On November 10, 1938, Adolf Hitler had this to say in a secret meeting with 400 journalists:

“For years circumstances have compelled me to talk about almost nothing but peace. Only by continually stressing Germany’s desire for peace and her peaceful intentions could I achieve freedom for the German people bit by bit and provide the armaments which were always necessary before the next step could be taken.”

Quoted from Christian Leitz, “Nazi Germany” in The Origins of World War Two: The Debate Continures, ed. by Robert Boyce and Joseph A. Maiolo (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003), 24.