text: The Huns, a confederation of a Turkic-Uralic ruling core that subsequently incorporated various Germanic, Sarmatian and Slavic tribes, moved west into Europe entering Pannonia in 400–410 AD. The Huns are supposed to have triggered the great German migrations into western Europe. From their base, the Huns subdued many people and carved out a sphere of terror extending from Germany and the Baltic to the Black Sea. With the death of Attila the Hun in 454 AD, succession struggles led to the rapid collapse of Hun prestige and subsequent disappearance from Europe.
  In the meantime, the Ostrogoths freed themselves from Hunnish domination in 454 AD and became foedorati as well. The Ostrogoths too migrated westwards, commissioned by the Byzantines, and established a state in Italy.  In the second half of the 5th- and first of the 6th century, new Germanic barbarian tribes entered the Balkans. The Gepids, having lived in Dacia in the 3rd century with the Goths, settled Pannonia and eventually conquered Singidunum (Belgrade) and Sirmium (Sremska Mitrovica), establishing a short-lived kingdom in the 6th century. The Lombards entered Pannonia in 550s, defeated the Gepids and absorbed them. In 569 they moved into northern Italy, establishing their own kingdom at the expense of the Ostrogoths.
  Migration Period
  The Slavs, known as the Sklavenoi and Antes, migrated in successive waves since the 6th century. The Slavs migrated from Eastern and Central Europe and eventually became known as South Slavs. Most still remained subjects of the Roman Empire.