Consolidation of the Germanic People

As I sat down to read Hagen Schulze's text "Germany: A New History," it was proven difficult to read through because of my lack of background in studying history. However, as the pages turned, Schulze presented a plethora of material I found intriguing, but what stood out amongst any piece of information was how, "The word 'German' was not much more than a designation of origin for someone who came from the little known regions east of the Rhine; the degree of ethnic and linguistic homogeneity prevailing among these peoples is still a matter of debate among scholars" (Schulze, p. 4). This was intriguing because I have always thought the German people were a very 

The Rhine River runs from North to South Germany. This was
 initially the separating line when it came to identifying the German people.

specific grouping of like humans, but it turns out they were really a grouping of varying kinds of people. However, this happens to be much like our own country. 

It could be said that Americans in the United States are seen as a group of people who are similar to each other, but when you take a closer look you notice that instead we are very diverse. This is why our country is known as "the melting pot" and surely, with the information that Schulze provided us with in Chapters 1 and 2 of his novel, we can certainly say that the same could be said about the Germanic people. But what sparked the unification of these diverse people and ultimately led to the development of a strong nation?

Tacitus, a senator and historian of the Roman empire, wrote a piece he titled Germania that aided with the shift in how the Germanic and outlying people viewed the nationality. Schulze

Tacitus, who's text, Germania, made a
deep, positive, impression on the view of the
Germanic people after humanist Poggio Bracciolini
published his work in 1455 (Schulze, p. 46-47). 

wrote, "Humanist scholars of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries wrote studies designed to confirm and strengthen the identity of each contemporaneous nation on foundations from classical antiquity..." (Schulze, p. 46). When this work was published it didn't seem to have much of an impact on the view of the Germanic people, but sure enough it made a deep impression, as was its intention. However, when the German humanists used his work to combat the "many derogatory descriptions of their countrymen in circulation among foreigners," it shifted the overall view of them from "crude, alcohol-sodden barbarians" to "uncorrupted, loyal, brave, and plain-living Germānī" (Schulze, p.49). While I haven't read his words myself, for them to have made such an impact, they must have been strong and convincing. So much that it caused this change exceedingly quickly. Altogether, the result was nothing but positive for the people as "...the foundation was laid for a conscious awareness of German nationality that amounted to more than a vague sense of 'us' compared to 'them'" (Schulze, p. 49).

While Tacitus' work may not have been the ultimate factor in consolidating the Germanic people, despite all of their differences, physical or not, it definitely ignited the change. It brought the people closer to being able to feel as if they were of a single entity instead of numerous outsiders and gave way to the birth of the nation.

Word Count: 507 

Works Cited

Schulze, Hagen. Germany: A New History. Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP, 1998. Print.