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The goose step is a special marching step performed on formal military parades and other ceremonies. While marching in parade formation, troops swing their legs in unison off the ground while keeping each leg straight and unbent.
Contents
- Ceremonial usage
- History
- Adoption outside Europe
- Countries that use the goose step
- Americas
- Europe
- Africa
- Middle East and Central Asia
- East Asia South Asia and Southeast Asia
- High stepping as an alternative
- Abandonment
- Association with dictatorship
- Cultural references
- References
The step originated in Prussian military drill in the mid-18th century and was called the Stechschritt (literally, "piercing step") or Stechmarsch. German and Soviet military advisors spread the tradition throughout the world in the 19th and 20th centuries. The goose step is now used by the militaries of over seventy countries, comprising three-fifths of the world's population.
The term "goose step" originally referred to a British military drill in which one leg at a time was swung back and forth without bending the knee. Apparently, standing on only one leg reminded soldiers of how geese often stand. The term was later applied to the German march step during World War II and to the Soviet march step during the Cold War. As a result, the term has acquired a pejorative meaning in some English-speaking countries.
Ceremonial usage
The goose step is a difficult marching style that takes much practice and coordination. It is therefore reserved for ceremonial occasions.
Goose stepping is often seen in military parades. Because it is difficult to maintain for long periods of time, troops only begin to goose-step when they approach the reviewing stand and return to a normal march step once they have marched past. 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.
Honour guards also use the goose step during solemn ceremonies such as at war memorials or military cemeteries. The goose step has been featured in several Olympic opening ceremonies, as the host nation pays the same respect to the Olympic flag as to its own flag.
In the most rigorous form of the goose step, often found in guard mounting ceremonies, the pace is done at a slow march, and the leg is nearly horizontal, and sometimes well beyond. In a standard goose step, found in large military parades, the pace is done at a quick march and the leg is raised only to knee-height, or even to calf height. The lower goose step improves balance and unit cohesion at the tempo of a quick march. Flagbearers and honor guards will frequently march with a higher goose step than the mass of troops following.
History
The "Stechschritt" originated in the 18th century, like other march steps, as a method of keeping 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 that 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, the replacement of muskets with rifles greatly increased the accuracy of defensive fire. It was too hazardous to march forward into battle in precise formation, and the practice became obsolete. However, armed forces continued to drill recruits in marching techniques that now focus on team building, military uniformity, and ceremonial functions. This was true in Prussia and the later German Empire, where the goose step became emblematic of military discipline and efficiency.
Adoption outside Europe
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 decisive 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 after the War of the Pacific. The practice of goose stepping then spread widely throughout Latin America thanks to Chilean and Prussian influence.
Goose stepping continued to gain ground even after Germany's defeat in World War I, as many nations still looked to the German model for military organization and training. Notably, the army of Nationalist China was trained by German advisors in the 1920s, accounting for the largest single goose-stepping military today.
The Russian Empire adopted the goose step during the 1796–1801 reign of Paul I. During the Cold War, the Soviet Union trained the military forces of many of its client states with Soviet military drill and ceremonial practices. This led to the second great wave of adoption, as the goose step was introduced into many Third World countries in Asia and Africa.
Countries that use the goose step
The goose step is a feature of military ceremonies in dozens of countries, to varying extents. Some countries use the goose step as a general parade step performed by all troops, while others reserve it for honour guards and ceremonial units.
Americas
The goose step is very popular in Latin America, where it has been adopted by most Spanish-speaking countries. It is not found in countries where Dutch, English, or Portuguese is the official language.
Europe
Goose-stepping is found primarily in Central and Eastern Europe, areas that were in close proximity to Germany and Russia.
Africa
Most African militaries trace their adoption of the goose step to the Cold War, when the Communist countries supplied them with military aid and training. The German colonies used the goose step until World War I, when they were absorbed by the victorious Allies, but all of them restored the goose step after independence.
Middle East and Central Asia
East Asia, South Asia and Southeast Asia
High-stepping as an alternative
Many militaries choose to use a high step in which the legs are lifted high off the ground, but the knee is bent at the top of the arc. The high step is commonly found in countries that abandoned the goose step, were under German military influence, or border countries that use the goose step.
Countries that abandoned the goose step:
Countries that were under German military influence:
Countries that border goose-stepping countries:
Abandonment
The goose-step is a ceremonial march that requires substantial training. It 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 in the 1930s. In the later part of World War II, the goose step nearly disappeared because of manpower shortages, accelerated courses in basic training, and a paucity of appropriate occasions.
After the Second World War, West Germany abandoned the goose step in favor of a Western march step. East Germany preserved the goose step and renamed it the "drilling step" (exerzierschritt) to avoid references to old Prussian and Wehrmacht military traditions. The 200-year 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. Although goose-stepping has no official sanction, the practice is not illegal in Germany. Some civilian marching bands and riflemen's associations continue to goose-step while others dropped it altogether.
After the fall of the Soviet Union, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Georgia abandoned the Russian-style goose step. The other 11 former Soviet Republics have kept the goose step.
Ethiopia adopted the goose step during the Derg military junta, which espoused socialist ideals and sought Soviet military aid. The practice was dropped after the Derg were overthrown.
Hungary used the high step during the regency of Miklós Horthy, and switched to the goose step early in the Cold War. Neither march step was retained after the end of the Cold War, as the parade of 1961 formally ended its use in favor of the normal quick march. (It was only retained as a slow march for the entrance of historical colors.)
Italy introduced the goose step in 1938 under Benito Mussolini as the Passo Romano ("Roman Step"). The custom was never popular in Italy's armed forces except amongst the Blackshirts. The goose step was dropped after World War II.
Romania used the goose step until from the 1910s up to 1967, when the Romanian Armed Forces ended using it for formal parades. It was briefly revived in the 1990s, and today only a single historical unit performs it while wearing First World War uniforms.
Switzerland is a majority German-speaking country that absorbed many German military traditions alongside those of France and Italy. The Swiss Armed Forces abandoned the goose step in 1946, after the German defeat in World War II.
The Republic of China (Taiwan) Armed Forces continued to use the goose step after the end of the Chinese Civil War. The 80-year tradition of goose-stepping was finally ended in 2003, during an independence-minded Democratic Progressive Party administration. In 2016, veterans organizations criticized the sloppy marching of military cadets and began holding their own goose-stepping parades, reviewed by Kuomintang politicians in two occasions.
Zimbabwean guerillas used the goose step during the Rhodesian Bush War of the 1970s. ZIPRA was trained and supplied by the Warsaw Pact, adopting East German uniforms and the goose step. Meanwhile, ZANLA was supplied and trained by China in Maoist guerilla tactics. However, Zimbabwe ultimately attained black majority rule thanks to British influence. As a result, the unified Zimbabwean Army maintained a British march step.
Association with dictatorship
The goose step was ridiculed by Allied propaganda in the World Wars as a symbol of blind obedience and senseless attachment to military form. Prior to U.S. entry into World War I, American military observers had remarked favorably on the goose step as a means of building unit cohesion. However, its association with Nazi Germany in World War II proved fatal to the goose step's reputation in English-speaking countries. 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 films.
During the Cold War, the Anglo-American hatred of the goose step transferred itself to the Soviet Union. George Orwell commented in "England Your England" (1946) that the goose step was used only in countries where the population was too scared to laugh at their military.
Cultural references
In colloquial English, the phrase goose-stepping has connotations of blind obedience and submission. The term does not carry this negative connotation in countries that actually use the goose step. This can result in mistaken interpretations due to cultural bias: