the Confederation of the Rhine were sixteen German provinces which in 1806 dissolved their connection with Germany, and allied themselves to France. At the downfall of Napoleon in 1814 the confederation slowly dissolved. Research Confederation of the Rhine
Wacht am Rhein (Watch on the Rhine) is a German national song written in 1840 by Max Schneckenburger and composed in its popular form in 1854 by Karl Wilhelm. It was the battle-song of the German army in 1870 to 1871. Research Wacht am Rhein
The Alemanni were a confederacy of several German tribes which, at the commencement of the third century lived near the Roman territory, and came then and subsequently into conflict with the imperial troops. Caracallci first fought with them in 213, but did not conquer them; Severus was likewise unsuccessful. About 250 they began to cross the Rhine westwards, and in 255 they overran Gaul along with the Franks. In 259 a body of them was defeated in Italy at Milan, and in the following year they were driven out of Gaul by Postumus. But the Alemanni did not desist from their incursions, notwithstanding the numerous defeats they suffered at the hands of the Roman troops. In the fourth century they crossed the Rhine and ravaged Gaul, but were severely defeated by the Emperor Julian and driven back. Subsequently they occupied a considerable territory on both sides of the Rhine; but at last Clovis broke their power in 496 and deprived them of a large portion of their possessions. Part of their territory was latterly formed into a duchy called Alemannia or Swabia, this name being derived from Suevi or Swabians, the name which they gave themselves. It is from the Alemanni that the French have derived their names for Germans and Germany in general, namely, Allemands and Allemagne, though strictly speaking only the modern Swabians and northern Swiss are the proper descendants of that ancient race. Research Alemanni
Viscount Alexandre Beauharnais was a French soldier. He was born in 1760 at Martinique and died in 1794. He married Josephine Tascher de la Pagerie, who was afterwards the wife of Napoleon. At the breaking out of the French revolution he was chosen a member of the National Assembly, of which he was for some time president. In 1792 he was general of the army of the Rhine. He was falsely accused of having promoted the surrender of Mainz, and was sentenced to death on July the 23rd,1794. Research Alexandre Beauharnais
Arminius was an ancient German hero celebrated by his fellow-countrymen as their deliverer from the Roman yoke. He was born about 18-16 BC, and died in 19 AD. Having been sent as a hostage to Rome, he served in the Roman army, and was raised to the rank of eques. Returning home he found the Roman governor, Quintilius Varus, making efforts to Romanize the German tribes near the Rhine. Placing himself at the head of the discontented tribes he completely annihilated the army of Yarus, consisting of three legions, in a three days' battle fought in the Teutoburg forest. For some time he baffled the Roman general Germanicus, and after many years' resistance to the vast power of the empire he drew upon himself the hatred of his countrymen by aiming at the regal authority, and was assassinated. A national monument to his memory was inaugurated on the Grotenburg, near Detmold, in 1875. Research Arminius
Attila (Etzel) was King of the Huns. He was born in 406 and died in 453. The son of Mundzuk, and the successor, in conjunction with his brother Bleda, of his uncle Rhuas, he succeeded to the chieftainship in 434 when his people were masters of eastern Europe north of the Danube, and were terrorising western Europe as far as the Rhine and western Asia. They threatened the Eastern Empire, and twice compelled the weak Theodosius II to purchase an inglorious peace. Attila caused his brother Bleda to be murdered in 444, and in a short time extended his dominion over all the peoples of Germany and exacted tribute from the eastern and western emperors. The Vandals, the Ostrogoths, the Gepidse, and a part of the Franks united under his banners, and he speedily formed a pretext for leading them against the Empire of the East. He laid waste all the countries from the Black Sea to the Adriatic Sea, and in three encounters defeated the Emperor Theodoeius, but could not take Constantinople.
Thrace, Macedonia, and Greece all submitted to the invader, who destroyed seventy flourishing cities; and Theodosius was obliged to purchase a peace. Turning to the west, the 'scourge of God,' as the universal terror termed him, crossed with an immense army the Rhine, the Moselle, and the Seine, came to the Loire, and laid siege to Orleans. The inhabitants of this city repelled the first attack, and the united forces of the Romans under Aetius, and of the Visigoths under their king Theodoric, compelled Attila to raise the siege. He retreated to Champagne, and waited for the enemy in the plains of Chalons.
In apparent opposition to the prophecies of the soothsayers the ranks of the Romans and Goths were broken; but when the victory of Attila seemed assured the Gothic prince Thorismond, the son of Theodoric, poured down from the neighbouring height upon the Huns, who were defeated with great slaughter. Rather irritated more than discouraged, he sought in the following year a new opportunity to seize upon Italy, and demanded Honoria, the sister of Valentinian III, in marriage, with half the kingdom as a dowry. When this demand was refused he conquered and destroyed Aquileia, Padua, Vicenza, Verona, and Bergamo, laid waste the plains of Lombardy, and was marching on Rome when Pope Leo I went with the Roman ambassadors to his camp and succeeded in obtaining a peace. Attila went back to Hungary, and died on the night of his marriage with Hilda or Ildico in 453, either from the bursting of a blood-vessel or by her hand. The description that Jornandes has left us of him is in keeping with his Kalmuck-Tartar origin. He had a large head, a flat nose, broad shoulders, and a short and ill-formed body; but his eyes were brilliant, his walk stately, and his voice strong and well-toned. Research Attila
The Batavians were an old German nation which inhabited a part of the presentHolland, especially the island called Batavia, formed by that branch of the Rhine which empties itself into the sea near Leyden, together with the Waal and the Meuse. Tacitus asserts them to have been a branch of the Catti. They were subdued by Germanicus, and were granted special privileges for their faithful services to the Romans, but revolted under Vespasian. They were, however, again subjected by Trajan and Adrian, and at the end of the third century the Salian Franks obtained possession of the island of Batavia. Research Batavians
The Belgae were a collection of German and Celtic tribes who anciently inhabited the country extending between the Marne and Seine and the lower Rhine, and bounded north-west by the sea. Caesar, on his invasion of Britain, found them established also in Kent and Sussex. Research Belgae
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Aam
