Are the French originally German?

Question

Lliam · Accepted Answer

French culture is heavily influenced by the fact that what we now call France was populated by Celtic tribes for hundreds of years and called Gaul by the Romans. Rome conquered the region. The Gauls became Romanized over time. The French language is Romanized Gallic, one of the romance languages like Italian, Romanian, Spanish and Portuguese.

The Celts/Gauls, and later the Romans had held the Germanic tribes back north of the Rhine. But when the western Roman empire fell, Germanic tribes like Goths, Visigoths, Vandals, Angles, Saxons, Franks and others swept across Italy and what is now modern France. Angles, Saxons and, later, Normans also went to Britain.

Germany, England and Scandinavian countries speak Germanic languages and have Germanic culture that was less influenced by Rome than was Gaul, which had been under Roman control for almost 500 years.

Yes, Germanic tribes moved into Gaul. Even the name France is derived from the Frankish tribe that gained control. But the Gallic culture retained its ancient roots and did not become Germanic. If anything, the Germanic tribes adopted many Gallic ways.

madhatters4 · Accepted Answer

not particularly. Germanic really has nothing to do with modern Germany and thus the German people

Germanic people were a broad label given to tribal groups who lived in northern Europe which included people in modern Luxemberg, Eastern France, Denmark, Netherlands, Scandinavia, etc

The word was really just the term given to all those people by the Roman's as they set out to explore and conquer the area.

So no, French people, because they may be considered Germanic, are not originally German or from Germany

Julie07 · Accepted Answer

No. France was populated by "Gauls", a term that encompassed several peoples, such as the Celts, Arverni, Sequani, etc. Then came the Romans. In terms of population, they must have been marginal, but Romanisation was significant. Next came the Franks. The Salian Franks were allies of Rome, and Clovis, at the fall of Rome, cleverly converted to Catholicism, learned the ropes of power, and founded the Frankish kingdom.

So we are a mixture.

But we are French, not German.

FreyaRed · Accepted Answer

It seems Franks were a Germanic tribe who established Frankish King dome that turned later in France. However I think most people in France have Celtic roots

Hagar88 · Answer

Germanic mostly yes just like Anglo Saxons, Austrians, Belgians and Prussians (parts of Poland today). Italians as well especially in northern Italy. Not forgetting the spainish and Portuguese. Like the Franks in france all these Germanics such as vandals, goths, lombards, Saxons, angles, jutes and others were able to conquer the western half of the Roman empire during the great migration period due to climate change, famines, wars, civil wars, pandemics, volcanic winter and Latins moving to the eastern roman empire so in the west there was little manpower or money for armies.

Zack-Bann · Answer

It’s never that simple when you trace back population over land
So many different tribes have taken turns living on certain parts of the world and have all procreated so it’s not a fair assessment to say “these people are that” without considering so many factors.

It’s largely why I find it laughable when a certain group of people claim to be owed some land based on ancestry.
There is 0 reasons why someone should be owed land.
Every land mass on this planet has only ever been conquered or purchased. No other way has ever worked.

And it’s why whenever someone lays claim to land today war inevitably follows every single time.
There is no alternative.

Tarifa · Answer

You would have to condense many centuries of history, invasions and intrigues into a couple of sentences to even come close. In Dutch, France is called Frankrijk, the kingdom of the Franks. German and possibly Scandinavian terms are close. You should start at the Roman Empire and the division of the Roman Empire at a later stage to get a full grasp.

AviatorTom · Answer

I don't think so. Most of today's France was settled by the Gauls, who spoke a language based on Latin that evolved into modern French. The Romans ruled over Gaul but never conquered Germany. Germans are descended from Germanic tribes that spoke a completely different language.

Modern English language is actually a mixture of German and French, plus a few others.

KostasKouvalis · Answer

@julie07

But I think SOME of them are, especially in Alsace. From what I've read, there's no such thing as a "French" ETHNICITY. They are a mix of various tribes/nations. Germans, Celts, Romans, Visigoths, Britons, Genoans, etc...

Maybe_Maybe_not · Answer

It's complicated 🤣

goaded · Answer

No more than the English are. Or Norman. Or Viking. Europe is complicated.

Are the French originally German?

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