Germany

Abstract

As Roman legions penetrated into modern Germany they were met by Germanic tribes from the north and from Scandinavia. In 9 AD, under Hermann (Latin: Arminius), they defeated three Roman legions, thus preventing Roman domination east of the River Rhine. Incursions by nomadic Huns from the east encouraged some of the German tribes to migrate. Between the fourth and sixth centuries the Franks, one of the largest of the tribes, moved west to France, the Anglo-Saxons northwest to Britain, the Lombards south to Italy and the Visigoths south-west to Spain. The tribes from Friesland, Saxony, Lorraine, Thuringia, Franconia, Swabia and Bavaria that remained in central Europe had little in common politically and no cohesion.