What is "germanisation"

Germanisation (also spelt Germanization) refers to the spread of the German language, people and culture or policies which introduced these changes. It was a central plank of German conservative thinking in the 19th and 20th centuries, at a period when conservatism and nationalism went hand-in-hand. In linguistics, Germanisation also occurs when a word from the German language is adopted into a foreign language.

Under the policies of states such as Prussia, Austria, the German Empire and Nazi Germany, non-Germans were often banned from use of their language,the state discriminated their traditions and culture, when those measures were not successful in eradicating non-Germans, colonists and settlers were used to upset the population balance. During the Nazi era, Germanisation turned into a policy of ethnic cleansing and later into genocide of non-Germans.