A German state may not have existed until after Karl, but a German people
clearly did. They did not sprout from the Earth when the teeth of dragons
were sowed in the soil. While that had no single German state, there were
many German kingdoms (as well as kingdoms of partially Germany and partially
non-German people). The Saxons, Franks, and Alamans were clearly German.
They spoke mutually intelligable languages, had a shared material and
religious culture, and from their culture comes what we know today as
Germany.
A German state may not have existed until after Karl, but a German people
clearly did. They did not sprout from the Earth when the teeth of dragons
were sowed in the soil. While that had no single German state, there were
many German kingdoms (as well as kingdoms of partially Germany and partially
non-German people). The Saxons, Franks, and Alamans were clearly German.
They spoke mutually intelligable languages, had a shared material and
religious culture, and from their culture comes what we know today as
Germany.