It is hard to find a country in Europe that does not have a Germanic history, almost every European country has been settled or occupied by Germanic tribes or has been subjected to other Germanic influences at some point in history.
In some of this countries the Germanic identity is so strong that most of their present language and culture is directly derived from Germanic roots; this are the "modern Germanic" countries, the population of most of this countries are direct descendants of the Germanic tribes and despite the superficial differences this people all share a common origin.
Throughout history the continent of Europe has been dominated by four factions; the Germanic, Celtic, Romanic (or Latin), and Slavonic cultures; this influences can still be seen today in the present European cultures and languages:
Keep in mind that this map only lists the culture that is the most dominant in a modern country.
I shall now briefly list the individual history of all European countries with a culture or language that has mainly originated from Germanic roots:
Iceland (Ísland)
In 874AD people from Scandinavia started their colonization of Iceland and created one of the first democracies in Europe that was governed by the Alþing ("All-thing"), an extended form of the Germanic þing.
In 1000AD Iceland was converted to Christianity by enormous diplomatic and economical pressure but the practice of Germanic heathenism continued for a long time afterwards, due to it's isolated position Icelandic culture and language is still very closely related to that of the Vikings.
Iceland has been a part of Denmark for centuries but eventually the country gained its independance in 1944.
Färöer islands (Føroyar)
Just like Iceland the Färöer islands have been colonized by Scandinavians, something that can still be seen today because the language that is spoken on the Färöer islands is closely related to Old Norse, the name Färöer literally means "sheep-island".
The Färöer islands officially belong to Denmark but have gained an autonomous status in 1946.
Norway (Norge)
Norway was one of the homelands of the Vikings and most of the people that colonized Iceland came from this area, the name "Vikingr" means "man from the inlet", which refers to the Norwegian Fjords.
The modern country of Norway has been formed between the 10th and 11th century AD with the uniting of several small kingdoms into a new country called Norway, during this time the country was also Christianized.
The name Norway is derived from "Norðvegr", which means "North-way", the land was called like that because of the road that lead through it to the northern part of Scandinavia.
In the 11th century AD Norway became a part of Denmark and was added to the big Northsea empire of the Danish king Knut (Canute) the Great, Norway remained in Danish hands for centuries though it has also been a part of Sweden for a short time, Norway gained its independance in 1905.
Sweden (Sverige)
According to the legends the first king of Sweden was the god Frey, his son Fjolnir became the second king and from him the Swedish royal house was believed to originate, during the Bronze Age Sweden was one of the most important cultural centers of northern Europe and it was inhabited by several small tribes that would eventually form two of the most important Germanic tribes in Scandinavia; the Sviar (Swedes) and the Gothar (Goths).
Due to its geographical position Sweden grew into a rich trading nation that conducted oversea trade with the countries of both the Northsea and the Eastsea, until the 6th century AD Sweden mostly consisted of small individual kingdoms and from the 9th to the 11th century AD the southwestern part of Sweden belonged to Denmark.
The Christianization of Sweden was met with much resistance from the population and was completed in the 11th century AD, Sweden gained its independance during the union of Kalmar in 1492.
Denmark (Danmark)
In ancient times Denmark was inhabited by several tribes and it is estimated that in 121BC the entire population of Denmark consisted of 60.000 to 80.000 people, eventually the Anglians and Cimbrians became two of the most powerful tribes, the later tribe of the Danes was the result of a fusion of several older tribes, according to the Rigsþula the Danes were the followers of Konr, the youngest son of the legendary Jarl from the Rigsþula saga.
The skald Bragi Boddason also mentions that the island of Sjælland has been created by Frigg/Gefjon, who was allowed by the king to possess all the land that she could plow in a single day; at the end of the day she had plowed the entire island loose from the mainland.
Denmark became a unity in the 9th and 10th century AD when it was formed into a kingdom that contained most of Denmark and southwestern Sweden, during that same time many Danish Vikings settled in Great-Britain where they occupied a large area of land with Jorvik (York) as its capital.
In the 11th century AD Denmark was a part of the Northsea empire of king Knut the Great, the name "Denmark" is derived from "mark of the Danes", which was the Franconian name of Denmark, a "mark" was a borderprovince.
Finland (Suomi)
The exact origin of the Finns still puzzles antropologists today but most of them agree that the Finns have multiple different origins; around 8000BC Finland was settled by Asian hunter-gatherers of whom the Saami (or Lapps) in northern Finland are believed to be descendants, from the year 0AD onwards the south- and westcoast of Finland was intensively settled by Germanic peoples coming from Sweden and the Roman historian Tacitus also mentions a Germanic tribe called "Fennians" inhabiting Finland.
Most of the modern Finns are descendants of Karelians, Tavastians and the old Finns who arrived from Scandinavia, genetic research has indicated that 50% to 70% of the Finns are of Germanic origin, the Finnish language also contains many Germanic words but is not of Germanic origin; it officially belongs to the Finno-Ugric language group that is of unknown origin.
During the Middle Ages Finland was either called "Österlandet" (Eastland) or "Finnmark" and throughout history it has been an area of conflict between Sweden and Russia who both wanted to posess it, most of this conflicts were won by the Swedes who have always played a very dominant role in Finland, most parts of Finland have once been a part of Sweden; the Finnish Åland islands even have a completely Swedish population and the Finnish mainland is inhabited by almost half a million Swedes who mainly live on the Finnish west en south coasts.
Finland was part of Sweden from 1100 to 1809 but came under Russian rule from 1809 to 1917, in 1917 the Russian revolution broke out which kept the Russians occupied and the Finns took this opportunity to declare their independance on December 6, 1917.
Pehr Evind Svinhufvud was installed as the first Finnish head of state but soon thereafter a war broke loose in Finland between the "Reds" (the Finnish communists supported by the Russians) and the "Whites" (the Finnish anti-communists supported by the Swedes and the Germans), neither side managed to win the war but at the end of the war the "Whites" had gained the biggest advantage under their general Carl Mannerheim.
When order was restored in 1919 Kaarlo Juho Ståhlberg became the first president of the Finnish republic, the peace lasted for 20 years but in 1939 the "Winter War" broke out when Finland was attacked by Communist Russia (who had made a secret deal with Nazi Germany about Finland), although the Finns were heavily outnumbered with 3 against 1 they managed to hold out for the entire winter; 25.000 Finns and 200.000 Russians lost their lives during that war but eventually the Finns were forced to sign a peace treaty and surrender the areas around Vyborg en Hanko to the Russians.
During WW2 the Allies were unable to help Finland so the Finns decided to side with the nazis to free their country from the heavy Sovjet influences and to regain their lost territory in the east, many people still blame the Finns for that but actually they did not had much choice being stuck between two evils.
In 1944 the nazis were close to losing the war against Russia and the Finns decided to abandon the sinking ship; they signed a peace treaty with Russia and chased the nazis out of their country, this prevented their country from being absorbed into the Sovjet-Union, in 1956 Urho Kekkonen became president of Finland and in 1995 Finland joined the European Union.
Great-Britain
In ancient times the British isles were settled by people from northwestern Europe, probably in the time when the Northsea was still dry land.
Legends also say that in a much later period a people from Spain have invaded the islands, which may be based on a real event.
Invasions from oversea could also explain the introduction of the Bell beaker culture that built the megalithic monuments like Stonehenge, and later the Celtic culture that dominated Britain until the Roman invasion in 55BC.
When the Romans left Britain in the 5th century AD the British tribes waged war on eachother for control over the former Roman province, in which the support of Germanic tribes from mainland Europe was asked.
A coalition of tribes that was lead by the famous Saxon brothers Hengest and Horsa came to England in 449AD to help their allies; a popular Dutch proverb is "When two dogs fight for a bone the third one takes it for his own", which is very applicable to the Anglo-Saxons who defeated both their enemies and their allies and took the land for themselves.
Most of the Celtic tribes were assimilated or expulsed to Gaul, Cornwall, and Wales, and within a few centuries the Anglo-Saxons controlled entire England (Anglia) and big parts of Scotland, leaving only the more remote places to the Celtic tribes.
The Anglo-Saxon kings took great pride in their legendary descendance from the god Wodan, though this changed in 600AD when most Anglo-Saxons were converted to Christianity and in 829AD all Anglo-Saxon kingdoms were united under king Egbert of Wessex.
From 871 to 900AD England was ruled by king Alfred the Great who managed to prevent many Viking invasions of England, but after his death the Vikings eventually succeeded to conquer most of northern England, many Scandinavian families settled the English and Scottish coasts and from 1002 to 1042AD most of England was ruled by the Danes, this period is called the Danelaw; during the Danelaw England was also added to king Knut's Northsea empire for a short time (1016-1035).
In 1066AD England was invaded by William the Conqueror who defeated the Anglo-Saxons at the battle of Hastings; this ended the Anglo-Saxon rule over England and brought the country under Norman control, in a last struggle to keep their freedom the Anglo-Saxons started a revolt in Eastern England under Hereward the Wake, but their effords were in vain and the revolt failed.
From 1124 to 1153AD Scotland was intensively settled by Anglo-Saxons which left only the Highlands to the Celts, after having been a French province for some time England eventually managed to regain its sovereignty, during the Renaissance period England grew into a rich and powerful trading nation and Scotland, Wales, and Ireland were assimilated into the English empire; during its hey-days the English empire founded many colonies, some of these colonies eventually became wealthy and important countries like the USA and Australia, who can also trace much of their ancestry back to the Anglo-Saxons.
On May 1, 1707 England, Wales, and Scotland formed the new "United Kingdom of Great Britain", which still exists today.
Germany (Deutschland)
The cradle of the Germanic culture is believed to have been in northern Germany in the area around Lüneburg, which was inhabited by the Jastorf culture, somewhere around 200BC the Germanic culture was spread into Scandinavia, the low countries, the Vistula area, and the rest of northern Europe.
In 12BC the Romans invaded southwestern Germania (the area that is now Germany) but in 9AD they were horribly defeated at the battle of the Teutoburg forest; after this humiliating defeat the Romans retreated and decided not to expand their empire beyond the river Rhine, this kept the Germanic lands free of Romans; "Römerfrei" as the modern Germans call it.
After the fall of the Roman empire and the Great Migrations most of modern Germany was added to the Franconian empire, the lands east of the Elbe were lost to Slavonic tribes.
After the treaty of Verdun the Franconain empire was separated into three parts; The Western Franconian empire, the Middle (Lotharian) empire, and the Eastern Franconian empire; this Eastern empire later became Germany.
During the treaty of Meersen a part of Lorraine (Lotharingen) was added to the German empire and the border state Nordmark was created to the east of the middle Elbe as a buffer against hostile Slavonic tribes, especially against the Sorbians (als known as Wenden), further expeditions to the east resulted in the submission and expulsion of the Slavonic peoples east of the river Elbe, only some of the Sorbians stayed behind and their descendants still inhabit a small area in Lausitz, in 929AD Bohemia was added to the German empire and in 951AD Germany gained Italy.
From 919 to 1024 Germany was ruled by the Saxon house and from 1125 to 1137 by the Salian house, from 1137 to 1250 the Hohenstaufen were in power who extended the empire even further; in 1167 Pomerania (Pommern) and Slesia (Schlesien) were added and in 1190 Napels and Sicily, this medieval German empire was called the "Holy Roman Empire".
During the 13th century the lands east of the river Elbe were extensively settled by German farmers and Eastern Prussia and the Baltic lands were conquered by the Teutonic Knights of the German Order.
One of the most remarkable events in German history took place in 1495 when the French knight Claudius le Bavre came to Germany; he was one of the best knights in Europe and he challenged the German knights to hold a duel with him, but none of the Germans dared to fight with him and everybody in Europe made fun of this once powerful knights.
The German emperor Maximilian I was so ashamed of this that he accepted the challenge himself; 9 days later he put on his armour, mounted his horse, and defeated the arrogant French knight; with this he saved Germany's honour.
When the empire fell apart Germany was divided into many small kingdoms and counties, the most important of these were Hannover, Prussia, Bavaria, and Saxony, this lasted until the 19th century AD when Otto von Bismarck united the German states into a new German empire.
Germany lived through its darkest hour during the 20th century when the country was thrown into two world wars by insane dictators, in this wars Germany lost over a quarter of its land and population and all Germans from the provinces east of the river Oder were deported by Poland and Russia, 14.000.000 Germans were driven from their homes, which is about the same as the combined populations of Norway and Sweden, and 1.512.000 of them were even executed in this post-war ethnic cleansing, which was also approved by Great Britain and the USA, what remained of the devastated country was split up into a communist eastern part (DDR) and a democratic western part (BRD) in 1949, the western part eventually managed to recover during the time of the "Wirtschaftswunder" (economic miracle) while the eastern part remained poor and underdeveloped, after the fall of the Berlin wall and the end of the cold war in 1990 Germany was unified again and an economical plan was created to rebuild the former DDR, a work that is still not finished.
Germany is now one of the most stable democracies in Europe and an example to the rest of the world.
The German word for Germany is "Deutschland", this name is derived from the old Germanic word "þeudo", which means "people" or "tribe", unfortunately the English language refers to the Deutschers as "Germans", which causes major confusion with the old Germans and many people even ignore their Germanic heritage because they associate it with the modern country of Germany instead of the common ancestors of all northern European countries.
The Netherlands (Nederland)
In prehistory the northern part of the Netherlands was inhabited by the Funnelbeaker culture and later by Germanic tribes, in 51BC the smaller southern part of the Netherlands was occupied by the Romans; the border between the Germans and the Romans became the river Rhine (which flowed from the city of Lobith to Katwijk in those days), during the Roman occupation the tribe of the Batavians migrated into the Rhinedelta and became Roman foederati, in 68AD the Batavians rebelled against Roman rule but they eventually had to surrender and sign a peace treaty.
In 260AD the Romans retreated and the Franconians occupied the western- and southern part of the Netherlands, the east was controlled by the Saxons and the Frisians held the north, eventually the Franconian empire subdued the Saxons and Frisians and from 600 to 900 the Netherlands was a part of the Franconian empire, during Franconian rule the country was Christianized, though not voluntarily and the Saxons and Frisians had to be "convinced" by many wars.
From 810 to 1010AD the Netherlands was subjected to Viking raids and the Vikings captured and looted important Dutch cities like Dorestad, Witla, and Uutgong. (don't bother looking in your atlas; this cities no longer exist)
After the treaty of Verdun in 843 the Netherlands was added to the Middle empire of Lotharius and from 925 to 1428 the Netherlands was a part of the German empire.
In 1428 the provinces of Holland, Zeeland, and Henegouwen became independant from Germany and were later expanded with other provinces, the name Holland is derived from "Holtland", which means "Woodland", this was one of the first Dutch provinces to become independant, the Dutch lion symbol was originally a dragon.
After its independance the Netherlands fought long wars with Spain and France, after this wars the Netherlands grew into a powerful empire that founded many colonies, one of those colonies was New York, which was originally called Nieuw Amsterdam, after the decline of the Dutch empire Belgium separated itself from the Netherlands, in World War 1 the Netherlands remained neutral, the same was done in World War 2 but the country was taken by the nazis anyway, after its liberation the Netherlands lost its colonies in Suriname and Indonesia, joined the NATO, and was also one of the first countries to join the European Union.
Belgium (België/Belgique)
In 100BC northern Gaul was settled by the tribe of the Belgae, the exact origins of this tribe are unknown but they are believed to have been a coalition of Celtic and Germanic tribes.
According to Julius Caesar's "Commentarii de bello Gallico" the Belgae lived between the Rhine, Marne, and Seine and were neither Celtic nor Germanic, they spoke a non-Celtic language and had different customs and laws than the Gauls.
However, in the chapter about the war against the Belgae Caesar says the following: "Most of the Belgae originated from the Germans; very long ago they had crossed the Rhine. Because of the fertility of the land they settled it and drove out the Gauls."
Although the modern Belgians have named themselves after this tribe they are mainly descendants of the Germanic tribes that have later settled south of the Rhine.
Somewhere around 50BC Belgium was invaded by the Romans who added it to the provinces "Gallia Belgica" and "Germania Inferior", in the 4th century AD the Franconians settled in Belgium and in 486AD Belgium became a part of the Franconian empire and was Christianized.
The Belgian province of Flanders was originally much bigger and also contained parts of what is now northern France, nowadays the people in those areas still speak Dutch, the name "Flanders" literally means "Flooded land" and it was divided into 15 gauen (provinces) by Charlemagne.
The treaty of Verdun in 843 separated Belgium into two parts; the area west of the river Schelde became a part of west Franconia and the rest was given to the Middle empire of Lotharius.
In 925 Belgium became a part of the German empire and in the 12th century the country fell apart into small counties, in 1302 Belgium was invaded by France but Flemish farmers managed to defeat the French knights in the battle of the golden spurs (Guldensporenslag), which took place on July 11, 1302.
In the years thereafter Belgium became a part of the Netherlands (1421), Spain (1443), Austria (1713), and the Netherlands again (1813) until it gained its independance in 1830.
Throughout history Belgium has been the scene of a language conflict between Dutch (Flemish) and French (Wallonian), which continues to this day; Dutch is spoken in the northern part of Belgium (Flanders) while French is spoken in the southern part (Wallonia), in a small landstrip in the east (Eupen and Malmedy) the people speak German, the capital of Brussels is a bilingual area.
There is not much difference between Flemish and Dutch, and Wallonian and French, both are dialects of the mother language and can be understood by speakers of that language, both differences can be compared to the difference between British English and American English.
Luxembourg (Lëtzebuerg)
The history of Luxembourg is tightly connected to that of Belgium, in 100BC Luxembourg was settled by the Belgae and in 50BC it was occupied by the Romans, in the 4th century AD it was settled by the Franconians and in 486AD Luxembourg became a part of the Franconian empire, the Christianization began around the same time.
After the treaty of Verdun in 843 Luxembourg became a part of the Middle empire and in 925 a part of the German empire.
In 963AD Luxembourg gained limited independance under Siegfried of the Ardennes but came under Dutch control in 1421.
Just like Belgium Luxembourg was taken by the Spanish in 1443, the Austrians in 1713, and the Dutch in 1813.
In history many countries have claimed Luxembourg as their own but Luxembourg eventually gained its independance in 1830 at the same time as Belgium, when I visited Luxembourg city during my teenage years I noticed a Letzeburgian (a German dialect) text in the bay window of a house that clearly illustrated the free mind of the Luxembourgians; it said;"Mir wölle bleiwe wat mir sin" (We want to stay what we are).
France
During the Bronze Age France was inhabited by Celts who named it "Gallia" (Gaul), the northern part of Gaul was settled by many Germanic tribes which resulted in a Germanic/Celtic culture there, in 71BC northern Gaul was conquered by Germanic tribes under Ariovistus but after the Gallic wars of Julius Caesar the whole of Gaul was subjected to Roman rule, because of this wars large parts of Gaul had become depopulated and the Romans allowed Germanic tribes to settle the northern part of what is now modern France, as long as they defended the borders against other Germanic invaders, the south of Gaul was settled by many Romans and in the years thereafter most of Gaul became a mixture of Roman, Germanic, and Celtic culture.
During the Roman occupation Gaul took over many aspects of Roman culture and language, a process that we now call "Romanization", the Romanization of Gaul was so big that even its language (Germanic in the north and Celtic in the rest of the country) was replaced by a Latin dialect that eventually became modern French, though the French language is further away from Latin than most other Romanic languages and has been highly influenced by Germanic languages like Franconian and Burgundian, there are even a lot of typically Germanic words in French that are not present in other Romanic languages like bateau (boat), hache (axe), mannequin (little man (Dutch "manneke")), haïr (to hate), boulevard (bulwark), fauteuil ("folding chair"), nord (north), sud (south), est (east), ouest (west), havre (harbour), and drogue (dried), about 15% of the French language is of Germanic origin.
When the Roman empire collapsed Gaul was invaded by the Salian Franconians from the 3rd to the 5th century AD, during the Great Migrations the Franconians expanded their empire in Gaul while the southern part was settled by the Visigoths and the east by the Burgundians.
In the 5th century AD the Merowingians brought most of modern France under Franconian control and the Karolingians later finished their work, after the treaty of Verdun (843) the Franconian empire fell apart and most of modern France became part of the west Franconian empire that would eventually become France; the name "France" originates from the name that the Franconians gave to Gaul; "Francia" (land of the Franconians), most other Germanic tribes called it "Frankenland".
France is a good example of a place where several cultures have mixed together during history, it was originally a Celtic country but when the power of the Celtic tribes faded the country was subjected to invasions from the neighbouring Germans and Romans; this lead to heavy Germanic influences in the north while the south was greatly influenced by the Romans, nowadays almost nothing is left of the originally Celtic identity of France, the north is predominantly Germanic and the south is more related to the Romanic/Mediterranian culture.
Austria (Österreich)
The mountains of Austria were already inhabited in ancient times, which is proven by Ötzi, the frozen body of a hunter that was found in the Ötztal, from 1000BC to 500BC the Celtic Hallstatt culture was located in Austria, during Roman times the northern part of Austria was inhabited by Germanic tribes while the area south of the Danube fell into Roman hands who added it to the border province "Noricum".
During the Great Migrations Salzburg was settled by the Herulians, Tirol by the Bavarians, and the province of Karinthia (Kärnten) by Ostrogoths, of whom a large gravefield has been found near the city of Globasnitz.
In 955AD the areas south and east of the river Enns were added to Bavaria under the name "Ostmark" (Eastern Borderland) and Austria became a part of the Medieval German empire.
In 1156AD Austria became an independant dukedom and from the 12th to the 14th century the country was expanded with Steyermark, Karinthia, the Krain, Tirol, Breisgau, Vorarlberg, and Triëst.
In the years thereafter Austria became a big empire under the rule of the Habsburgian house and the name "Ostmark" slowly changed into "Österreich" (Eastern Empire), it had formed a union with Hungary which made it one of the most powerful states in Europe, the empire was constantly under threat by the French, Prussians, Russians, and the unruly people inhabiting the Austrian lands in the Balkans.
In 1914 Austria got involved in World War 1 after their crownprince Franz Ferdinand had been assasinated in Sarajevo by the Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Prinzip, in this war Austria was horribly defeated and the Habsburgian empire came to an end.
After the war Austria had lost most of its territory and became a republic, in 1934 chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss was assassinated by the nazis who tried to gain control over Austria in which they eventually succeeded by establishing the "Anschluss" (joining), which took place on March 12, 1938 when Hitler forced chancellor Kurt von Schuschnigg to abandon his post and marched his troops into Austria, adding it to the nazi empire.
After WW2 Austria was occupied by the Allies and regained its independance on May 15, 1955, fourty years later on January 1, 1995, Austria was allowed into the European Union.
Liechtenstein
Liechtenstein is a rather young country and its history can partially be compared to that of Austria and Switzerland, Liechtenstein originates from a unification of the provinces of Schellenburg and Vaduz by the Austrian Liechtenstein family in 1719.
Switzerland (Schweiz/Suisse/Svizzera)
Switzerland was originally inhabited by Celts but was invaded by Germanic tribes on a regular basis, one of those invasions gave Julius Caesar the excuse to invade Gaul in 58AD to "help" the Celts, during this invasion the Celtic Helvetians left Switzerland and were replaced by Germanic Alemannians, during Roman rule Switzerland was part of the border province "Germania Superior".
During the Great Migrations Switzerland was settled by Vandals, Burgundians, and many other Germanic tribes and during the Middle Ages many Swabians (direct descendants of the Suebians) from southern Germany migrated into Switzerland, this heavy German influences can still be seen today; 72% of the Swiss speak German (in the northern, eastern, and middle part of the country) while the rest speaks French (western part of the country), Italian, and Retoroman (both in the southern part).
In the 7th century AD the Irish monk Columbanus came to Switzerland where he tried to convert the people to Christianity, he was so fanatical in his work that the people soon had enough of him and they chased him out of the country, st. Gallus later continued Columbanus' work and after two centuries of resistance Switzerland was converted in the 9th century AD.
In 1291 the cantons Uri, Schwyz, and Unterwalden formed the Swiss union against the Austrian Habsburgers, in 1315 they defeated them in the battle of Morgarten after which the cantons of Luzern, Bern, Zürich, Glarus, and Zug joined the union.
The Austrians attacked the Swiss again in 1386 but were defeated for the second time at the battle of Sempach; with this victory the Swiss secured their independance.
After having gained its independance Switzerland has fought few wars, the last one was a small civil war in 1856 about religion but the country has remained neutral in conflicts ever since.
