게르만 민족 대이동을 촉발시킨 훈족과 韓民族의 親緣性에 관한 연구

A Comparative Study of the close relations between the ancient Koreans and the Huns who triggered the Germanics Great Migration

This article is based on the hypothesis that the Huns who triggered the Germanics Great Migration in A.D. 375 might have been the same race as Ancient Koreans. The Huns who attacked the vast area of Europe have been longtime supposed to be Hsiung-Nu. But it has not yet been proved in spite of experts' long studies. It is true that at least they had intimate relationship in race and in history. Also we can say both the Huns and the Hsiung-Nu were not so much strange for Koreans as enemy or friends in the far east asian history because they all had racial and cultural similarities among them. According to certain historians the huns who lived in Mongolia area, north-east of China were separated into two groups and the one advanced far into the south-east Europe and the other pushed toward the west-ward. What is more interesting is a theory that some of the wast-ward hun tribes penetrated into The Korean Peninsula, eventually arriving in the southern region of it, Kaya(Shilla). But it is the west Hun groups that exerted a decisive and important influence on the european history in particular under the leadership of the strong and famous King Attila. The Huns were a nomadic people from around Mongolia in Central Asia that began migrating toward the west in the third century, probably due to climatic change. They were a horse people and very adept at mounted warfare, both with spears and bows. Moving with their families and great herds of horses and domesticated animals they migrated in search of new grasslands to settle. Due to their military prowess and discipline, they proved unstoppable, displacing all in their path. They set in motion a tide of migration before them as other peoples moved to get out of their way. This domino effect of large populations passed around the hard nut of Constantinople and the Eastern Roman Empire to spill over the Danube and Rhine Rivers, and ultimately overwhelm the Western Roman Empire by 476. Finding lands to their liking, the Huns settled on the Hungarian plain in Eastern Europe, making their headquarters at the city of Etzelburg(city of Attila) on the Tisza River. They needed large expanses of grasslands to provide forage for their horses and other animals. From this area of plains the Huns controlled through alliance or conquest an empire eventually stretching from the Ural Mountains in Russia to the Rhone River in France. The Huns were superb horsemen, trained from childhood, and some believe they invented the stirrup, critical for increasing the fighting power of a mounted man charging with a couched lance. They inspired terror in enemies due to the speed at which they could move, changing ponies several times a day to maintain their advance. A second advantage was their recurved composite bow, far superior to anything used in the West. Standing in their stirrups, they could fire forward, to the sides, and to the rear. Their tactics featured surprise, lightning attacks, and the ensuing terror. They were an army of light cavalry and their political structure required a strong leader to hold them to a purpose. The peak of Hun power came during the rule of Attila, who became a leader of the Huns in 433 and began a series of raids into south Russia and Persia. He then turned his attention to the Balkans, causing sufficient terror and havoc on two major raids to be bribed to leave. In 450 he turned to the Western Empire, crossing the Rhine north of Mainz with perhaps 100,000 warriors. Advancing on a front of 100 miles, he sacked most of the towns in what is now northern France. The Roman general Aetius raised a Gallo-Roman army and advanced against Attila, who was besieging the city of Orleans. At the major battle of Chalons, Attila was defeated, though not destroyed(prlbably draw battle).