(1) The first was the dawning of nationality. North
of the Alps the subjects of the Empire fell into a Germanic group, lying
chiefly east of the Rhine, and a Romance group nearly co-extensive with the
modern France; Italy was sharply severed from both by geography, by differences
of race and language, and by political tradition. In the Treaty of Verdun
(843), which begins the process of political disintegration, these natural
divisions are only half respected. The kingdom of the East Franks is wholly
Germanic; that of the West Franks contains the Gallo-Roman provinces subdued by
Clovis; but between them lies the anomalous Middle Kingdom, the portion of the
titular Emperor, in which are united Italy, Provence, Burgundy, the valley of
the Moselle and a large part of the Netherlands.
In each re-distribution of
territories among Carolingian princes the lines of partition approximate more closely
to the boundaries of modern nations. Burgundy and Provence alone remain, after
the year 888, as memorials of the Middle Kingdom. Italy becomes an independent
state; the northern provinces (Lotharingia) are disputed between the East
Franks and the West Franks. And already the rulers of the new states are
identifying themselves with national sentiments and aspirations; it is not
without reason that a later age has given to Lewis, the first King of the East
Franks, the title of "the German."
