Some people use the two words citizenship and nationality as synonyms, but that can often be misleading. A better understanding requires a look into history and into the practices of other countries in the world.  

 The USA follows a policy called Jus soli whereby everyone born in the US is an American citizen. Under certain conditions, immigrants can also acquire American citizenship, thereby also becoming American nationals. To many people, this means that they acquired American nationality.

In many countries of the world, the Jus sanguinis policy is recognized, meaning that nationality, but not citizenship, is passed down from parents to children. The Danube Swabians provide a perfect example. Due to the changes of borders imposed on them by the powers above them, their citizenship often changed in accordance with the countries that took possession of the place where they lived. During those changes, their nationality did not change: They continued speaking German, learning German in school (except where prohibited), attending German churches, and following the traditions of their forefathers, such as celebrating their Kirchweih.

In recent times, the term “ethnicity” is sometimes used instead of “nationality”. Applied to the USA, it means that the Danube Swabians could be “Americans of German ethnicity”, a designation shared with German-speaking immigrants from other parts of the world, including Germany. However, in many European countries, where the circumstances of history placed people of various ethnicities, and where some Danube Swabians still live today, they continue to be recognized as a nationality, sometimes as one among many “co-inhabiting nationalities” (nationalities that live alongside a majority nation).

Not all the people colonizing the Banat, Batschka, etc. in the 18th century spoke German or were of German descent. Obviously, the concepts of race or "purity of race" would be misapplied in this discussion. And the colonists themselves were in no sense Danube Swabians as they are sometimes erroneously designated. But over many generations, the descendants of the colonists developed into a new, predominantly German-speaking group (sometimes referred to as a tribe), for which the group-designation “Donauschwaben” was coined. Their neighbours continued to call them Swabians or Germans (in their own languages) and they continued to refer to themselves as Schwowe or Schwobe, pronounced according to the dialect specific to every town or village. Their vast majority accepted their German nationality (or ethnicity) as natural, while remaining loyal citizens of whatever country they found themselves in.

Wherever people of different nationalities (or ethnicities) live together, assimilation is likely to take place. A simple example is a change of nationality by marriage into another nationality. An example of mass assimilation was Magyarization, a process by which non-Magyar nationalities (such as Swabians, Romanians, Croats, etc) were encouraged to adopt the Magyar language and culture, either voluntarily or by pressure.