Samenvatting

The Royal Netherlands Military Academy began its life as an institution of secondary education. In the course of its 175-year history two clear landmarks stand out: in 1890 the Academy became a military vocational school for pupils with a h.b.s.-education and in 1960 the choice for an academic education was made. The year 2003 may prove to be yet another landmark with the introduction of the Bachelor education. Should officers be educated to be generalists or specialists; how should the academic education relate to a practical military training; how should the values and norms of the officer profession be inculcated in the cadets? These are questions which formed a constant throughout the Academys entire history. There have been marked changes in recruitment as a result of a democratization and an almost exclusive origin from protestant civil servant/military families has shifted to a much more diverse back-ground of aspirant officers.