The division of people according to their faith became problematic when in Spain after the conclusion of the Reconquista in 1492 the forced conversion of the numerous Jews to Christianity was prescribed and as a result many of the compulsory “converts” secretly continued to cultivate their previous religion. In this context, in addition to the purity of faith, the idea of a purity of blood was also significant; the term "race" was used to denote the origin of people, families or larger groups.
European colonialism (including the conquest of America and the transatlantic slave trade) has played an important role in the further establishment of the concept of race and the development of racial theories since the 15th and 16th centuries, thereby continuously replenishing new knowledge of previously unknown parts of the world, ethnic groups and customs Europe came. The knowledge of foreign “races” in those days was largely based on reports from conquerors and missionaries who were strongly racist. In the travel reports of that time, the motif of the “noble savage”, the religious interpretation based on biblical genesis, or the equation of foreign peoples with the lost tribes of Israel were also popular.
In the Anschluss, Hitler took over Austria because he believed "<span>that all German people should be united," since Hitler felt that this land and people were historically of German origin. </span>
