The goose step is a special marching step usually performed on formal military parades and other ceremonies. While marching in parade formation, troops swing their legs in unison to a nearly horizontal position while keeping their knees locked. In many armed forces the step is modified to raise the legs to a lower angle. Originating in Prussian military drill in the mid-18th century, the step was called the Stechschritt (literally, "piercing step") or Stechmarsch. Although "goose step" is a pejorative term in English, it is used officially by the armed forces of the nearly 30 countries that maintain the tradition.
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Like other march steps, the "Stechschritt" originated in the 18th century as a method to keep troops lined up properly as they advanced towards enemy lines. It was introduced into German military tradition by Leopold I, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau, a Field Marshal whose close attention to training transformed the Prussian infantry into one of the most formidable armed forces in Europe. Other armies adopted different march steps which served the same purpose: in the British army, soldiers were trained to swing their arms in a wide arc to allow officers to keep the advancing line in order.
By the mid-19th century, firearms with longer range and greater striking power made the practice of marching forward in precise formation irrelevant. Armies no longer advanced in neat lines to meet the enemy. However, armed forces continued to drill recruits in marching techniques that now had only a ceremonial and psychological function. This was true in Prussia and the later German Empire, where the goose step became emblematic of military discipline and efficiency.
The goose step is a difficult marching style that takes much practice and coordination. It is generally reserved for ceremonial occasions today.
Goose stepping is often seen in military parades. However, the goose step is very difficult to maintain for long periods of time. As a result, troops typically begin the goose step only when they approach the reviewing stand, switching back to their normal march step once they have passed. Large military parades require several days of practice to ensure that troops can perform the goose step without injuring themselves. Preparatory training includes having soldiers march in small groups, with arms linked to maintain balance.
In the most rigorous form of goose-stepping, the leg is raised almost horizontally. Generally, more formal ceremonies are accompanied by the more rigorous and exaggerated forms of goose-stepping. Honor guards also use the goose step during solemn ceremonies, such as at war memorials or military cemeteries. It has been featured in several Olympic opening ceremonies, as host nations pay respect to the Olympic flag in the same fashion as they would to their own flags.
In a modified form that is often adopted for large military parades, the leg is often raised only to knee-height, sometimes only a few centimeters off the ground. This makes it easier to maintain balance and unit cohesion at the standard march tempo of 120 paces per minute. A more modified version, inspired by pre-WWII Yugoslavian military drill and ceremonial, is used today in all the former Yugoslav nations since the 1960s.
The goose step became widespread in militaries around the world in the 19th and 20th centuries. Military modernization and political influence carried the practice to Asia, Africa, and Latin America from its origins in Prussia and Russia.
The first wave of adoption took place in the late 19th century, as the Prussian army became greatly admired for its complete victory in the Franco-Prussian War. This led many countries to modernize their military forces along the Prussian model. The Chilean Army was the first non-European country to adopt the goose step, importing many Prussian military traditions starting in 1886, a year after the War of the Pacific had just ended. The practice of goose stepping then spread widely throughout Latin America. Goose stepping continued to spread even after Germany's defeat in World War I, as many nations still looked to the German model.
The Russian Empire adopted the goose step during the 1796–1801 reign of Paul I. During the Cold War, the Soviet Union trained and supplied the military forces of many of its client states with Soviet military drill and ceremonial practices. The goose step thus displaced (but also adapted and combined, as in the case of Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, Indonesia, Egypt, Algeria, Nicaragua and Suriname) French, British, American and Dutch military drill in many Third World countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America, but was never used in parades in Hungary, Czechoslovakia (it was only used in ceremonies), Romania and Myanmar.
The goose step is a feature of military ceremonies in dozens of countries, to varying extents.
As a ceremonial march that requires substantial training, the goose-step is often abandoned in times of war as more pressing needs occupy the available training time. Opinion on the goose-step was divided even in the German Wehrmacht,[1] which curtailed its use after the fall of France in 1940. Later in the war, the goose step nearly disappeared because of manpower shortages, accelerated courses in basic training, and a paucity of appropriate occasions.
After World War II, West Germany opted for an American-style march step. East Germany preserved the goose step in a modified form, renamed the "drilling step" (Exerzierschritt) to avoid references to old Prussian and Wehrmacht military traditions. The longstanding German tradition of goose stepping finally ended with German reunification in 1990, as East German forces were absorbed into the Bundeswehr and conformed to West German military customs.
The Swiss army gave up the goose step in 1946, shortly after German defeat in World War II.[2]
During the Zimbabwean War of Liberation, ZIPRA was trained and supplied by the Warsaw Pact, adopting East German uniforms and the goose step[3][4]. After independence, however, the unified Zimbabwean Army standardized on British marching style.
Benito Mussolini, the fascist dictator of Italy, introduced the goose step in 1938 as the Passo Romano ("Roman Step"), but the custom was never popular in Italy's armed forces.[5]
The goose step was especially ridiculed during the world wars of the 20th century as a symbol of blind obedience and senseless attachment to military form. In the United States and Great Britain the custom became virtually synonymous with German militarism. During World War II, it was condemned in George Orwell's essay The Lion and the Unicorn, and proved an easy target for parody in many editorial cartoons and Hollywood movies.
The Soviet Union and other Communist countries retained the goose step after Nazi Germany's defeat. However, many of the countries that maintain the tradition today are ostensible democracies.
In English-speaking countries World War II propaganda has indelibly associated the goose step with fascism. There, and sometimes elsewhere in the West, it is invoked as a reference to Nazism, fascism, communism, or militarism in general.
The goose step does not carry this negative connotation elsewhere. This sometimes results in inaccurate conclusions being drawn by English-speaking observers.
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