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Against this threat Premier Hansson talked surprisingly tough. He ordered all Swedish ships to run for neutral or Allied ports, announced that Sweden would defend her independence, whatever the cost, and added: "It is not compatible with Swedish neutrality to let any belligerent power use Swedish territory for its operations. No such demands have been made on us. If they are, they must be rejected."
Although this sounded like defiance of Germany, Premier Hansson was playing a cagey game with a bad hand. His hand was strengthened before the week was out by the British capture of Narvik. If Britain establishes a strong force there, Germany will have to think twice before invading Sweden. It is only 84 miles from Narvik to the Swedish iron mines at Kiruna, 125 miles to the mines at Gällivare, and Britons could probably reach the mines before the Germans. But Premier Hansson had still other problems. For what he mortally fears is that Sweden may become a battleground not for two, but for three belligerents. Russia has to be reckoned with.
The day that Germany attacked Norway, German Ambassador Count Friedrich Werner von der Schulenberg had a four-hour talk with Premier Molotov in Moscow. The Ambassador had some explaining to do, inasmuch as German occupation of the Norwegian coast would spoil Russian dreams of reaching the Atlantic. Next day Premier Molotov served up a new set of demands on the new Finnish Minister to Moscow, Juho Paasikivi. Chief demands: 1) immediate construction of the promised railroad across Finland to Sweden; 2) an economic agreement at once. If either the Allies or Germany invaded Sweden, it was almost certain that Russia would further "adjust her frontiers" with Finland, push up to Sweden's elbow.
In the West. Before the French and British Embassies in Brussels, students paraded, carrying banners that said: "VIVE LA FRANCE!" "VIVE LA GRANDE BRETAGNE!" At night columns of Belgian troops clumped along mined roads, across barricaded bridges, toward Liege and the German frontier. Foreign Minister Paul-Henri Spaak called in Allied diplomats to deny that Germany had presented an ultimatum demanding Belgian neutrality, to reaffirm that Belgium was neutral anyway—until Belgium or The Netherlands was invaded. Minister of Defense Lieutenant General Henri Denis told correspondents: "If any invader sought ... to cross our territory, he would find there only slim advantages to be gained." Alarmed by the ease with which Germany's fifth column handed over Norway, the Cabinet met to "consider the situation of foreigners in the country." On the Western Front activity increased. Artillery boomed all day long and at night patrols sought prisoners for information. French military sources reported heavy German concentrations near Frankfurt, practically said an offensive was coming. Where would it strike first? The Netherlands was most nervous. As civilians fled from frontier districts, fresh troops moved in. All Army leaves were canceled. Martial law was extended. With roads and bridges mined, trees girded with dynamite, the Dutch hoped they could give a good account of themselves in the field before they had to open the dikes.
Three things menaced The Netherlands.