Question

The Germanic tribes were semi-civilized.
A. True
B. False

Answer 1

Hint: Germanic tribes are used to describe a group of tribes who lived to the north of river Danube contemporary to the Holy Roman Empire. Their raids played an important role in the latter's decline. Some major examples would be Visigoths, Vandals, Franks and others.

Complete answer: Germanic tribes were a cluster of tribes with common linguistic and ethnic origins, essentially Indo European. Origin of these is uncertain, but their presence is confirmed by archaeological sources as early as 700 BC. It was around this time they entered the parts of Scandinavia. Most of the information regarding these comes from Roman traveller accounts.
Germanic tribes were semi-nomadic and followed a subsistence economy comprising agriculture and livestock. Their organization is associated with the idea of chieftains as the leaders and they attached great importance to kinship. The relation among the tribes remained unclear for lack of sources, but overall they followed similar organizational patterns. In fact, similar environmental conditions suggest a similarity with other tribal groups as Celts.
Climatic conditions and subsistence economy kept their number in check and hampered their full development as a civilization. It was only after 200 BC as they entered north-western Europe that they started settling. Augustus Caesar’s eastern expedition reaching till the Rhine brought these tribes in close contact with Romans. Trade of slaves from here to the empire and other goods became common. This was accompanied by the development of a new kind of warfare in form of raids. A very important battle here is the battle of the Teutoburg forest where these tribes defeated three Roman legions. Gradually, with further contact and lack of able Roman rulers, raids kept on increasing, leading to these tribes becoming an important cause in the final decline of the Holy Roman Empire.
Hence, the answer is an option (A).

Note: Germanic tribes are also called as Gothic, Teutonic tribes with the latter one seen as a reference to important early German gods as Tiuw, Teiwaz and Tyr.