The Slavic Languages and What Makes Them a FAMILY
- Thread starter canada-man
- Start date
Decent synopsis.
No one knows where the Slavs originally came from. At the time of the fall of Rome, the Germans dominated all of Europe from the Rhine to the Don River in south Russia. Beyond the Don was the domain of the ruthless Huns. What is now the Slavic part of Europe - Poland through Russia and Bulgaria - apparently did not exist. Or if it did, the Slavs were the underlings of the various German tribal confederacies - the Goths, Franks, Burgundians and Vandals, etc.
Among the theories is that the Germans displaced so heavily into the shattered Roman empire that they left parts of Europe almost completely depopulated and allowed the Slavs to take them over. (Northern Europe was sparsely populated at that time and peoples moved around far more freely.)
No one knows where the Slavs originally came from. At the time of the fall of Rome, the Germans dominated all of Europe from the Rhine to the Don River in south Russia. Beyond the Don was the domain of the ruthless Huns. What is now the Slavic part of Europe - Poland through Russia and Bulgaria - apparently did not exist. Or if it did, the Slavs were the underlings of the various German tribal confederacies - the Goths, Franks, Burgundians and Vandals, etc.
Among the theories is that the Germans displaced so heavily into the shattered Roman empire that they left parts of Europe almost completely depopulated and allowed the Slavs to take them over. (Northern Europe was sparsely populated at that time and peoples moved around far more freely.)
The Huns died by the sword. In the 6th Century they participated in Byzantine Emperor Justinian's campaigns to reclaim the Roman Empire - that was their last hurrah. By the end of the Century they were under attack from the Slavs and the Turks. The Huns withdrew from Europe to meet the challange and got annihilated. The Slavs started moving into Europe when the Vikings started raiding the Russian interior.
The Slavs were shrewd operators, they chose to ally with the Byzantines and the Germans rather than fight them. They played a major role in the defeat of the Ancient Bulgarians (almost no relation to modern Bulgaria) with the Byzantines and the Magyars with Otto The Great. Greater Bohemia was the first independent Slavic State.
The Slavs were shrewd operators, they chose to ally with the Byzantines and the Germans rather than fight them. They played a major role in the defeat of the Ancient Bulgarians (almost no relation to modern Bulgaria) with the Byzantines and the Magyars with Otto The Great. Greater Bohemia was the first independent Slavic State.
So were Nikephoros II and Basil II "Bulgar Slayer". After they were done with them, the Bulgars and Arabs would never again threaten Constantinople. The Slavs backed the right horses in either case. They ended up assimilating the Bulgars and the Arabs were conquered by the Seljuk Turks.
