The Causes, Process and Influence of Germanic Ethnic Migration

There is no definite theory about the ethnic origin of Germanic peoples. It is believed that in the late Bronze Age, these people lived in today's southern Sweden, the Danish Peninsula and the area between the Em River, the Oder River and the Harz Mountain in northern Germany. In the last few centuries BC, Vandals, Gepidai and Goths migrated from southern Sweden and occupied the southern bank of the Baltic Sea, roughly equivalent to the area between the Oder River and the Vistula River. The early migration also developed to the south and west, and as a result, the Celtic people living in most parts of West Germany were excluded. For example, in the first century BC, the Hervetians were confined to present-day Switzerland, but later they extended their territory to major river basins.

To Caesar (102? In 44 BC, the Germans had settled in the west of the Rhine and had reached the Danube region in the south. The earliest large-scale battle between them and the Romans took place at the end of the 2nd century BC, when Cimbri and Teutonic jointly invaded southern Gaul and northern Italy, but the former 102 and the former10/year were all gaius marius, 157? 86? BC) was wiped out. Although travelers have been to Teutonic countries in the north since Pythias, it was not until long after entering BC 1 century that the Romans knew exactly how to distinguish between Germans and Celts, which should be attributed to Caesar, who clearly distinguished the differences between the two nations. Caesar was the first politician who brought the Germans who entered the west of the Rhine into the territory of the Roman Empire, and he was also the only scholar who provided the earliest record of Germanic culture. In 9 BC, the Romans extended their territory eastward from the Rhine River to the Elbe River, but in 9 BC, the Germans among their subjects rebelled under the leadership of Arminius, forcing the Romans to retreat to the Rhine River. During the occupation of this area by the Germans in BC 1 century and the frequent wars between the Romans and the Germans, a great deal of information about the Germans reached Rome. When Tacitus published his book "The Origin and Status of Germany" in 98 AD, he had obtained very reliable citation information. This book is one of the most valuable ethnographic works in existence. Later archaeological works supplemented Tacitus' narrative content in many ways, but in general, these works were only to demonstrate the accuracy of the materials quoted in Tacitus' books, or to explain how incisive Tacitus' views on this subject were.

Tacitus believes that according to the analysis of ancient Germanic folk songs, their ancestors were three sons of the great god manus, manus was the son of Tuisto, and Tuisto was the son of the land god. In this way, the Germans were divided into three tribes-Ingavone tribe, HerMignon tribe and Sista Wang E tribe-but the basis of this division is still unclear. Tacitus also described another form of Germanic pedigree in his works. According to this variant of genealogy, Manu has many sons, who are considered as the ancestors of Soapy, Vandals and other branches. Either way, the popularity of these folk songs reflects that in Tacitus' time, all Germanic peoples realized that there was a blood relationship between them. Some Germans serving in the Roman army sometimes call themselves Germans, while those free Germans living east of the Rhine don't have a general name to call themselves. It was not until A.D. 1 1 century that they used the adjective diutisc (modern German deutsch, meaning "belonging to people") to address themselves, and the word became popular. As for the name of Germanic and its language, its exact meaning is still unknown.

In Tacitus' time, the distribution of the main Germanic nationalities was as follows: Chati people lived in the present Hessian area. Frisian is distributed in the coastal zone between the Rhine River and the Em River. Chauci people live near the mouth of the Weize River, while Cherusci people, Aminius tribe, gather in the south. Svibi's name was once the source of the place name Schwaben. This ethnic group is scattered in mecklenburg, Brandenburg, Saxony and Thuringia. Semnoni, who lives in the Havel River and the spree river Valley, belongs to the Svibi nationality, and Lombardy, who lives in the northwest of Semnoni District, is also a Svibi nationality. The other seven ethnic groups believe in Nelsus, the goddess of the earth, and the Angles live in unger Peninsula in the east of Schleswig. In the Danube border area of Roman Empire, Hermonduri people developed northward from the area near regensburg and arrived in Thuringia via Franconia. Marcomanni, who originally lived in the main river valley, moved to Bohemia in the last 10 year of the first century BC, but was always occupied by a Celtic named Boii. Makomani people's east neighbors are Quadi people who live in Moravia. In the lower reaches of the Danube, there is a people named basta Na, who are often regarded as Germans. Goths, Geppies and Vandals are scattered on the south bank of the Baltic Sea. Tacitus also talked about Suione and Sitone who live in Sweden today. He also mentioned several historically insignificant peoples, but said nothing about Saxons and Burgundy. As for other important ethnic groups that stood out after that era, he certainly could not predict their names.

By the end of the 3rd century, great changes had taken place. There are three powerful national alliances east of the Rhine, which Tacitus could not know. The Roman empire faced the threat of Franks in the border area of the lower Rhine River. The main river basin was occupied by Burgundy people about 260 years ago. It is located in Agri in the Black Forest region. Agri Decumates is owned by aleman. Those Burgundy people obviously migrated from eastern Germany. Franks and aleman may be an alliance of two countries. In Tacitus' time, they were separated, although some immigrants from the East might live together among them. The ethnic groups living along the Baltic Sea mentioned by Tacitus migrated to the southeast in the second half of the second century. As a result, the Goths controlled most of Ukraine and Romania during this period. Gepides occupied the mountains in northern Transylvania; Vandals became their neighbors in the west.

By 500, the Angles and Saxons had entered England, while the Franks owned the northern part of Gaul. Burgundy people occupied the area of the Gulong River valley, and Visigoths lived in their west. Ostrogoths settled in Italy, and Vandals arrived in Africa. In 507, the Franks expelled the Visigoths from most of Gaul they occupied. At that time, the territory of the Visigoths in Gaul had expanded from the Pyrenees to the Loire Valley. After being expelled by Franks, they entered Spain and were completely wiped out by Muslims until 7 1 1. In 568, Lombardy entered Italy and established an independent kingdom. In 774, the kingdom was occupied by Charlemagne? 8 14). Since the departure of the Goths and other ethnic groups, some areas in eastern Germany have been occupied by Slavs, and Slavs have also expanded westward as far as Bohemia and the Elbe River basin. After the 8th century, the Germans recovered most of the land in eastern Germany, Lower Austria, Styria and Carinthia, and drove the Slavs out of these places.