Goose step
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 Prussian cavalry officers who used the exercise to stretch the tendons for horseback riding.
In the 20th century goose stepping became associated with Nazi Germany, later the Soviet Union, and acquired a negative reputation in the Anglo-American world. Hollywood and Anglo-Americans commonly mock goose-stepping.
In the early Cold War period English writer George Orwell wrote in "England Your England" (1946):
| â | 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 âYes, I am ugly, and you darenât laugh at meâ, 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.[2] |
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(left) German soldiers: Change of guard at hotel Crillon place de la Concorde in Paris. Picture taken in 1940. (right} Canadian Armed Forces members participate in international exercise in Poland in 2014.[3] | ||
Communist China's police/soldiers and goose-stepping
- Hong Kong police use Chinese military âgoose-stepâ for the first time at handover anniversary, South China Morning Post, 2022 (video)
- Goose-stepping soldiers prepare for China's anniversary parade Beijing (AFP), France 24
