Cornelis Jacobus Snijders

Cornelis Jacobus Snijders (29 September 1852 - 26 May 1939) was a Dutch military leader. He was born in Nieuwe Tonge on 29 September 1852.[1] In 1865 he went to study in Middelburg but did not finish his education there.[1] 1869 he joined the Royal Military Academy in Breda, becoming an engineer.[1] In 1883 he married Johanna Adriana Everdina.[2] On 1 July 1910 he was made chief of the general staff.[1] He was a proponent of military aviation.[1] In 1913 Snijders created the Aviation Department.[1][3] Later the navy received an airforce as well.[4] Snijders was also First Chairman of the Dutch Association for Aviation.[4] When tensions grew in anticipation of World War I he was made Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces.[1] Shortly after he was promoted to full general.[1] In April 1918, one month after the signing of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk which freed Germany on her Eastern Front, he opposed war with Germany, making clear that if war was to be fought he preferred to fight the Entente.[1] He died in Hilversum on 26 May 1939.[1]

Cornelis Jacobus Snijders