Some of the mechanisms leading to the death of languages and recent historical examples:
instituted separation of children from their parents, e.g., Aboriginal children in Australia. See Stolen Generation .
imposition of another language (e.g., by declaring it official, English-only Movement )
imposition of another culture
ban on the language that is to be annihilated (e.g., Hawaiian in Hawaii by the USA after its annexation; German in the USA after the World Wars, German in Italy after WWII, Ainu in Hokkaido)
linguistic competition (e.g. English vs. French in scientific publications)
