Geography of Germanylocated in West-Central Europe

it is made up of the North German Plain, the Central German Uplands (Mittelgebirge), and the Southern German Highlands

Cont. Germany shares borders with nine European countriesNorth: DenmarkEast: Polandand Czech RepublicSouth: Austria and SwitzerlandSouth-West: France and LuxembourgNorth-West: Belgium and Netherlands

Ancient Germany

The Early Inhabitants of GermanyPre-Roman Iron AgeCelts- believed to have been the first inhabitants of GermanyConquest of Julius Caesar Caesar distinguish Germanic Tribes with the Gauls Cherusci- one of the Germanic Tribes that was encountered by the Roman troops

The Era of Migration3rd century saw the emergence of a number of large West Germanic tribes: - Alamanni, Franks, Bavarii, Chatti, Saxons, Frisii, Sicambri, and Thuringii

Decline of the Roman EmpireSeven large German-speaking tribes moved west and took part in theDecline of the Roman Empire Visigoths,Ostrogoths,Vandals,Burgundians,Lombards,SaxonsandFranks

The Frankish KingdomFranks created an empire under theMerovingiankings and subjugated the other Germanic tribesClovis IBecame King of FranksHe was able to conquer Alemanni (todays southwestern Germany)

The Kingdom of Franks therefore formed the basis for the future French Monarchy as well as for the Kingdom of Germany

Under the CarolingiansPepin the Short- annointed by the Pope as King of FranksCharles the Great- successor of Pepin- spent almost his entire reign extending the borders of his land by conquests

- after his death, France and Germany were permanently separated

Disintegration of the Frankish EmpireTreaty of Verdun- divided the Empire into three heir

Treaty of Mersen- division between the two remaining rulers

The Carolingian Dynasty in East- is now what we call Germany