Posts

"Neighbors"

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Last post, I figured out where I was on the timeline. We were in the 2nd century b.c. when Pythaes sailed into the baltic sea and recorded finding a Germanic people as well as the Celts. This week we will move forward into the 1st centery b.c.. No Germanic written history from this period has survived so most of the history we have of them is from the eyes of those around them (i.e. the Celts and the Romans). A late 19th century imagination of the Cimbri and Teutoni on the march. According to Bayard Taylor's, A History of Germany, the Romans first heard the name "Germans" from Celtic Gauls; in whose language it meant "neighbors." Then in 113 or 112 b.c., still according to the Romans, a tremendous horde of strangers forced their way through the Tylorese Alps and invaded Roman territory.  They consisted of two great tribes, Cimbrians and Teutons, which were Celtic and Germanic. Demanding territory or at least the ability to pass through. T hey numbe

Getting on track

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To be completely honest with you world history confuses me and I have been slightly overwhelmed with doing this blog. I will try and power through it. Last week I got some pretty interesting feedback on my post that I'm grateful for. I will share a couple of their ideas before going into a new post. One response I got was referring to Indo-Aryan migration theory and here's a wiki link that was shared with me . It speaks of migrations happening between 1000 and 2000 BCE. Another was a suggestion that the migration " had something to do with the 12 tribes of Israel  being banished away." These comments really helped me to pinpoint the area of the timeline I'm referring to. Which is good because I had no idea what part of the timeline I was referring to. The first link is referring to the time period taking place during the second millennium BCE. and the second comment was referring to something that is believed to have taken place around the 7th
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We don't know when and exactly what circumstances the Aryans left their homes in the lofty table lands of Central Asia.  As mentioned in my last post, according to Bayard Taylor, this was a mixed group of people including Hindoos, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Celts, and Slavonic tribes. Most scholars believe that there were different migrations and that each movement westward was accomplished slowly. Again, according to Taylor, this would take place before Greece or Italy had been established.  However, according to "The Early Germans" by Malcolm Todd , "at some date, probably about 320 BC, Pytheas of Marseilles sailed around Britain and along northern European coast (possibly rounding Jutland and entering the western Baltic). His journey was so astonishing an achievement that contemporary and later writers refused to believe his account, and what survives of it amounts only to quotations by others . Much of what Pytheas is said to have recorded is geogra

History of Germany, Opening the book

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Here is one of the books I will be working from. This is only the beginning and I hope to bring in other resources and writings as well. If anyone has suggestions for other reading materials I will gladly look into them! Post links in comments below.  History of Germany by Bayard Taylor    Here is a link to find more information on the book and author or if you're as eager as me you can purchase it as well.  The book begins in 330 B.C. and opens stating that "the German's form one of the most important branches of the Indo-Germanic or Aryan race-- a division of the human family which also includes the Hindoos, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Celts, and Slavonic tribes." It goes on to say that the relationship of all these groups, that have since become separated, has been established by evidence of common tradition, language, and physiological structure. Their original home seems to have been up in the mountains somewhere in Central Asia.  I have not studied much a
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This section of my blog will be dedicated to the history of Germany starting from 330 BC continuing into present times.  Why am I studying German History? I'm studying German history for two reasons. For the first reason, I feel the  The American Historical Association  says it best and in the most general form. "The answer is because we virtually must, to gain access to the laboratory of human experience. When we study it reasonably well, and so acquire some usable habits of mind, as well as some basic data about the forces that affect our own lives, we emerge with relevant skills and an enhanced capacity for informed citizenship, critical thinking, and simple awareness.... Some history depends on personal taste, where one finds beauty, the joy of discovery, or intellectual challenge. Between the inescapable minimum and the pleasure of deep commitment comes the history that, through cumulative skill in interpreting the unfolding human record, provides a real gras

Doors

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I got lost in a blog last night and it all began with a short story written by E.B. White called The Door . This story was like a revelation to me. You can attempt to take it at face value but the metaphors run as deep as you'll let them. Interactions in life are important because they open new doors or in other situations close the doors you were most comfortable with. Rebuilding your home is sometimes necessary for growth but seeing your world come to pieces can be hard blow. He somehow writes the whole idea of life in four pages and it blows my mind. So that reopened the door in my mind to my writing and research class, which is always cracked open thanks to the interweb. After reading through my writing and research professors blog, I set my phone down to think about the different concepts he uses when learning to teach from outside of the box. He is constantly finding new ways to engage students whether they are in his class or not. I found his post  on the collaboration