Editing Military academy (section)

==History==
The first military academies were established in the 18th century to provide future officers for technically specialized corps, such as [[military engineer]]s and [[artillery]], with scientific training.

The [[Military Academy of Modena|Italian Military Academy]] was inaugurated in [[Turin]] on January 1, 1678, as the Savoy Royal Academy, making it the oldest military academy in existence.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Military Academy History and traditions|url=http://www.esercito.difesa.it/en/organization/The-Chief-of-General-Staff-of-the-Army/Training-Specialization-and-Doctrine-Command/Training-Command-and-Application-School-of-the-Army/Military-Academy/Pagine/History-and-traditions.aspx|access-date=2021-08-22|website=www.esercito.difesa.it|archive-date=August 22, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210822140933/http://www.esercito.difesa.it/en/organization/The-Chief-of-General-Staff-of-the-Army/Training-Specialization-and-Doctrine-Command/Training-Command-and-Application-School-of-the-Army/Military-Academy/Pagine/History-and-traditions.aspx|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[Royal Danish Naval Academy]] was set up in 1701.<ref>{{cite web|title=Royal Danish Naval Academy|url=http://www.fak.dk/om/organisation/Pages/Soev%C3%A6rnetsOfficersskole.aspx|website=Royal Danish Defence College|access-date=January 7, 2016|language=da|archive-date=October 2, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191002235509/http://www.fak.dk/om/organisation/Pages/Soev%C3%A6rnetsOfficersskole.aspx|url-status=dead}}</ref> The [[Royal Military Academy, Woolwich]] was set up in 1741, after a false start in 1720 because of a lack of funds,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.woolwichcentral.com/location-and-lifestyle/woolwich-history/|title=Woolwich History|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130806030832/http://www.woolwichcentral.com/location-and-lifestyle/woolwich-history/|archive-date=August 6, 2013}}</ref> as the earliest military academy in Britain. Its original purpose was to train cadets entering the [[Royal Artillery]] and [[Royal Engineers]]. In France, the École Royale du Génie at [[Charleville-Mézières|Mézières]] was founded in 1748, followed by a non-technical academy in 1751, the [[École Militaire|École Royale Militaire]] offering a general military education to the nobility. French military academies were widely copied in [[Prussia]], [[Austrian Empire|Austria]], [[Russian Empire|Russia]]. The [[Norwegian Military Academy]] in Oslo, educates officers of the [[Norwegian Army]]. The academy was established in 1750, and is the oldest institution for higher education in Norway.

By the turn of the century, under the impetus of the [[Napoleonic Wars]] and the strain that the armies of Europe subsequently came under, military academies for the training of commissioned officers of the army were set up in most of the combatant nations. These military schools had two functions: to provide instruction for serving officers in the functions of the efficient staff-officer, and to school youngsters before they gained an officer's commission.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.usafa.edu/df/dfh/docs/Harmon22.pdf|title=Perspectives in the History of Military Education and Professionalism|author=Richard A Harmon|access-date=November 3, 2013|archive-date=May 4, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150504040920/http://www.usafa.edu/df/dfh/docs/Harmon22.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[Prussian Military Academy|Kriegsakademie]] in Prussia was founded in 1801 and the [[École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr]] was created by order of Napoleon Bonaparte in 1802 as a replacement for the École Royale Militaire of the [[Ancien Régime]] (the institution that Napoleon himself had graduated from).

The [[Royal Military College, Sandhurst]], in England was the brainchild of [[John Le Marchant (British Army cavalry officer)|John Le Marchant]] in 1801,<ref name=":0">[https://da.mod.uk/colleges/jscsc/jscsc-library/artwork/major-general-john-gaspard-le-marchant-1766-1812 Major-General John Gaspard Le Marchant (1766–1812)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120323125835/http://www.da.mod.uk/colleges/jscsc/jscsc-library/artwork/major-general-john-gaspard-le-marchant-1766-1812 |date=March 23, 2012}} Defence Academy</ref> who established schools for the military instruction of officers at [[High Wycombe]] and [[Great Marlow]], with a grant of £30,000 from [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|Parliament]]. The two original departments were later combined and moved to Sandhurst.

In the United States, the [[United States Military Academy]] (USMA) in West Point, New York was founded on March 16, 1802, and is one of five [[United States service academies|service academies]] in the nation.