Because the dukes of the East Frankish Kingdom have wearied of being ruled by a foreign king, they elect a German to serve as their king once the Carolingian line expires.

The election of Conrad I (r. 911-18), Duke of Franconia, as the first German king has been marked by some historians as the beginning of German history.

Conrad's successor, Henry I (r. 919- 36), Duke of Saxony, is powerful enough to designate his son Otto I (r. 936-73) as his successor.

Otto is so able a ruler that he will come to be known as Otto the Great.

He overpowers other territorial dukes who rebel against his rule and reverses the particularist trend for a time, but he fails to establish the principle of hereditary succession, and the German dukes continue to elect one of their number as king.

However, through military successes and alliances with the church, which have extensive properties and military forces of its own, Otto expands the crown lands, thus laying the foundation of monarchical power.