triumphs were celebrated over the Germans than victories were won"; he foresaw that a black cloud on the northern edge of the Italian horizon would burst over the Roman state with new thunderclaps, stronger than the previous ones, because "the freedom of the Germans is more powerful than the strength of the Parthian king." The only reassurance for him is the hope for dissension among the ancient Germanic tribes, for mutual hatred between their tribes: “Let the Germanic peoples, if not love for us, then the hatred of some tribes for others; with the dangers that threaten our state, fate cannot give us anything better than discord between our enemies.

Settlement of the ancient Germans according to Tacitus

Let us combine those features with which Tacitus describes in his "Germany" the way of life, customs, institutions of the ancient Germanic tribes; he makes these notes fragmentarily, without strict order; but, putting them together, we get a picture in which there are many gaps, inaccuracies, misunderstandings, or Tacitus himself, or the people who informed him of information, much is borrowed from folk tradition, which does not have reliability, but which nevertheless shows us the main features of life Ancient Germany, the germs of what subsequently developed. The information that Tacitus gives us, supplemented and explained by the news of other ancient writers, legends, considerations about the past based on later facts, serve as the basis for our knowledge of the life of the ancient Germanic tribes in primitive times.

Hutt tribe

The lands to the northeast of the Mattiaks were inhabited by the ancient Germanic tribe of the Hatts (Chazzi, Hazzi, Hesses - Hessians), whose country went to the borders of the Hercynian forest. Tacitus says that the Hutts were of a dense, strong physique, that they had a courageous look, a mind more active than that of other Germans; judging by German standards, the Hutts have a lot of prudence and ingenuity, he says. Their young man, having reached adulthood, did not cut his hair, did not shave his beard until he killed the enemy: “only then does he consider himself to have paid the debt for his birth and upbringing, worthy of the fatherland and parents,” says Tacitus.

Under Claudius, a detachment of the Germans-Hattas made a predatory raid on the Rhine, in the province of Upper Germany. The legate Lucius Pomponius sent vangios, Germans and a detachment of cavalry under the command of Pliny the Elder to cut off the retreat of these robbers. The warriors went very zealously, dividing into two detachments; one of them caught the Hutts returning from a robbery, when they were resting and drunk so much that they were unable to defend themselves. This victory over the Germans was, according to Tacitus, all the more joyful because on this occasion several Romans were freed from slavery, taken prisoner forty years before during the defeat of Varus. Another detachment of the Romans and their allies went to the land of the Hutts, defeated them and, having gained much booty, returned to Pomponius, who stood with the legions on Taun, ready to repel the Germanic tribes if they wanted to take revenge. But the Hatti feared that when they attacked the Romans, the Cherusci, their enemies, would invade their land, so they sent envoys and hostages to Rome. Pomponius was more famous for his dramas than for his military exploits, but for this victory he received a triumph.

The ancient Germanic tribes of the Usipetes and Tencters

The lands to the north of Lahn, on the right bank of the Rhine, were inhabited by the ancient Germanic tribes of the Usipets (or Usipians) and Tencters. The tencters were famous for their excellent cavalry; Their children amused themselves by riding, and the old people also liked to ride. The warhorse of the father was given as an inheritance to the bravest of the sons. Farther northeast along the Lippe and the headwaters of the Ems lived the Bructers, and behind them eastward to the Weser, the Hamavs and Angrivars. Tacitus heard that the Bructers had a war with their neighbors, that the Bructers were driven out of their land and almost completely exterminated; this civil strife was, in his words, "a joyful sight for the Romans." It is probable that in the same part of Germany also lived the Marses, a brave people exterminated by Germanicus.

Frisian tribe

The lands along the seashore from the mouth of the Ems to the Batavians and Kaninefats were the area of ​​settlement of the ancient Germanic tribe of the Frisians. The Frisians also occupied the neighboring islands; these swampy places were not enviable to anyone, says Tacitus, but the Frisians loved their homeland. For a long time they obeyed the Romans, not caring about their fellow tribesmen. In gratitude for the patronage of the Romans, the Frisians gave them a certain number of oxhides for the needs of the troops. When this tribute became burdensome due to the greed of the Roman ruler, this Germanic tribe took up arms, defeated the Romans, overthrew their power (27 A.D.). But under Claudius, the brave Corbulo managed to return the Frisians to an alliance with Rome. Under Nero, a new quarrel began (58 AD) due to the fact that the Frisians occupied and began to cultivate some areas on the right bank of the Rhine that lay empty. The Roman ruler ordered them to leave from there, they did not obey and sent two princes to Rome to ask that this land be left behind them. But the Roman ruler attacked the Frisians who settled there, exterminated some of them, took the other into slavery. The land they had occupied became a desert again; the soldiers of the neighboring Roman detachments let their cattle graze on it.

Hawk Tribe

To the east from Ems to the lower Elbe and inland to the Hattians lived the ancient Germanic tribe of the Chavks, whom Tacitus calls the noblest of the Germans, who made justice the basis of their power; he says: “They have neither greed for conquest nor arrogance; they live calmly, avoiding quarrels, do not call anyone to war with insults, do not devastate, do not plunder neighboring lands, do not seek to base their predominance on insults to others; this is the best evidence of their valor and strength; but they are all ready for war, and when the need arises, their army is always under arms. They have a lot of warriors and horses, their name is famous even with peacefulness. This praise does not fit well with the news reported by Tacitus himself in the Chronicle that the hawks often went on their boats to rob ships that sailed along the Rhine and neighboring Roman possessions, that they expelled the Ansibars and took over their land.

Germanic Cherusci

To the south of the havki lay the land of the ancient Germanic tribe of the Cherusci; this brave nation, heroically defending freedom and homeland, had already lost its former strength and glory in the time of Tacitus. Under Claudius, the Cherusci tribe called Italicus, son of Flavius ​​and nephew of Arminius, a handsome and brave young man, and made him king. At first he ruled kindly and justly, then, expelled by his opponents, he defeated them with the help of the Lombards and began to rule cruelly. We have no news of his further fate. Weakened by strife and having lost their militancy from a long peace, the Cherusci in the time of Tacitus had no power and were not respected. Their neighbors, the Foz Germans, were also weak. Of the Germanic Cimbri, whom Tacitus calls a tribe of small numbers, but famous for their deeds, he only says that in the time of Marius they inflicted many heavy defeats on the Romans, and that the vast camps that remained of them on the Rhine show that they were then very numerous.

Suebi tribe

The ancient Germanic tribes who lived further to the east between the Baltic Sea and the Carpathians, in a country very little known to the Romans, Tacitus, like Caesar, calls the common name of the Suebi. They had a custom that distinguished them from other Germans: free people combed their long hair up and tied it over the top of the head, so that they fluttered like a sultan. They believed that this made them more fearsome to enemies. There was a lot of research and controversy about which tribes the Romans called the Suebi, and about the origin of this tribe, but with the darkness and contradictory information about them among ancient writers, these questions remain unresolved. The simplest explanation for the name of this ancient Germanic tribe is that "Suebi" means nomads (schweifen, "wander"); The Romans called Suebi all those numerous tribes that lived far from the Roman border behind dense forests, and believed that these Germanic tribes were constantly moving from place to place, because they were most often heard about from the tribes driven by them to the west. The news of the Romans about the Suebi is inconsistent and borrowed from exaggerated rumors. They say that the Suebi tribe had a hundred districts, from which each could put up a large army, that their country was surrounded by a desert. These rumors supported the fear that the name of the Suebi already inspired in Caesar's legions. Without a doubt, the Suebi were a federation of many ancient Germanic tribes, closely related to each other, in which the former nomadic life had not yet been completely replaced by a settled one, cattle breeding, hunting and war still prevailed over agriculture. Tacitus calls the oldest and noblest of them the Semnons who lived on the Elbe, and the Lombards, who lived north of the Semnons, the bravest.

Hermunduri, Marcomanni and Quads

The region to the east of the Dekumat region was inhabited by the ancient Germanic tribe of the Hermundurs. These faithful allies of the Romans enjoyed great confidence in them and had the right to freely trade in the main city of the Raetian province, the current Augsburg. Down the Danube, to the east, lived a tribe of the Germans-Narisks, and behind the Drafts, the Marcomanni and Quads, who retained the courage that brought them the possession of their land. The regions of these ancient Germanic tribes formed the stronghold of Germany on the Danube side. The kings of the Marcomanni for quite a long time were the descendants of Maroboda, then foreigners who gained power through the influence of the Romans and held on thanks to their patronage.

East Germanic tribes

The Germans, who lived behind the Marcomanni and the Quadi, had as their neighbors tribes of non-Germanic origin. Of the peoples who lived there in the valleys and gorges of the mountains, Tacitus ranks some among the Suebi, for example, the Marsigns and Boers; others, such as the Gotins, he considers Celts by their language. The ancient German tribe of the Gotins was subject to the Sarmatians, they extracted iron for their masters from their mines and paid tribute to them. Behind these mountains (the Sudetes, the Carpathians) lived many tribes, ranked by Tacitus among the Germans. Of these, the most extensive area was occupied by the Germanic tribe of Lygians, who probably lived in present-day Silesia. The Lygians formed a federation, to which belonged, besides various other tribes, the Garians and the Nagarwals. To the north of the Lygians lived the Germanic Goths, and behind the Goths the Rugians and Lemovians; the Goths had kings who had more power than the kings of other ancient Germanic tribes, but still not so much that the freedom of the Goths was suppressed. from Pliny and Ptolemy we know that in the north-east of Germany (probably between the Warta and the Baltic Sea) lived the ancient Germanic tribes of the Burgundians and Vandals; but Tacitus does not mention them.

Germanic tribes of Scandinavia: Svions and Sitons

The tribes that lived on the Vistula and the south bank Baltic Sea, closed the borders of Germany; to the north of them on a large island (Scandinavia) lived Germanic Svions and Sitons, strong, except for ground forces, and the fleet. Their ships had prows at both ends. These tribes differed from the Germans in that their kings had unlimited power and did not leave weapons in their hands, but kept them in storerooms guarded by slaves. The sitons, in the words of Tacitus, stooped to such servility that they were commanded by the queen, and they obeyed the woman. Beyond the land of the Germanic Svions, says Tacitus, there is another sea, the water of which is almost still. This sea closes the extreme limits of the earth. In summer, after sunset, its radiance there still retains such strength that it darkens the stars all night.

Non-German tribes of the Baltic: Aestii, Peukins and Finns

The right bank of the Suevian (Baltic) Sea washes the land of the Aestii (Estonia). In customs and dress, the Aestii resemble the Suebi, and in language, according to Tacitus, they are closer to the Britons. Iron is rare among them; their usual weapon is a mace. They farm more diligently than the lazy Germanic tribes; they swim in the sea, and they are the only people who collect amber; they call it glaesum (German glas, "glass"?) they collect it from the shallows in the sea and on the shore. For a long time they left him lying among other things that the sea throws up; but Roman luxury finally drew their attention to it: "they themselves do not use it, they export it in an unfinished form and marvel that they receive payment for it."

After that, Tacitus gives the names of the tribes, about which he says that he does not know whether they should be ranked among the Germans or among the Sarmatians; these are the Wends (Vends), Peucins and Fenns. Of the Wends, he says that they live by war and robbery, but differ from the Sarmatians in that they build houses and fight on foot. Of the Peukins, he says that some writers call them Bastarns, that they are similar in language, clothing, but in the appearance of their dwellings to the ancient Germanic tribes, but that, having mixed with the Sarmatians through marriages, they learned from them laziness and untidiness. Far to the north live the Fenns (Finns), the most extreme people of the inhabited space of the earth; they are complete savages and live in extreme poverty. They have neither weapons nor horses. The Finns feed on grass and wild animals, which they kill with arrows having pointed bone tips; they dress in animal skins, sleep on the ground; in protection from bad weather and predatory animals, they make wattle fences from branches. This tribe, says Tacitus, fears neither men nor gods. It has achieved what is most difficult for man to achieve: they do not need to have any desires. Behind the Finns, according to Tacitus, there is already a fabulous world.

No matter how great the number of ancient Germanic tribes was, no matter how great was the difference in social life between the tribes that had kings and did not have them, the astute observer Tacitus saw that they all belonged to one national whole, that they were parts of a great people, which, without mixing with foreigners, lived according to completely original customs; fundamental sameness was not smoothed out by tribal differences. The language, the nature of the ancient Germanic tribes, their way of life and the veneration of the common Germanic gods showed that they all have a common origin. Tacitus says that in old folk songs the Germans praise the god Tuiscon, who was born from the earth, and his son Mann, as their ancestors, that from the three sons of Mann, three indigenous groups descended and received their names, which covered all the ancient Germanic tribes: Ingaevons (Friesians), Germinons (Svevi) and Istevons. In this legend of Germanic mythology, under the legendary shell, the testimony of the Germans themselves survived that, for all their fragmentation, they did not forget the commonality of their origin and continued to consider themselves fellow tribesmen.

History of the origin of the ancient Germanic tribes.
(my research)

For a long time (since 1972) I myself (this is my hobby, which I still do) collected all the information on the ancient history of all the peoples of the world.

It was information on various sciences - in archeology, ethnography, anthropology. This information was extracted from various historical reference books, scientific books, popular magazines, newspapers and television, and last years from the Internet. For 30 years (by 2002) I had collected a lot of scientific information and I thought that I was close to my goal - to create a historical atlas of all peoples, tribes and cultures from the most ancient times. But using all the information, such an atlas did not work out, and I began to re-read all the religious literature, myths and legends. Only after that, and also after reading the books of Blavatsky, Roerich and other authors who analyzed myths and legends, I got a complete picture of the origin of all the peoples of the world starting from 17 million years ago. After that, I completed the creation of my historical atlas, this happened in 2006. Attempts to publish the atlas were unsuccessful, since all publishers demanded money in advance, it turns out that only those who have a lot of money can publish a book. And the fact that people need such a book does not bother anyone (especially publishers). Based on his atlas, as well as his book "Fiction about ancient history"I can now chronologically consistently the history of the origin of any people in the world. And I decided to make my research on the example of the origin of the Germanic tribes.
Germanic languages ​​belong to the Germanic group of languages ​​and are part of the Indo-European family of peoples of the world, therefore, the selection of ancient Germanic tribes from the total mass of all ancient Indo-Europeans cannot be considered without considering the issue of the origin of the Indo-Europeans.
Approximately 18-13 thousand years ago in the north of Europe (on the mainland Arctida in the Arctic Ocean) the Hyperborean civilization existed and flourished, that is, before the Great Glaciation in the 13th millennium BC). But gradually the mainland Arktina began to go under water (to settle to the bottom of the ocean). This has always happened on Earth - some territories are rising, others are falling, and in our time this is also happening, only we do not notice, human life is so short that global changes on the planet are invisible to us.
By the end of the 15th millennium BC. Arctida sank to the bottom of the ocean so that the main population of it has already begun to live in the northern part of Eastern Europe(Murmansk and Arkhangelsk regions, the Northern Urals and the north of Scandinavia). In the 13th millennium BC. in the north of Europe there was a sharp cooling, glaciers appeared there.
As a result of the advance of the glaciers, the Hyperboreans and their descendants began to move south. This migration was the end of the Hyperborean civilization. Gradually, the Hyperboreans disappeared (only their descendants remained), although there is an opinion of some researchers that some of them reached the Mediterranean Sea and participated in the creation of new civilizations there (in the Middle East, Mesopotamia, Egypt and Greece).
The bulk of the descendants of the Hyperboreans remained in the north of Eastern Europe, they no longer had that knowledge, they even greatly degraded (reached the primitive communal level of development).
About 7500 years ago. in the territory between the Urals (including the Urals) and the Baltic states, the Shigir archaeological culture arose. The tribes of this culture were the starting point for the emergence of the Finno-Ugric and Indo-European peoples.
About 4800 BC. the tribes of the Indo-Europeans finally stood out from the total mass of the Shigirs. Three groups of Indo-European tribes were formed - the Narva (the Narva archaeological culture occupied the territory of modern Latvia, Lithuania, the Novgorod and Pskov regions), the Upper Volga (the Upper Volga archaeological culture occupied the territory from the Novgorod region along the southern bank of the Upper Volga, up to Tatarstan, including the Oka basin) and the Aryan (these are the ancestors of the Indo-Persian peoples, they occupied the territory east of the Upper Volga, including the Southern Urals and the south Western Siberia).
By 3900 BC. all three groups of Indo-European peoples expanded their territories. The Nar group settled the territory of Estonia, the Upper Volga group settled the upper reaches of the Dnieper and Don, and the Aryans settled the territory from the Irtysh to the Middle Volga.
By 3100 BC, the Narva group almost did not change the territory of their residence (apparently, there was only an increase in population density), the Upper Volga peoples expanded their territory also slightly. At the same time, the Aryan group of tribes, having mastered cattle breeding well, occupied vast areas of the steppes from the Irtysh to the Dniester. At the place of residence of the Aryan peoples, archaeologists discovered a pit (ancient pit) archaeological culture.
To begin with, we will agree that the history of the emergence of any new people is complex process and it is impossible to say that some particular people originated from some other specific people. Over the long history of the formation of the people, various processes take place - mergers different peoples, the absorption of one (weaker or smaller) people by another, the division of large peoples into smaller ones. And such processes occur over many years repeatedly.
To study the issue of the origin of the Germanic tribes, I will begin my research with the tribes of the Narva culture, I repeat that by 3100 BC these tribes lived on the territory of the Baltic states. For the time being, I will conditionally call these tribes Proto-Germans. I will conduct all research in chronological order based on changes in the maps of the historical atlas.
By 2300 BC. tribes of the Narva culture penetrated to the other side of the Baltic - to the southern coast of Scandinavia. A new culture was formed - the culture of boat-shaped axes, whose tribes occupied the territory of the south of Scandinavia and the Baltic states. I will also conditionally call the tribes of this culture Proto-Germans.
By 2300 BC other events had taken place among the Indo-European peoples. In the middle of the 3rd millennium BC, on the western outskirts of the tribes of the Yamnaya (ancient Pit) culture (these are Indo-European tribes), a new culture was formed - the culture of the Corded Ware tribes (these are tribes of shepherds - Indo-Europeans), the tribes of this culture began to move west and north, merging and interacting with related tribes of the Narva and Upper Volga cultures. As a result of this interaction, new cultures arose - the aforementioned culture of boat-shaped axes and the Middle Dnieper culture (it can be conditionally attributed to the culture of the ancient Proto-Slavs).
By 2100 AD, the culture of boat-shaped axes was divided into the actual culture of boat-shaped axes (proto-Germanic tribes) and the Baltic culture (it can be conditionally called the culture of proto-Balts). And to the west of the Middle Dnieper culture, the Zlata culture arose (on the territory of western Ukraine and Belarus), this culture can be attributed both to the future Proto-Germans and to the future Proto-Slavs. But the westward movement of the Corded Ware tribes at the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC was temporarily stopped by the tribes that were moving towards them. These were the tribes of bell-shaped cups (ancient Iberians, relatives of modern Basques). These Iberian ancestors even pushed the Indo-Europeans completely out of Poland. Based on the tribes of the Zlata culture pushed to the northeast, a new culture arose - the southeast Baltic. This position of the tribes in central Europe persisted until about 1600 BC.
But by 1500 BC, a new culture had developed in the center of Europe, occupying a vast territory (northern Ukraine, almost all of Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and the eastern outskirts of modern Germany) - this is the Trzciniec culture. The tribes of this culture are also difficult to attribute to a specific branch of the Indo-Europeans; they also occupied an intermediate position between the ancient Slavs and the ancient Germans. And in most of Germany, another Indo-European culture arose - Saxo-Thuringian. The tribes of this culture also did not have a specific ethnicity and occupied an intermediate position between the ancient Celts and the ancient Germans. Such ethnic uncertainty of many cultures is typical in ancient times. The languages ​​of tribal associations were constantly changing, interacting with each other. But already at that time it was clear that the tribes of the ancient Indo-Europeans (Western groups) were already beginning to dominate Europe.
By 1300 BC, the entire territory of modern Germany was occupied by tribes of burial mounds, this culture developed on the basis of the Saxo-Thuringian culture that existed before and the arrival of new Indo-European tribes in the east. This culture can already be conditionally attributed to the ancient Celts, although these tribes also participated in the creation of the tribes of the ancient Germans.
By 1100 BC, the culture of the burial mound tribes was pushed back (or left itself) to the west and turned into a new culture - Hallstatt, which occupied a vast territory (western Germany, eastern France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria and western Yugoslavia). The tribes of this culture can already be confidently attributed to the ancient Celts, only the tribes located in Yugoslavia later created their own special community - the Illyrians (ancestors of the Albanians). The eastern part of Germany and Poland were at that time occupied by the tribes of the Lusatian culture, which arose on the basis of the Trzciniec culture. The tribes of this culture cannot yet be specifically attributed either to the ancient Germans or to the ancient Slavs, although these tribes participated in the creation of these peoples.
This situation persisted until 700 BC, when from the south of Scandinavia the tribes of boat-shaped axes moved south - to the territory of Denmark and northern Germany, where, as a result of their mixing with the western tribes of the Lusatian culture, a completely new culture arose - Jastorf. Here the tribes of this culture can be called with all certainty the ancient Germans. The first written information about the Germans ancient authors appear in the 4th century BC, and in the 1st century BC, the Romans already directly encountered and fought with the tribes of the ancient Germans. Already in those days, the following Germanic tribes (unions of tribes) existed - Goths, Angles, Vandals, Sueves, Hawks, Lombards, Hermundurs, Sigambri, Marcomanni, Quadi, Cherusci.
Over time, the diversity of Germanic tribes increases - new and new tribes appear: Alemanni, Franks, Burgundians, Gepids, Jutes, Teutons, Frisians and others. All these tribes influenced the formation of the German people, as well as other Anglo-Saxon peoples (English, Dutch, Flemings, Danes). But all the same, the date (approximate) of the formation of the ancient Germanic peoples should be considered 700 BC (the date of the emergence of the Jastorf culture in northern Germany and Denmark).