In the 1930s National Socialism gained absolute dominance in Germany. In the Netherlands, there was a distinctly different political environment. The Netherlands had long since lost its prominent position on the world stage and had more or less denounced any form of militarism. The defence of the country was no longer a priority, and the army was also severely outdated. It had remained neutral during the First World War and hoped to do so again in any future conflicts. In the 1930s the Netherlands was a stable democracy based on a constitutional monarchy, in which the different political parties worked together on a collaborative basis.