Editing German Empire (section)

=====Germanisation=====
{{Main|Germanisation}}
[[File:Rugi pruskie.jpg|thumb|300px|[[Prussian deportations]] of ethnic [[Polish people|Poles]] ''(Polenausweisungen)'', 1909 painting by [[Wojciech Kossak]]]]
One of the effects of the unification policies was the gradually increasing tendency to eliminate the use of non-German languages in public life, schools and academic settings with the intent of pressuring the non-German population to abandon their national identity in what was called "[[Germanisation]]". These policies often had the reverse effect of stimulating resistance, usually in the form of homeschooling and tighter unity in the minority groups, especially the [[Polish people|Poles]].{{Sfnp|Baycroft|Hewitson|2006|p=166}}

The Germanisation policies were targeted particularly [[Germanisation of Poles during the Partitions|against the significant Polish minority]] of the empire, gained by Prussia in the [[partitions of Poland]]. Poles were treated as an [[ethnic minority]] even where they made up the majority, as in the [[Province of Posen]], where a series of anti-Polish measures was enforced.<ref>{{Harvp|Kulczycki|1981}}.{{page needed|date=May 2025}}</ref> Numerous anti-Polish laws had no great effect especially in the province of Posen where the German-speaking population dropped from 42.8% in 1871 to 38.1% in 1905, despite all efforts.{{Sfnp|Broszat|1978|p=144}}