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| | [[File:Paris, Wachablösung.jpg|thumbnail|right|300px|Change of guard at hotel Crillon place de la Concorde in Paris. Picture taken in 1940.]] | | [[File:Paris, Wachablösung.jpg|thumbnail|right|300px|Change of guard at hotel Crillon place de la Concorde in Paris. Picture taken in 1940.]] |
| − | 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 [[Prussia]]n [[cavalry]] officers who used it to stretch the tendons for horseback riders. | + | 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 by swinging their legs in unison off the ground, while keeping each leg straight and unbent. Its origins are among [[Prussia]]n [[cavalry]] officers who used it to stretch the tendons for horseback riders. |
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| − | Because of the goose step's association with [[Nazism|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. | + | Because of the goose step's association with [[Nazism|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. |
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| | [[George Orwell]] wrote in "England Your England" (1946): | | [[George Orwell]] wrote in "England Your England" (1946): |
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| | 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. | | 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. |
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| − | Why is the goose-step not used in England? | + | Why is the goose step not used in England? |
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| | There are, heaven knows, plenty of army officers who would be only too glad to introduce some such thing. | | There are, heaven knows, plenty of army officers who would be only too glad to introduce some such thing. |
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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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| | + | == Communist China's police/soldiers and goose-stepping == |
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| | + | *[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhZPcEKtUt4 Hong Kong police use Chinese military ‘goose-step’ for the first time at handover anniversary], South China Morning Post, 2022 (video) |
| | + | *[https://www.france24.com/en/20190925-goose-stepping-soldiers-prepare-for-china-s-anniversary-parade Goose-stepping soldiers prepare for China's anniversary parade Beijing (AFP)], France 24 |
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| | + | [[File:800px-Chinese honor guard in column 070322-F-0193C-014.JPEG|thumbnail|center|500px|Soldiers in the army of Communist [[China]] goose stepping in [[Beijing]], China. See also: [[Atheism and communism]] ]] |
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| | + | == Communist Vietnamese soldiers and goose-stepping == |
| | + | [[File:Dmitry Medvedev in Vietnam 31 October 2010-2.jpeg|thumbnail|center|500px|Communist Vietmanese soldiers laying a wreath at the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum. ]] |
| | + | {{clear}} |
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| | ==Notes== | | ==Notes== |
| | {{Reflist|colwidth=30em}} | | {{Reflist|colwidth=30em}} |
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| − | [[Category:Military]][[Category:Military History]] | + | [[Category:Military]] |