The Dutch had not engaged in war with any European nation since 1830.[6] During World War I, the Dutch were not invaded by Germany and anti-German sentiment was not as strong after that war as it was in other European countries. The German ex-Kaiser had fled to the Netherlands in 1918 and lived there in exile. The German invasion, therefore, came as a great shock to many Dutch people.[7] Nevertheless, the country had ordered general mobilization in September 1939.