Internalized subjugation is a concept that examines the process of an ethnic minority group internalizing the legitimacy of a foreign people to rule over them. This can take shape in foreign politics but its primary application is in domestic avenues of control. One of the most common ways this occurs is through the acceptance of external (or publicly allowable) answers as in-group conclusions. If a nation-state is particularly sensitive to losing its grip on power, especially to its minorities, a culture of forced patriotism will commonly arise. Because the minority group cannot speak openly about their true opinions without the risk of retaliation, the only narrative that is available to the public is the one that supports the positions of the state.

The strength of this narrative is in its repeated usage at any points of contention between the two peoples. If this goes on for long enough, the true (internal) beliefs of a people will begin to mesh with the artificial (external). By the time of the next generation, there will be little distinction as the new group will not have lived in a time when this difference was visible. To return back to something resembling the original state of mind in cases like this, a process of systematic nationalization must occur (see Rusynification).