"I must still fight on until my tardy allies appear, and if they never come, I say to you without bitterness, the West will perish."
- Haile Selassie I, Emperor of Ethiopia (speech to the League of Nation, after Italy invaded Ethiopia)

"Recent events in China constitute not only a warning but a final signal that the white man's burden soon will be taken over by a very willing Japan. The reign of the white race in the Far East is coming to an end."
- Dr. Sven Hedin, Swedish explorer of Asia (1937)

"As I stood at the grave of my predecessor [the murdered Dollfuss], I knew that in order to save Austrian independence I had to embark on a course of appeasement... Everything had to be avoided which could give Germany a pretext for intervention and everything had to be done to secure in some way Hitler's toleration of the status quo."
- Austrian Chancellor Dr. Kurt von Schuschnigg

"Red-White-Red [the Austrian national colors] until we're dead!"
- Austrian Chancellor Dr. Kurt von Schuschnigg (in the last days of the Austrian Republic)

"If you have sacrificed my nation to preserve the peace of the world, I will be the first to applaud you. But if not, gentlemen, God help your souls."
- Jan Masaryk, Czech Minister (1938)

"General, may I, as an old soldier, tell you something? As soldier to soldier? You Germans have done the incredible again! One must admit that it is magnificent work!"
- King of Denmark (to General Himer on 1940 after the Denmark surrender)

"The German Army has just attacked our country. This is the second time in twenty-five years that Germany has committed a criminal aggression against a neutral and loyal Belgium. What has happened is perhaps even more odious than the aggression of 1914. No ultimatum, no note, no protest of any kind has ever been placed before the Belgian Government. It is through the attack itself that Belgium has learned that Germany has violated the undertakings given by her... The German Reich will be held responsible by history. Belgium is resolved to defend herself."
- Paul-Henri Spaak, Prime Minister of Belgium

"I've decided to stay. The cause of the Allies is lost."
King Leopold of Belgium (1940)