Changes

The fall of the Western Roman Empire in AD 476 was certainly one of the most events in world history, but unfortunately, it is often misrepresented in popular histories. The collapse is generally depicted as taking place due to the immense pressure and attacks of numerous Germanic tribes – Visigoths, Ostrogoths, Vandals, and Franks, to name a few – and some non-Germanic tribes, most notably the Huns. Although these tribes were the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back, Rome had by the late fifth century done an efficient job of destroying itself through numerous internal problems, including epic levels of corruption, economic malfeasance, demographic stagnation, and a general decline in culture and the social order, to name a few. Outside of the halls of academia, the perspectives and backgrounds of the numerous Germanic tribes who issued the <i>coup de grace</i> are rarely considered.

Although these tribes were the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back, Rome had by the late fifth century done an efficient job of destroying itself through numerous internal problems, including epic levels of corruption, economic malfeasance, demographic stagnation, and a general decline in culture and the social order, to name a few. Outside of the halls of academia, the perspectives and backgrounds of the numerous Germanic tribes who issued the <i>coup de grace</i> are rarely considered. The somewhat menacing and often colorful names of these tribes referred to collectively as “barbarians” due to Roman historiographical influences, are well-known. Yet, their origins and early movements are understudied and rarely discussed in popular media. Why these Germanic tribes began migrating and settling Europe, attacking and sometimes cooperating with the Romans, remains a mystery. Still, details of the process and how they attained the names they are known by today are known.  Archaeological and historiographical sources show that the Germanic tribes originated in Scandinavia and began moving south into Continental Europe after 1,000 BC. The mass of Germans then broke into two major branches. As centuries passed, those two branches further divided into smaller tribes that sometimes coalesced with other tribes into federations and new tribes, becoming the tribes that were later identified by the names for which they are known today.

The ultimate geographic origin of the Germanic tribes was Scandinavia, with the restlessness of those tribes beginning sometime just after 1,000 BC. Still, it was between 600 and 300 BC when waves of Germans began leaving places such as Gotland <i>en masse</i>.  Archaeological and philological/linguistic evidence has aided scholars in narrowing down the chronology. Still, primary source documents written towards the end of the migrations have also helped shed light on this often dark period. The sixth century AD historian Jordanes, who was himself of Germanic background, wrote about Scandinavia as the wellspring of the Germanic tribes.

By the third century, the initial surge of Germanic peoples into Continental Europe had become a steady process that lasted well into the ninth century. This process came to be known by many different names, including the “Great Migrations,” “Barbarian Invasions,” and the German term, <i>Völkerwanderung</i>. <ref> Goffart, Walter. <i> Barbarian Tides: The Migration Age and the Later Roman Empire.</i> (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2006), p. 13</ref>  The reason for the Germans’ initial movement out of Scandinavia are not clear, but once on the Continent the tribes found themselves fighting over land, creating a domino effect that added constant pressure to the Roman Empire’s borders. The arrival of the Huns in Europe in the fifth century proved to upend Europe's demographics even more, which eventually led to the formation of the early medieval European kingdoms. <ref> Goffart, p. 21</ref> As the Germans divided into East and West groups, those who became the West Germans moved in a westerly direction from the Oder and Elbe rivers, displacing the Celts east of the Rhine and north of the Main rivers by about 200 BC. The Western Germans more readily adopted farming, sedentary lifestyles, and cooperation with the Romans than their more bellicose East German cousins.

As the Germans divided into East and West groups, those who became the West Germans moved in a westerly direction from the Oder and Elbe rivers, displacing the Celts east of the Rhine and north of the Main rivers by about 200 BC. The Western Germans more readily adopted farming, sedentary lifestyles, and cooperation with the Romans than their more bellicose East German cousins. The Romans assigned Latin names to these peoples who lived in today's nation-states of Belgium, the Netherlands, and western Germany, calling them the Tencteri, Cherusci, Chatti, Frisians, and Batavians, among many others. Some of those names persisted and can still be found in parts of the Low Countries, but many of these groups coalesced into larger, more organized tribes such as the Alamanni, Franks, Angles, and Saxons. <ref> Bury, J. B. <i> The Invasion of Europe by the Barbarians.</i> (New York: W. W. Norton, 1967), pgs. 5-9</ref>