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Prussian Pomp Still Lives


Subdeacon Joe

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36 minutes ago, Charlie Harley, #14153 said:

I can't say much given the number of P-Rades I strutted around The Plain up on the Hudson, but such pomp still leaves me chuckling a bit.

 

How do such displays contribute to 21st century war fighting?

Impractical of course.

Just les tradition militaire.  ;)

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50 minutes ago, Charlie Harley, #14153 said:

I can't say much given the number of P-Rades I strutted around The Plain up on the Hudson, but such pomp still leaves me chuckling a bit.

 

How do such displays contribute to 21st century war fighting?

 

Well with all the joint injuries that goose stepping and other fancy marching causes it likely reduces the number of available combatants.

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2 hours ago, Sedalia Dave said:

 

Well with all the joint injuries that goose stepping and other fancy marching causes it likely reduces the number of available combatants.

Never trust an army that goose steps sez I.

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3 hours ago, Utah Bob #35998 said:

Never trust an army that goose steps sez I.

With the exceptions in the above video any country that requires its soldiers to goose steps is run by a megalomaniac.

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Chile imported Prussian instructors for their army during the latter part of the 19th century. Under the Pinochet regime they began the recognizable WWII style German helmet. They have since discarded that. But the new ones look real similar.

 

AE7B2E2F-1343-443F-9A5C-1D7F25E9A897.jpeg

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The Chinese are also fond of the step. Year of the Goose? 

And the Italians did what they called the Roman Step back in the day.

 

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55C3DA96-90E7-47C1-9EC6-18384A35188B.jpeg

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In my younger years, I was a parade pilot. -_-

 

After the horses passed by, my job was to take my shovel and "pilot here" and "pilot there" so the marching bands didn't step in it. :blush:

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11 hours ago, Utah Bob #35998 said:

55C3DA96-90E7-47C1-9EC6-18384A35188B.jpeg

 

 

lItaly?  My first guess was France because of the shako-like look of the covers, but the officers on the reviewing stand seem to have on Italian helmets, and the guy in the dark uniform looks like Il Duce

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I have always wondered if goose-stepping was a way to make your army look more mechanical, less than human, making it easier to send men to war.

 

I have also wondered if it was a devious way of messing up a soldiers knees so that he has to stand and fight.

 

To me it serves no more practicality than that.

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59 minutes ago, Pat Riot, SASS #13748 said:

I have always wondered if goose-stepping was a way to make your army look more mechanical, less than human, making it easier to send men to war.

 

I have also wondered if it was a devious way of messing up a soldiers knees so that he has to stand and fight.

 

To me it serves no more practicality than that.


A little history. 

 

Quote

 

The "Stechschritt" (Goose Step) 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. After the Second World War, goose-stepping was not introduced into the newly-founded Western German Bundeswehr but adopted by the Eastern German Army for reasons of Prussian tradition.

 

 

 

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In parades, troops only march in a full goose stepping formation near the reviewing stand.

 

Red Square has well rounded cobblestones, three stones deep.  In April the stones are dug up and smoother stones are placed on top, for the parade route.

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