Anti-German sentiment (or Germanophobia or Teutophobia) is defined as an opposition to or fear of Germany, its inhabitants, and the German language.^{[verification needed]} Its opposite is Germanophilia.

In the 1860s Russia experienced an outbreak of Germanophobia, mainly restricted to a small group of writers in St. Petersburg who had united around a right wing newspaper. It began in 1864 with the publication of an article by a writer using the pseudonym "Shedoferotti" who proposed that Poland be given autonomy and that the privileges of the German barons in the Baltic republics and Finland be preserved. Mikhail Katkov published a harsh criticism of the article in the Moscow News which in turn caused a flood of angry articles in which Russian writers expressed their irritation with Europeans, some of which featured direct attacks on Germans.

The following year, 1865, the 100th anniversary of the death of Mikhail Lomonosov was marked throughout the Russian empire. Articles were published which mentioned the difficulties Lomonosov had encountered from the foreign members of the Russian Academy of Sciences, most of which had been of German descent. The authors then criticized contemporary German scholars for their neglect of the Russian language and for printing articles in foreign languages while receiving funds from the Russian people. It was further suggested by some writers that Russian citizens of German origin who did not speak Russian and follow the Orthodox faith should be considered foreigners. It was also proposed that people of German descent be forbidden from holding diplomatic posts as they might not have "solidarity with respect to Russia".

World War I (WWI), which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939 (World War II), and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918. It involved all the world's great powers, which were assembled in two opposing alliances: the Allies (based on the Triple Entente of the United Kingdom, France and Russia) and the Central Powers (originally centred around the Triple Alliance of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy; but, as Austria–Hungary had taken the offensive against the agreement, Italy did not enter into the war). These alliances both reorganised (Italy fought for the Allies), and expanded as more nations entered the war. Ultimately more than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, were mobilised in one of the largest wars in history. More than 9 million combatants were killed, largely because of enormous increases in lethality of weapons, thanks to new technology, without corresponding improvements in protection or mobility. It was the sixth-deadliest conflict in world history, subsequently paving the way for various political changes such as revolutions in the nations involved.

Winsor McCay (September 26, 1869 – July 26, 1934) was an American cartoonist and animator.

A prolific artist, McCay's pioneering early animated films far outshone the work of his contemporaries, and set a standard followed by Walt Disney and others in later decades. His two best-known creations are the newspaper comic strip Little Nemo in Slumberland, which ran from 1905–1914 and 1924–1927, and the animated cartoon Gertie the Dinosaur, which he created in 1914.

His comic strip work has influenced generations of artists, including creators such as William Joyce, André LeBlanc, Moebius, Maurice Sendak, Chris Ware and Bill Watterson.

McCay was the son of Robert McKay (later changed to McCay) and Janet Murray McKay; Robert at various times worked as a teamster, a grocer, and a real estate agent. Winsor's exact place and year of birth are uncertain — he claimed to have been born in Spring Lake, Michigan in 1871, but his gravestone says 1869, and census reports state that he was born in Canada in 1867. He was originally named Zenas Winsor McKay, in honor of his father's employer, Zenas G. Winsor. He later dropped the name Zenas.

Oskar Böhme (February 24, 1870 – 1938?) was a German composer and trumpeter.

Oskar Böhme, a son of Wilhelm Böhme, also a trumpeter, was born in Potschappel, a small town near Dresden, Germany. For much of his early career, after studying trumpet and composition in the Leipzig Conservatory of Music until graduating in 1885, it is unknown what Böhme's musical activities were, though it is probable he concertized, playing in smaller orchestras around Germany.

From 1894-1896 he played in the Budapest Opera Orchestra and then moved to St. Petersburg, Russia, in 1897. Böhme played cornet for 24 years in the Mariinsky Theatre, turned to teaching at a music school on Vasilievsky Island in St. Petersburg for nine further years, from 1921-1930, and then returned to opera with the Leningrad Drama Theatre until 1934.

In 1934, however, the Great Terror began under Stalin and in 1936 a committee was established to oversee the arts in Soviet Russia. According to its anti-foreign policies, Böhme was exiled to Orenburg on account of his German heritage. It is said that he died there in 1938, though he was also said to be seen working on the Turkmenistan Canal in 1941.

Alena Gerber (born 20 August 1989) is a German model, actress and TV host.

Gerber was born in Baden-Württemberg and was discovered by a German model agency at the age of 13. She participated in regional beauty contests. She also had brief guest appearances on several German TV series and has appeared in a number of German TV shows.

Gerber resides in Switzerland, Germany and the USA. Her agency is Vivienne models.

After numerous appearances on German IPTV channels she started hosting the Zurich Nightlife show usgang.tv (usgang means "to celebrate" in Swiss German).

In 2010 Gerber was the face of the Streetparade, the Swiss version of the German Loveparade.

Alena Gerber became particularly famous in Switzerland when she was at the center of a xenophobic controversy between the conservative Swiss People's Party (Schweizerische Volkspartei) and German guest workers. The Swiss People's Party's stance was the too many German foreigners would already overcrowd Switzerland, destroy its cultural identity and take away the citizen's jobs. The German and Swiss yellow press newspapers BILD and Blick kept the issue in the media for several months, thereby indirectly contributing to Gerber's increasing popularity. The argument ended, when People's Party officials and Alena Gerber reconciled in public in late 2009.