Anti-German sentiment

Anti-German sentiment (or Germanophobia) is defined as an opposition to or fear of Germany, its inhabitants, its culture and the German language. Its opposite is Germanophilia.

The phenomenon had existed, in one way or another, for as long as Germans existed and had contacts with other people. For example, the Chronicon Lethrense, a Danish history written in the 12th century, is characterized by the writer's deep hatred of all things German. However, as a political phenomenon, anti-German sentiment became significant especially from the mid-19th Century, parallel with the Unification of Germany and its rise as a world power.