 Nevertheless, after the German conquest of the Netherlands in 1940, the ageing Wilhelm retired completely from public life.In May 1940, when Hitler invaded the Netherlands, Wilhelm declined an offer from Churchill of asylum in Britain, preferring to die at "Huis Doorn".During his last year at Doorn, Wilhelm believed that Germany was the land of monarchy and therefore of Christ, and that England was the land of liberalism and therefore of Satan and the Anti-Christ.