(2 of 3)
A more likely story was that the two sovereigns wanted to let Adolf Hitler know that they would defend their neutrality, and their frontiers, together. The concentration of Nazi troops on the Belgian and The Netherlands border and the recent tone of the German press and Foreign Office toward the Low Countries made Belgians and Netherlanders fear that both might well need defending.
"Paper Protests." "When the toes of small powers are trampled upon by England, Germany expects them to do more than take it with a smile," declared a Nazi Foreign Office spokesman.
Propaganda Minister Dr. Paul Joseph Goebbels' Der Angriff raged: "It is now a question whether., acquiescence of these states to England has reached a point where they are entirely under her thumb."
The Deutsche Allgemeine Zeitung declared: "Neutrals have gone all too willingly to The Downs and have submitted to the Caudinian yoke of the British blockade. Alleged resistance to illegal British blockade practices has been confined to paper protests and resolutions discreetly submitted behind closed doors."
War of Nerves. Thus the typical Nazi build-up prior to invasion had begun, and the excuses that Adolf Hitler's Government would give in case the Führer did invade The Netherlands or Belgium could be anticipated. Instead of declaring that "necessity knows no law" or asking "what's in a scrap of paper?" as she did last time, Germany's reasoning would be that, by submitting to the British "tyranny on the seas," Belgium and The Netherlands were, in effect, no longer neutrals but had really become British-dominated territory—hence, a proper object of attack.
Under the impact of Nazi press agitation and their own large-scale defense preparations, the peoples of the Low Countries began to experience a real war of nerves, complete with mobilizations, floodings, frontier incidents (see p. 19). The two Governments, with their Cabinets meeting almost continually, got out assuring and reassuring statements, persuaded the Dutch and Belgian press to keep cool heads. But all Belgians and Dutchmen had to do to learn the newest sensation of the moment was to turn on British and French radios. In the U. S. eight-column streamers shouted "GUNS ROAR ON DUTCH-NAZI BORDER," "ULTIMATUM TO HOLLAND REPORT." Piqued, the Dutch Government threatened to expel foreign newsmen who sensationalized.
"Provided." In Berlin, the Foreign Office persistently pooh-poohed the idea of an invasion of either country. When, however, Nazi diplomats were asked point-blank to reaffirm Germany's respect for Belgian and The Netherlands neutrality, they simply pointed to previous declarations, in which Germany had agreed to respect Belgian and Dutch neutrality provided the other side also respected it. That did not necessarily mean a great deal.
Meanwhile, the peace appeal itself got less than nowhere. The press and unofficial spokesmen of both sides gave it perfunctory respect. Then, after a decent five days, King George VI and President Lebrun gave it the works.