Difference between revisions of "Goose step"
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Beyond a certain point, military display is only possible in countries where the common people dare not laugh at the army.<ref>[http://jackofkent.com/2012/04/orwell-and-the-ridicule-of-extremists/ George Orwell and the ridicule of extremists]</ref>}} | Beyond a certain point, military display is only possible in countries where the common people dare not laugh at the army.<ref>[http://jackofkent.com/2012/04/orwell-and-the-ridicule-of-extremists/ George Orwell and the ridicule of extremists]</ref>}} | ||
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==Notes== | ==Notes== | ||
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}} | {{Reflist|colwidth=30em}} | ||
| − | [[Category:Military]] | + | [[Category:Military]][[Category:Military History]] |
Revision as of 17:31, May 13, 2024
The goose step is the nickname given to the Stechschritt a type of marching step performed in formal military parades and special ceremonies. While marching in parade formation, the goose step is performed by troops through swinging their legs in unison off the ground, while keeping each leg straight and unbent. Its origins are among Prussian cavalry officers who used it to stretch the tendons for horseback riders.
Because of the goose step's association with Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, blind obedience and dictatorships, it has acquired a negative reputation in the Anglo-American world. Anglo-Americans commonly mock goose stepping.
George Orwell wrote in "England Your England" (1946):
| “ | The goose-step, for instance, is one of the most horrible sights in the world, far more terrifying than a dive-bomber.
It is simply an affirmation of naked power; contained in it, quite consciously and intentionally, is the vision of a boot crashing down on a face. Its ugliness is part of its essence, for what it is saying is ‘Yes, I am ugly, and you daren’t laugh at me’, like the bully who makes faces at his victim. Why is the goose-step not used in England? There are, heaven knows, plenty of army officers who would be only too glad to introduce some such thing. It is not used because the people in the street would laugh. Beyond a certain point, military display is only possible in countries where the common people dare not laugh at the army.[1] |
” |