Oorlog en vrede. De slag om het Nationaal Historisch Museum

Abstract

War and Peace. The Battle around the Dutch National History MuseumWar and Peace is one of the ‘world themes’ that the future Dutch National History Museum will concentrate on. This essay argues that we should elaborate on this theme from two angles: our relationship with our military past and our perspective with regard to specific conflicts. Our attitude to our military past and present is charaterized by ambiguity. Dutch war culture can represent this ambiguous attitude. Our visions about the causes and nature of conflicts alter with the passage of time and according to our specific social position. This change in our (historical) perspectives can be illustrated based on some of the frequently discussed conflicts.