Germanisation

![Polish names of Silesian cities in Polish language from Prussian official document published in 1750 during Silesian Wars in Berlin.[3]](/uploads/202501/15/Polskie-nazwy_śląskich_miejscowosci_z_patentu_Fryderyka_II_17504158.jpg)


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 liberal thinking in the 19th and 20th centuries, at a period when liberalism and nationalism went hand-in-hand. In linguistics, Germanisation also occurs when a word from the German language is adopted into a foreign language.