"The Ancient Slavs" Topic

"The ancient Slavs never had it particularly easy. They always seemed to be between powerful adversaries; stuck between the warlike Germans and the martially powerful steppe nomads or developing between the Frankish and Byzantine Empires, the super powers of their day. To the North of the Slavs lived the fierce Scandinavians, a society that produced the mighty Vikings and who conquered many lands. Yet amazingly the Slavs survived, and bewilderingly, they even thrived. Slavic tribes burst forth from their homeland and conquered and settled half of Europe, forever changing the history of the continent and the world. Few of the lands that were slavasized by these ancient warriors were ever taken back by their opponents, and the migration of the Slavs continue to this day, particularly in their ancient drive to the East. Yet, the ancient Slavs that achieved this great expansion were never considered to be one of the great warrior societies in history…."
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Amicalement
Armand

A bit of confusion(?) there – Samos was located roughly in what is now Slovenia and the article places Slovenes in the South rather than West Slavs.

Interesting overview though.

Although it does leave out the fact that various German states pursued policies to Germanize ethnic Slav regions under their control. A lot of colonization by ethnic Germans and resettlement of the local Slavs. With attempts to bury Slavic culture and identity with those that remained – when asked my grandfather would say that he was German.

On the other hand the South Slavs were Austro-Hungary's first line of defense against the Ottomans.

Glad you enjoyed it (partially) my friend.

And thanks for the info.

Amicalement
Armand

The article doesn't give a great deal of detail on how they fought but that may be simply because little is really known.

(And the article is quite correct Slovenian is a South Slavic language)

I've been playing the Slavs in a friendly online campaign with some friends. Through my reading I really got inspired about them. Too bad the history is so thin about them (and their enemies) in those centuries. King Samo really put paid to the schemes of Dagobert I of Frankia! My impressions are that Dagobert was intent on recreating the Western Roman Empire and possibly expanding it by taking out the Byzantines. The Slavs turned that scheme upside down.