I’ve never read so much disinformation in my life!

How arrogant of the Americans to assume that the -IZE spelling is their creation! Maybe if they were able to pick up a reputable (ie - NOT Websters!) English grammar book and read it, they would find out that the –IZE form predates the Anglo-Saxon recolonization of their continent; hence, realIZE is NOT an Americanism.

it's true that much of the foreign-influenced idiosyncrasies of English morphology were subsequently simplified by the Americans - maybe as a result of their lack of desire (or comprehension) to adhere to the original etymological roots of certain words (théâtre/theater, encyclopaedia/encyclopedia, maneuver/manoeuvre, dialog/dialogue) - however, the -IZE form of the factitive is NOT an Americanism! The IZE form predates 19th century Frenchification to –ISE. Hence the word REALIZE should be spelt with a Z if one should wish to adhere to the original English spelling (before Columbus ‘discovered the New World’!).