History: of Germany as a region

Although less clearly defined by geography than the
other natural territories of western Europe (such as
Italy, the Spanish peninsula, France or Britain), the
area broadly identified as Germany has clear
boundaries on three sides - the Baltic to the north,
the Rhine to the west, the Alps or the Danube to the
south. Only to the east is there no natural border (a
fact which has caused much strife and confusion in
European history).
The region becomes associated with the name
Germany in the 1st century BC, when the conquest
of Gaul makes the Romans aware for the first time
that there is an ethnic and linguistic distinction
between the Celts (or Gauls) and their aggressive
neighbours, the Germans.
Celts, Germans and Romans: 2nd - 1st century BC
The Celts themselves, in earlier centuries, have
moved westwards from Germany, crossing the Rhine
into France and pushing ahead of them the previous
neolithic inhabitants of these regions. More recently
the Celts have been subjected to the same westward
pressure from various Germanic tribes . The intruders
are identified as a group by their closely related
languages, defined as the Germanic or Teutonic
subdivision of Indo-European language .
From the 2nd century BC the Germans exert
increasing pressure on the Roman empire. The reign
of Augustus Caesar sees a trial of strength between
the empire and the tribes, leading to an uneasy
balance of power.
The region in which Augustus makes the most effort
to extend the empire is beyond the Alps into
Germany. By 14 BC the German tribes are subdued
up to the Danube. In the next five years Roman
legions push forward to the Elbe. But this further
border proves impossible to hold. In AD 9 Arminius, a
German chieftain of great military skill, destroys
three Roman legions in the Teutoburg Forest.
The Romans pull back (though they return briefly to
avenge what seems a shameful defeat). The
conclusion, bequeathed by Augustus to his
successors, is that the Roman empire has some
natural boundaries; to the north these are the Rhine
and the Danube.
German and Roman Europe: from the 5th century
The Germanic tribes continue to raid, often deep into
the empire. But their base remains north of the
Rhine and Danube until the 5th century - when the
Visigoths, Ostrogoths, Vandals, Burgundians and
Franks move in vast migrations through Italy, France
and Spain .
Their presence becomes part of the history of these
regions. France and Spain - prosperous and stable
parts of the Roman empire - have becomes almost
as Romanized as Italy itself. Culturally they are
strong enough to absorb their new Germanic
masters, as is revealed by the boundary line of
Europe's languages. French, Spanish, Portuguese
and Italian are known as the Romance languages
because they share a Roman, or Latin, origin.
Northern Europe, by contrast, speaks Germanic
languages. Scandinavia does so because it is the
region from which the German tribes migrate
southwards. Britain does so because tribes invading
from the 5th century ( Angles and Saxons) are able
to dominate a culture less fully Romanized than
Gaul. And Germany, with the Netherlands, does so
because here the tribes are relatively unaffected by
Roman influence - secure in a region which Tacitus
describes as 'covered either by bristling forests or by
foul swamps'.
By the same token the tribes in the German
heartland are backward. For the first few centuries
of the post-Roman era they are no match for the
more sophisticated Franks , who have established
themselves in Gaul.

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