The country received 12,000 immigrants from Germany between 1946 and 1952, a smaller number than in previous periods. This meant that the concepts of acculturation and linguistic and cultural persistence were not dealt with in the same way. The group did not congregate as tightly and participated more in general culture. Further, because of an era of national identities and the post-World War II problems of promoting German identity, the pre-existing process of assimilation was not met with resistance by the new arrivals.