The History of Goose Stepping
An aggressive military march designed to intimidate and proclaim ferocity, the goose step dates to the 1600s. Although it is most closely associated with the horrors of Nazi Germany and Adolph Hitler, the formation has been utilized by numerous nations and remains an element of aggressive posturing some 400 years later.
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Identification
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The “Paradeschritt,” or “Parade March,” of the Prussian Army in the 17th century serves as the earliest incarnation of the infamous military march known as the goose step. Lines of jack-booted soldiers pointed their toes severely on every forward beat, hoisting their legs to an elevated, horizontal position, with the body slung forward to maintain balance. A fierce expression, complete with chin jutting prominently, served to complete the aggressive formation designed to strike fear into both foreign and domestic opponents.
Significance
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Prussian leaders formulated the goose step as a means of showcasing the army’s athleticism, discipline, ferocity and even arrogance. “To Prussia’s civilians, it said that all insubordination would be ruthlessly crushed. To Prussia’s enemies, it said that the Prussian army was not made up just of lads in uniform, but of regimented supermen,” says Norman Davies in his book “Europe: A History.” The psychology was clear: This army had the ability to train men to perform a completely unnatural movement and, therefore, would do anything at the behest of the leadership.
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Time Frame
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The goose step remained a dominant feature of totalitarian style for the next 300 years. The Russian army adopted the march, as did the Red Army after the Russian Civil War in 1917. “Even after the Soviet Union's collapse in 1991, honor guards could still be seen goose-stepping around Lenin's tomb in Moscow," wrote Mark Scheffler in a 2003 article for Slate.com. But the aggressive cadence of the march, the feature that suggested the slamming of boots into an opponent's face, is most closely associated with Hitler and the Nazi movement of the mid-20th century.
Function
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Hitler viewed the goose step as the perfect tool for presenting the Nazi military as a regimented, disciplined race of supermen. The stiff-armed Nazi salute also fell into this category, and these two features of Nazi Germany have been burned into mankind’s memories of the rule of Adolph Hitler. The march also appealed to Nazi allies like Italy’s Benito Mussolini, who was struck by its impact during a visit to Germany, and upon his return introduced the goose step as the “Passo Romano” to the Italian military, according to the book “Speeches and Proclamations, 1932-1945.”
Modern Display
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After World War II, the goose step was banned in Germany and remains illegal there today, although it continued in communist East Germany until the fall of the Berlin Wall and reunification of the country. Today, it remains closely associated with communist nations and totalitarian dictatorships like that of North Korea, where the goose step is regularly performed in North Korean military marches.
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References
- Photo Credit croix gammée image by rachid amrous-spleen from Fotolia.com
