parts: the German or Teutonic, next to the western empire; and the Slavonic or Scythian, next to the eastern. The German barbarians were divided into tribes and nations: Goths, Burgundians, Alamanni, Vandals, Longobards, Franks, Angles, Saxons, etc. Farther away were the nomadic Alans. The Slavs, ancestors of the modern Russians, Poles and others, lived farther east and took small share in the history of the time. The Gothic tribes were mostly found in the region between the Vistula, Danube, Black Sea and the Don. This region was invaded by the Huns from Central Asia, and its inhabitants pushed westward, causing the great Gothic invasion. Gaul was overrun chiefly by Visigoths, Burgundians and Franks; Spain by Vandals, Suevi and Visigoths; Africa by Vandals, crossing from Spain. Italy suffered a number of invasions; and Britain, even before being abandoned by its Roman garrison, became as early as 367 a prey to Angles and Saxons. In the latter part of the 8th century the Frankish empire of Charlemagne extended from the Ebro to the Elbe and from the North Sea to Rome, the Franks having conquered both the Goths of France and the Burgundians. The two great divisions of Neustria (the kingdom of the west Franks) and Austrasia (the kingdom of the east Franks, Franconia, not at all corresponding to what was later known as Austria) became the starting-points of the kingdoms and nations of France and Germany. Where Hungary is now were the Avars, while to the east of the northern portions of the Frankish realms was the region of Slavonia. Nothing but the little kingdom of Asturia was left of the Gothic power in Spain; the rest formed the Moslem sultanate of Cordova, the Mohammedans having established themselves in Spain in 711. Most of England and part of Scotland were now occupied by the English or Anglo-Saxons. The eastern empire had considerably diminished. In the 12th century the kingdom of the east Franks was the successor of the western empire, known as the Germanic or Holy Roman empire, extending from the North Sea to the states of the church under the dominion of the popes. In southern Italy was the Norman kingdom of Sicily. Henry II of Anjou was king of England and lord of Normandy, Anjou, Brittany and Aquitaine; the remainder of France being a kingdom under the successor of the kings of the west Franks. In Spain the Christian kingdoms of Leon, Castile and Aragon were growing at the expense of the sultanate of Cordova. Poland and Russia became consolidated states, the heathen Prussians and Lithuanians being their northern neighbors. The Hungarians were in their present dominions; Bulgaria and Servia on the north still limited the decreasing Eastern empire, which on the east was threatened by the Seljuk Turks.
At the Reformation, in the 16th century, Charles V was not only emperor of Germany, but king of Spain (the Moslems having been driven out from their last strongholds in Granada), Sardinia, Sicily and Naples, and ruler of the Netherlands and the county of Burgundy. Ferdinand I, archduke of Austria and afterward emperor, obtained by marriage Silesia, Bohemia and a part of Hungary, the rest belonging to Turkey. At the end of the Thirty Years' War (1648) the power of the empire was weakened, while that of France increased, she having acquired most of the kingdom and duchy of Burgundy—she absorbed the country in 1674—and seized Strassburg and its territory in 1681. Savoy was becoming an Italian power. Spain still held the Spanish Netherlands and a great part of Italy. The Protestant Netherlands and Switzerland became independent states. Sweden was one of the great powers, having acquired territories from Germany, Poland and Russia. The ancient possessions of Denmark, in the northern peninsula, Sweden acquired in 1658. The duchy of Prussia became independent of Poland in 1647. Early in the 16th century Poland had been one of the most powerful states of Europe, a great part of Russia being under its sway. She now lost in power and territory, while Russia steadily grew. Turkey held part of the former Eastern empire, the Austrian princes the remainder. Venice was the most important native Italian power, and Genoa held Corsica till 1768.
Before the French Revolution Poland had ceased to exist as a state; Prussia had risen to greatness and Russia's territory had increased largely; while Sweden had lost the leadership of northern Europe. The Spanish Netherlands belonged to Austria since 1713; and French Bourbons held the parts of Italy that had been Spanish. The French Revolution began a series of changes ending in the extension of Napoleon's empire over Germany west of the Rhine, great parts of northern Germany, the Netherlands and most of Italy; a portion being directly united with the empire; another held separately by Napoleon himself as his kingdom of Italy; while his brother-in-law was king of Naples, and his brother king of Spain. After the fall of the empire France retired within her old limits; the smaller German princes formed a loose confederation, of which Austria assumed the presidency. Italy was parceled out among despotic princes, the Venetian dominions becoming Austrian. The Netherlands became once more a kingdom, but finally separated into Holland and Belgium.
