Goose step

{{Short description|Marching step involving rigid, straight legs}} {{about|the marching step}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2026}}

[[File:Changing the guards kremlin.JPG|300px|thumb|right|upright=1.4|Russian Kremlin Guards goose stepping at slow march at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Moscow]] The '''goose step''' is a special marching step which is performed during formal military parades and other ceremonies. While marching in parade formation, troops swing their legs in unison off the ground while keeping each leg rigidly straight.

The step originated in Prussian military drill in the mid-18th century and was called the {{lang|de|Stechschritt}} (literally, "piercing step") or {{lang|de|Stechmarsch}}. German military advisors spread the tradition to Russia in the 19th century, and the Soviets spread it around the world in the 20th century.

The term "goose step" originally referred to balance stepping, an obsolete formalized slow march.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=MacDonald |first1=J. H. A. |title=Infantry in a New Century |journal=Journal of the Military Service Institution of the United States |date=1901 |volume=29 |page=438 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Wuk1AQAAMAAJ&dq=%22goosestep%22&pg=PA440 |access-date=19 May 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Blenkinsop |first1=Adam |title=Memoirs of Dr. Blenkinsop |date=1852 |volume=1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y6E_AAAAYAAJ&pg=PA166 |location=London |publisher=Richard Bentley |page=166 |isbn=978-1179919409}}</ref> The term is nowadays heavily associated with Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union in many English-speaking countries.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-goo3.htm|title=World Wide Words: Goose-step|website=World Wide Words}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=goose+step|title=goose step – Search Online Etymology Dictionary|website=www.etymonline.com}}</ref> As a result, the term has acquired a pejorative meaning in English-speaking countries.

==History== ===Origin=== [[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 102-10887, Parade der Reichswehr.jpg|thumb|left|German soldiers of the Weimar Republic's Reichswehr goosestepping in 1930.]]

The {{lang|de|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.{{Citation needed|date=April 2023}} 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.<ref>{{cite journal|title=The Navy and Army Illustrated |journal=The Navy and Army Illustrated |date=6 February 1904|volume=17|page=430|quote=The hero of the comedy is, it will be remembered, none other than Prince Leopold of Dessau, friend of Frederick the Great, hero of the Prussian Army, and inventor of the iron ramrod and of the "goose-step."}}</ref> Other armies adopted different march steps that served the same purpose. The Russian Empire adopted the goose step during the 1796–1801 reign of Paul I.<ref>{{cite book|last=Haythornthwaite|first=Philip J.|title=The Russian Army of the Napoleonic Wars: Infantry, 1799–1814|year=1987|publisher=Osprey Publishing|isbn=978-0850457377|page=[https://archive.org/details/russianarmyofnap00phil/page/12 12]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/russianarmyofnap00phil/page/12}}</ref>

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 of marching towards enemy lines became obsolete. However, armed forces continued to drill recruits in marching techniques for the purposes of 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.<ref name="ruhl">{{cite book|last1=Ruhl|first1=Arthur|title=Antwerp to Gallipoli: A Year of War on Many Fronts – and Behind Them|date=1916|publisher=Scribner|pages=[https://archive.org/details/antwerptogallipo00ruhl/page/115 115]–116|url=https://archive.org/details/antwerptogallipo00ruhl|quote=You have heard, let us say, of the German parade step, sometimes laughed at as the "goose step" in England and at home. I was lunching the other day with an American military observer, and he spoke of the parade step and the effect it had on him. "Did you ever see it?" he demanded. "Have you any idea of the moral effect of that step? You see those men marching by, every muscle in their bodies taut and tingling as steel wire, every eye on the Emperor, and when they bring those feet down – bing! bang! – the physical fitness it stands for, the unity, determination – why, it's the whole German idea – nothing can stop them!"}}</ref><ref name="walcott">{{cite journal|last1=Walcott|first1=Arthur S.|title=The Japanese Coronation Military Review|journal=The Seventh Regiment Gazette|date=January 1916|volume=30|issue=4|page=66|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HFVGAQAAMAAJ|quote=The parade step in Japan is practically the German goose-step, and the arms are brought to horizontal position in front at each swing. This may, to the superficial observer, seem absurd, but it conveys a strong sense of momentum and force, and I fully believe it has a sort of hypnotic effect on the soldiers, making them feel stronger and more consequential. It is by no manner of means to be laughed at, that I am certain of.}}</ref> {{clear left}}

=== 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.{{citation needed|date=January 2026}}

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. 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.{{citation needed|date=January 2026}}

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 from Chilean influence.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Sater|first1=William F.|last2=Herwig|first2=Holger H.|title=The Grand Illusion: The Prussianization of the Chilean Army|date=1999|publisher=University of Nebraska Press|location=Lincoln, Nebraska|isbn=9780803223936}}</ref>

Meanwhile, in Asia, the Beiyang New Army of Imperial China also adopted goose stepping together with the Prussian military model. After its dissolution, the National Revolutionary Army of the successive Republic of China continued the practice, also because that they were being trained by German advisers in the 1920s; after the Communists won the Chinese Civil War, the People's Liberation Army of People's Republic of China would follow suit and bring the practice into present day, owing to both tradition and its own Soviet influence. They account for the largest single goose-stepping military today.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Lai, Benjamin.|title=The Chinese People's Liberation Army since 1949|date=2012|publisher=Osprey|others=Hook, Adam.|isbn=978-1-78200-320-5|location=Oxford|oclc=821649306}}</ref>

=== Cold War ===

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 goose step adoption, as it was introduced into many Third World countries in Asia and Africa. Meanwhile, the United States, United Kingdom, and France were, through efforts in their client republics and allies, preventing the use of the goose step in their armed services.<ref>{{cite book|editor-last1=Hixson|editor-first1=Walter L.|title=The American experience in World War II|date=2003|publisher=Routledge|location=London|isbn=9780415940368|page=64|quote=After referring to earlier Russian and German military missions in China, Wedemeyer announced that now the Chinese would "unlearn to goosestep."}}</ref> A divided Germany was also divided in their armies' foot drill; the East German {{lang|de|Nationale Volksarmee|i=no}} kept the goose step (although it incoorperated some Soviet-style goose step elements), while the West German {{lang|de|Bundeswehr|i=no}} only kept the {{lang|de|Gleichschritt}} (quick march). The centuries-long German practice of goose-stepping finally ended in 1990, when the former was absorbed into the latter due to German reunification.<ref name="fulbrook2014">{{cite book|last1=Fulbrook|first1=Mary|title=A History of Germany 1918–2014: The Divided Nation|publisher=Wiley|isbn=9781118776131|page=213|edition=4|year=2014|quote=Curiously, the East German Army retained the old Prussian military goose step until December 1989.}}</ref>

==Usage==

===Ceremonial usage===

The goose step is a difficult marching style that takes much practice and choreography in order to coordinate the timing of each person's step with one another. It is therefore reserved for ceremonial occasions such as military parades. Because it is difficult to maintain for long periods of time, troops typically 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.{{citation needed|date=July 2025}}

[[File:RIAN archive 555827 Carrying the Olympic flag.jpg|thumb|right|Athletes goose-stepping with the Olympic flag at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow]]

Guards of honour 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.{{citation needed|date=July 2025}}

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.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/jan/16/trump-reckless-on-nato-says-defence-committee-chairman#img-1 |title=Trump 'reckless' on Nato, says defence committee chairman |newspaper=The Guardian |date= 16 January 2017 |author= Ewen MacAskill|access-date= 16 January 2017}} Article has a photograph of soldiers goose-stepping with legs 45° above the horizontal.</ref> 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 honour guards will frequently march with a higher goose step than the mass of troops following.

===Adopted countries=== [[File:Santiago de Cuba - Garde au Mausolée José Marti.JPG|thumb|Cuban Honor Guards goose-stepping at the Mausoleum of José Martí, Santiago de Cuba]]

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 English or Portuguese is an official language.{{citation needed|date=July 2025}} * Argentina: The Infantry Company of the Colegio Militar de la Nación uses a sort of goose half step (with the leg at approximately 45 degrees) as their parade step while passing in front of the authorities. The same step is used by the Guards Company of the National Gendarmerie Academy and its colour guard. Other units perform the high step instead.{{citation needed|date=July 2025}} * Bolivia: Some troops marching with this step similar to the Paraguayan forces step marching but in slower pace.{{citation needed|date=July 2025}} * Chile: Uses the Prussian form of the goose step essentially unaltered.{{citation needed|date=July 2025}} * Colombia<ref>{{cite AV media | title=Desfile Militar en conmemoración del Día de la Independencia Nacional | publisher=Presidencia de la República – Colombia | date=20 July 2015}}</ref> * Cuba: Uses the goose step styling inherited from the Soviet Union.{{citation needed|date=November 2022}} * Ecuador: Uses a waist-high goose step in military parades.{{citation needed|date=July 2025}} * El Salvador{{citation needed|date=July 2025}} * Guatemala: Only the marker squad of the Military Academy goose-steps.{{citation needed|date=July 2025}} * Haiti: The Haitian military was dissolved in 1996. However, demobilized soldiers have formed militias that continue to drill with the goose step. The government began reforming its armed forces in 2016, sending them to be trained by Latin American countries that use the goose step like Ecuador. Thus, the revived Haiti Armed Forces marches in like manner as in many South and Central American armed services which use the practice, combined with the French and American precedence.{{citation needed|date=July 2025}} * Honduras{{citation needed|date=July 2025}} * Mexico: adopted the goose step marching in early 1980s.{{citation needed|date=July 2025}} * Nicaragua{{citation needed|date=July 2025}} * Panama{{citation needed|date=July 2025}} * Paraguay: In military parades, cadets march with a waist-high goose step at the quick step. Other units do not goose-step.{{citation needed|date=July 2025}} * Peru{{citation needed|date=July 2025}} * Suriname: Suriname National Army uses the goose step for military parade purpose since the late 1990s.{{citation needed|date=July 2025}} * Venezuela: Only military officer cadets use the goose step for parade purposes; other units of the armed forces (save for special forces, which march on parade on the double) used the goose step until 1960 and from 2010 to 2017.{{citation needed|date=July 2025}}

====Europe==== [[Image:Garde nationale bulgare.jpg|thumb|right|The National Guards Unit of Bulgaria goose-stepping in the Bastille Day Military Parade 2007 in Paris]] Goose-stepping is found primarily in Central and Eastern Europe.{{citation needed|date=July 2025}} * Albania{{citation needed|date=July 2025}} * Armenia{{citation needed|date=July 2025}} * Azerbaijan{{citation needed|date=July 2025}} * Belarus{{citation needed|date=July 2025}} * Bulgaria{{citation needed|date=July 2025}} * Czech Republic: A moderate form of the goose step is performed by honour guards, with the foot raised only a few centimetres off the ground; these are the only units that use all the time. Other units of the military use it only during specific part of the ceremonial march when the command "Look to the right" is given (generally in front of the platform when a most senior commander or dignitary is present). * Estonia: Moderate goose step is the general parade step, which replaced the Soviet style in 2005.{{citation needed|date=July 2025}} * Georgia: While no longer in use, only two breakaway states in Abkhazia and South Ossetia use the goose step, as it is aligned with Russia.{{citation needed|date=July 2025}} * Hungary: Only color guards goose-step in slow time during military ceremonies.{{citation needed|date=July 2025}} * Latvia: Only selected guards goose-step in ceremonial purposes.{{citation needed|date=July 2025}} * Moldova: Only honour guards and color guards. The goose step continues to be used in the breakaway region of Transnistria.{{citation needed|date=July 2025}} * Norway{{Citation needed|date=September 2020}} * Poland: Performed at 112–116 steps per minute, raising the feet 10 centimetres off the ground<ref>{{citation |title=Regulamin musztry Sił Zbrojnych Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej |date=1994 |trans-title=Drill instructions of the Polish Armed Forces |url=https://bdsp.wp.mil.pl/u/musztra.pdf |place=Warsaw |publisher=Ministry of National Defence: General Staff of the Polish Armed Forces |language=pl |id=Szt. Gen. 1427/94 |access-date=27 November 2021 |archive-date=27 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211127113808/https://bdsp.wp.mil.pl/u/musztra.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> * Russia{{citation needed|date=July 2025}} * Slovakia: Uses the goose step as a general parade step only by honor guards.{{citation needed|date=July 2025}} * Spain: Uses the goose step as a slow march for the most important ceremonies, such as royal funerals and the presentation of the colours. The goose step is not used for military parades or guard mounting ceremonies.{{citation needed|date=July 2025}} * Sweden{{citation needed|date=July 2025}} *Ukraine{{citation needed|date=July 2025}}

====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.{{citation needed|date=July 2025}} *Algeria{{citation needed|date=July 2025}} *Angola: Uses the goose step as a general parade step.{{citation needed|date=July 2025}} *Benin{{citation needed|date=July 2025}} *Botswana: Although Botswana has British military traditions, it uses a goose step on a slow march and high step in quick march.{{citation needed|date=July 2025}} *Burkina Faso: Uses the goose step as a special march step for military bands and commando units. Other units do not goose-step.{{citation needed|date=July 2025}} *Burundi: Uses the goose step as a general parade step.{{citation needed|date=July 2025}} *Cameroon {{citation needed|date=July 2025}} * Central African Republic{{citation needed|date=July 2025}} *Chad: Does the goose step in slow time.{{citation needed|date=July 2025}} *Democratic Republic of the Congo{{citation needed|date=July 2025}} * Republic of the Congo{{citation needed|date=July 2025}} * Djibouti: At military parades, a horizontal goose step is performed at a slow march.{{citation needed|date=July 2025}} * Egypt{{citation needed|date=July 2025}} * Equatorial Guinea<ref>{{cite web|title=Large military and popular parade for Independence Day|url=http://www.guineaecuatorialpress.com/noticia.php?id=5777&forcedfoto=1413153727.jpg|website=Official Web Page of the Government of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea}}</ref> * Eswatini{{citation needed|date=July 2025}} * Ethiopia{{citation needed|date=July 2025}} * Gabon{{citation needed|date=July 2025}} * Ghana: Only the Ghanaian Special Forces use the goose step in military parades.{{citation needed|date=July 2025}} * Ivory Coast{{citation needed|date=July 2025}} * Madagascar<ref>{{cite news|title=Madagascar military parade marks national day|url=http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/photo/2014-06/27/c_133441474.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140701080215/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/photo/2014-06/27/c_133441474.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=1 July 2014|agency=Xinhuanet|date=27 June 2014}}</ref> * Mauritania{{citation needed|date=July 2025}} * Mozambique<ref>{{cite news|title=Mozambique celebrates 35th anniversary of independence|url=http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/photo/2010-06/26/c_13370404_2.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160309101553/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/photo/2010-06/26/c_13370404_2.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=9 March 2016|agency=Xinhuanet|date=26 June 2010}}</ref> * Namibia: When the country became independent from apartheid South Africa in 1990, it kept the British-style march step.{{citation needed|date=July 2025}} * Niger: uses goose step in slow marching time.{{citation needed|date=July 2025}} * Nigeria{{citation needed|date=July 2025}} * Rwanda: Uses a horizontal goose step for military parades. Rwanda received their military training in the goose-stepping country of Uganda.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Parker|first1=Allison|title=Hidden in Plain View: Refugees Living Without Protection in Nairobi and Kampala|date=2002|publisher=Human Rights Watch|location=New York, NY|isbn=9781564322814|page=89|quote=The RPF had very close ties with the Ugandan government as many of its leaders came from the exiled Tutsi community in Uganda and had become an important force within Museveni's rebel force ... As a result, many members of the elite in Rwanda look back on a period of military training in Uganda, and retain close links with the Ugandan military.}}</ref> The new type of goose step was performed during the 25th anniversary of the end of the Rwandan genocide as the troops were trained by the Chinese PLA.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3017597/rwandan-troops-trained-chinese-military-mark-25th-anniversary |title=Rwandan troops trained by Chinese military mark 25th anniversary of liberation | South China Morning Post |date=7 July 2019 |publisher=Scmp.com |access-date=10 September 2019}}</ref> * Senegal{{citation needed|date=July 2025}} * Seychelles{{citation needed|date=July 2025}} * Tanzania<ref>{{cite book|last1=Kissinger|first1=Henry|title=Years of Renewal|date=2012|publisher=Simon & Schuster|location=London|isbn=9780857207203|quote=The parade reflected some of the training the Tanzanian army had received in Communist East Germany. Its precision was somewhat handicapped, however. The army's instruction in goose-stepping had obviously taken place when the soldiers wore Prussian-style boots.}}</ref> * Togo: Uses the goose step as a general parade step, performed at a slow march.{{citation needed|date=July 2025}} * Uganda{{citation needed|date=July 2025}}

====Middle East and Central Asia==== * Afghanistan: Has used the goose step since the 1950s during the royal period of the country, thanks to advisers from the Soviet Armed Forces and from Iran. The tradition was carried on into the communist era, the U.S.-backed Islamic Republic and the second Taliban government.{{citation needed|date=July 2025}} * Iran: Has used the goose step since the Imperial era, as the country was influenced first by the Russian Empire. In the 1920s, there was an increase of foreign trade and technical collaboration with Germany, with Reichswehr advisers present in the army. The Islamic Republic's armed forces have continued the practice.<ref>{{cite web|author=C. Michael Forsyth |url=https://forsythstories.com/tag/goose-step/ |title=Goose Step | Best and Worst of Horror |publisher=Forsythstories.com |date=25 February 2018 |access-date=10 September 2019}}</ref> * Kazakhstan: Use of the goose step is a direct result of Soviet military influence on the country when it was a republic of the Soviet Union. On 3 February 2016, President Nursultan Nazarbayev ordered that personnel of the Kazakh Armed Forces march at 95–105 steps per minute raising the forward leg 10–15 centimeters above the ground. This differs from their Russian counterparts who goose step at a rate of 120 steps per minute.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://eurasianet.org/kazakhstans-army-marching-away-from-soviet-legacy |title=Kazakhstan's Army Marching Away From Soviet Legacy? |work=Eurasianet |date=5 February 2016 |access-date=10 September 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.akorda.kz/ru/legal_acts/o-vnesenii-izmenenii-v-ukaz-prezidenta-respubliki-kazahstan-ot-5-iyulya-2007-goda-364-ob-utverzhdenii-obshchevoinskih-ustavov-vooruzhennyh-s-2 |title=О внесении изменений в Указ Президента Республики Казахстан от 5 июля 2007 года № 364 "Об утверждении общевоинских уставов Вооруженных Сил, других войск и воинских формирований Республики Казахстан" — Официальный сайт Президента Республики Казахстан |publisher=Akorda.kz |access-date=10 September 2019}}</ref> * Kyrgyzstan{{citation needed|date=July 2025}} * Lebanon: The Lebanese military does not perform the goose step. However, the Hezbollah paramilitary forces uses the goose step, as they are trained and supplied by Iran and North Korea.{{citation needed|date=July 2025}} * Qatar: Adopted the goose step in 2017, after receiving training from Chinese drill instructors.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Sun|first1=Wenyu|title=PLA's goose-stepping highlight of Qatari National Day military parade|url=http://en.people.cn/n3/2017/1220/c90000-9306770.html|work=People's Daily Online|date=20 December 2017}}</ref> * Syria: Adopted the goose step during the Cold War when it was aligned with the Soviet Union. Personnel of the Syrian Armed Forces continue to goose-step, while Kurdish forces have adopted the high step.{{citation needed|date=July 2025}} * Tajikistan{{citation needed|date=July 2025}} * Turkmenistan{{citation needed|date=July 2025}} * Uzbekistan{{citation needed|date=July 2025}} * Yemen{{citation needed|date=July 2025}}

====East Asia, South Asia and Southeast Asia==== [[File:Chinese honor guard in column 070322-F-0193C-014.JPEG|thumb|A Chinese People's Liberation Army honor guard company goose-steps]] [[File:Vietnam People's Navy honor guard at ASEAN defense ministers meeting 2010-10-12 1.jpg|thumb|The Vietnam People's Navy honor guard company goose-stepping at ASEAN defense ministers meeting, 2010]] * Bangladesh{{citation needed|date=July 2025}} * Bhutan: Practices the goose step due to receiving training from Indian army instructors.{{citation needed|date=July 2025}} * Cambodia{{citation needed|date=July 2025}} * China: The Chinese term 正步 (''zhèng bù'') literally translates as "straight march" or "upright march". China adopted the goose step during the last days of the Qing dynasty, since the Beiyang New Army was modelled after the Prussian Army. After the 1911 revolution, the National Revolution Army of the Republic of China continued the practice due to tradition and also influence from German military advisors in the 1920s. After the Chinese Civil War, the People's Liberation Army of China again continued the practice due to both tradition and Soviet influences; it was seen publicly for the first time in 1951, when the second anniversary of the People's Republic of China was celebrated with a military parade in Beijing. The practice continued on both sides of the Taiwan Strait until 2003, when it was abandoned by the Republic of China Armed Forces.<ref name="揭密：國軍「踢正步」是怎麼消失的？">{{cite news|last1=林弘展|title=揭密：國軍「踢正步」是怎麼消失的？|url=https://news.tvbs.com.tw/ttalk/detail/life/3032|access-date=7 May 2018|publisher=TVBS新聞網|date=24 February 2016}}</ref> The People's Liberation Army continues to use the goose step as its ceremonial march step. In 2021, the ROC defense ministry has once again resumed goose step training, in time for the 2024 centennial celebration of the Republic of China Military Academy.<ref name="taipeitimes.com">{{cite news |title=Demobilize antiquated goose step marching |work=Taipei Times |url=https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2021/09/08/2003763990}}</ref> ** Hong Kong: Since the 1997 handover of sovereignty, some of Hong Kong's institutions who traditionally conduct the British-style drill, (Customs and Excise Department, etc.) have adopted the goose step.<ref>{{cite news|title=海關結業會操改用鵝步娛賓|url=http://www.orientaldaily.on.cc/cnt/news/20130507/00176_003.html|access-date=7 May 2018|publisher=東方日報|date=7 May 2013}}</ref> With the enaction of the Hong Kong National Security Law, the other disciplined services have also adopted the practice for relevant ceremonial purposes, such as the National Security Education Day.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Hong Kong Police marching in the Chinese military style|url=https://www.scmp.com/video/hong-kong/3127183/hong-kong-police-marching-chinese-military-style|access-date=9 May 2021|website=South China Morning Post}}</ref> The Chinese central government has also requested uniformed youth groups in Hong Kong to adopt the goose step practice of the PLA in the mainland.<ref>{{cite news|title=China asks Hong Kong to goose-step into line|url=https://www.todayonline.com/world/china-asks-hong-kong-goose-step-line|access-date=7 May 2018|newspaper=Financial Times|date=11 February 2018}}</ref> As of January 2022, the Hong Kong Police Force has adopted the goose step method as a means of showing patriotism.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://hongkongfp.com/2022/01/14/hong-kong-police-switch-to-chinese-style-goose-stepping-to-show-patriotism/|title = Hong Kong police switch to Chinese-style goose-stepping 'to show patriotism'|date = 14 January 2022}}</ref> *India: The goose step is performed by colour guards, as well as border guards at the Wagah border ceremony. Some units, such as the Gurkha and Assam regiments, use the goose step as a general parade step, although the foot does not generally leave the ground for more than a couple of inches.{{citation needed|date=July 2025}} [[File:Defile korem 133 nani wartabone.jpg|thumb|Indonesian Army marching on a parade. Difference of position can be seen between rifle-bearing soldiers and sword-bearing officers]] * Indonesia: The goose step, known as ''langkah tegap'' or firm step, is performed during ceremonial occasions by the military,<ref>{{cite AV media | title=Indonesian Marines march past | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRT3Bxi_Nbc |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200919051753/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRT3Bxi_Nbc&gl=US&hl=en |archive-date=19 September 2020 |url-status=dead| publisher=Slamet Wahyudi | date=5 October 2017}}</ref> police (although the foot does not generally leave the ground for more than a couple of inches unlike the military),<ref>{{cite AV media | title=Indonesian Police march past | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DolBZ-bls94 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211214/DolBZ-bls94 |archive-date=14 December 2021 |url-status=live| publisher=S2 Project | date=10 July 2017}}{{cbignore}}</ref> scouts,<ref>{{Citation|title=Penampilan LKBB Pramuka SMKN 1Denpasar (Scout Skensa)| date=8 September 2018 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWGw7e-nV7s |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211214/gWGw7e-nV7s |archive-date=14 December 2021 |url-status=live|language=en|access-date=30 May 2020}}{{cbignore}}</ref> and the flag troop.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_O8MOAfKTPs |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211214/_O8MOAfKTPs |archive-date=14 December 2021 |url-status=live|title=Paskibraka Upacara HUT RI Ke 70 Di Istana Kepresidenan |date=19 August 2015 |publisher=YouTube |access-date=10 September 2019}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Appearing to be a kind of fusion with the British-style marching, the step is performed by swinging hands (at 90 degrees, or as high as the shoulder), either unarmed or at slope/shoulder arms position. If at port arms, both arms hold the weapon while performing it. * North Korea: For many years, they practiced a form of bouncing goose step, which leaves a visual impression of a clear bounce in each step. This is unique among all militaries that practice the goose step.<ref name="theguardian2010">[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/oct/11/march-like-north-korean-military How to march like the North Korean military], The Guardian, 2010/oct/11</ref> North Korea switched from a standard Soviet goose step to the bouncing goose step between 1993 and 1998, but a modified form resembling Soviet practice was reinstated in 2020 characteristic of a less vigorous bounce and a slower pace.{{citation needed|date=July 2025}} * Laos : The only known origin of the goose step in Laos dates back to after the country gained independence from France, when it adopted the goose step (its exact origin is unknown). After the Laotian Civil War and the communist victory, Laos adopted a Chinese marching style. The differences from the Soviet style can be seen in the Lao military's 70th anniversary parade in 2019, particularly in the hand posture, leg movement, and troop formations.{{citation needed|date=March 2026}} * Mongolia{{citation needed|date=July 2025}} * Nepal: Uses the goose step as a general parade step, but lifting the feet only a couple of inches above the ground; only honor guards have been observed to march with a "full" goose step. The practice has also been adopted by Gurkha regiments in the Indian Army, but not by Gurkha regiments in the British Army.{{citation needed|date=July 2025}} * Pakistan: Uses the goose step as a military march step in slow time only. The marching pace while goose stepping is 60 bpm.{{citation needed|date=July 2025}} * Taiwan: Similar to mainland China, the Republic of China Armed Forces in Taiwan performed the goose step because the Beiyang New Army was modelled after the Prussian Army. This was abandoned by the Republic of China Armed Forces<ref name="揭密：國軍「踢正步」是怎麼消失的？"/> in 2003, under Chen Shui-Bian's DPP government. In 2021, the ROC defense ministry once again resumed goose step training, in time for the 2024 centennial celebration of the Republic of China Military Academy.<ref name="taipeitimes.com"/> In 2023, goose step marching was performed by the Republic of China Armed Forces for the first time in 20 years for the 99th anniversary of Whampoa Military Academy. {{citation needed|date=July 2025}} * Thailand : Thailand has performed the goose step since the reign of King Rama V, as part of the modernization of the army influenced by the Prussian military style. The marching style has changed in each era. Before World War II, the goose step was performed only by the Royal Guards. Around the 1920s, it became the standard marching step for the military. The height of the step has also varied over time. During the Royal Thai Armed Forces Day in 2014, the step was as high as a person's waist. However, after King Rama X introduced new regulations on military traditions, the step must not be higher than the belt, and the marching pace has been slowed down. * Vietnam{{citation needed|date=July 2025}}

===Evolution===

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.<ref>"Doom Of 'Goose-Step' Sought By Nazi Military Officials", ''The Baltimore Sun'', 6 June 1937. p. 19</ref> During the later stages of World War II, the goose step nearly disappeared because of manpower shortages, accelerated courses in basic training, and a paucity of appropriate occasions.{{citation needed|date=July 2025}}

After the Second World War, West Germany abandoned the goose step in favor of "marching step" (''Gleichschritt''), due to their status as light infantry. 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-old 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 is not officially approved, the practice is not illegal in Germany. Some civilian marching bands and riflemen's associations continue to goose-step while others dropped it altogether.{{citation needed|date=July 2025}}

Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Georgia abandoned the Russian-style goose step after the fall of the Soviet Union. By 2015, Estonia revived the practice, but only color guards do so on parades. Latvia retained the goose step for ceremonial purposes. The other 11 former Soviet Republics have kept the goose step (only Moldova's military honor guard unit retains the practice). The breakaway Russian-occupied regions in Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine continue to use the goose step.{{citation needed|date=July 2025}}

Ethiopia adopted the goose step during the Derg military junta, which espoused socialist ideals and sought Soviet military aid.<ref>{{cite AV media | title=Cuban president Fidel Castro and Ethiopian leader Mariam watch military parade | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihrYxYK2rvo |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211214/ihrYxYK2rvo |archive-date=14 December 2021 |url-status=live| publisher=AP Archive}}{{cbignore}}</ref> The practice was dropped after the Derg were overthrown but was restored – with a modified British arms and parade drill – in 2023.

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, until 1990 a modified high step was used by guards of honour.){{citation needed|date=July 2025}}

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.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,789426,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100826063410/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,789426,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=26 August 2010|title=Foreign News: Roman Step|date=7 February 1938|via=www.time.com}}</ref> The goose step was dropped after World War II.

Romania used the goose step from the 1910s up until 2004, when the Romanian Armed Forces ended using it for formal parades. Today, only historical units dressed in uniforms from the First World War perform the goose step, but in shoulder arms position on the march instead of the usual slope arms done until the 2000s, by then only by guards of honor.{{citation needed|date=July 2025}}

Switzerland is a majority German-speaking country that absorbed many German (and certain Austrian) military traditions alongside those of France and Italy as a reflection of the country's diversity. The Swiss Armed Forces abandoned the goose step in 1946, after the German defeat in World War II.<ref>"Swiss Army Drops Goosestep," Associated Press, 28 February 1946.</ref>

The goose step was also being practiced in the neighbor countries of Germany like Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark and Luxembourg in tandem with other influences (particularly British, French and Germans), but following the Second World War, these countries dropped it altogether.{{citation needed|date=July 2025}}

The Malaysian Armed Forces (ATM), in 2018, once practiced the goose step as their new type of marching step combined with British style marching for ceremonial purpose, but was abandoned later after receiving several criticism from Malaysian citizens.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2018/07/27/army-chief-shoots-down-goose-steps-criticism|title = Army chief shoots down 'goose steps' criticism| work=The Star | date=27 July 2018 }}</ref>

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 on two occasions.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Huang|first1=Sunrise|last2=Liu|first2=Claudia|last3=Su|first3=Justin|last4=Hsu|first4=Elizabeth|title=Veterans reintroduce goose step in Taipei parade|url=http://focustaiwan.tw/news/aipl/201606120005.aspx|work=Focus Taiwan|date=12 June 2016}}</ref> In 2021, the Taiwanese department of defense resumed goose step training, in time for the 2024 centennial celebration of the Republic of China Military Academy.<ref name="taipeitimes.com"/> In 2023, the goose step was once again publicly performed at the 99th Anniversary of the Republic of China Military Academy

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.<ref>Petter-Bowyer, Peter J.H. ''Winds of destruction: the autobiography of a Rhodesian combat pilot''. Johannesburg: 30° South Publishers, 2005. p. 382.</ref><ref>Siff, Peter. ''Cry Zimbabwe: Independence – Twenty Years on''. Galago, 2000. p. 97.</ref> 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.

==High step== thumb|Example of high-stepping in a military parade, Belgrade The '''high step''' is similar to the goose step, but instead of keeping the leg straight, the knee is bent at the top of the arc. It has been used by a number of military forces, often as an alternative to or replacement for the goose step.

* Argentina: the high step is standard among the Argentine Navy and Air Force, and has been increasingly adopted by units of the Army and Naval Prefecture which had previously used the goose step. * Brazil * Czech Republic * East Timor * Hungary: the high step was used during the Interwar Period but abandoned in favor of the goose step after World War II. * Iran: the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps uses the high step while the rest of the military uses the goose step. * Japan: the Japanese military was modernized along German lines during the Meiji era and adopted the high step during this time.<ref name="walcott"/><ref>{{cite AV media | title=Military Parade In Tokyo (1930–1939) | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGqUTEE3BAE |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211214/WGqUTEE3BAE |archive-date=14 December 2021 |url-status=live| publisher=British Pathé}}{{cbignore}}</ref> The step was abandoned after the country's defeat in World War II. Some units, such as the Northern Army units of the JGSDF, firefighting units, and police forces, still maintain the practice. * Lebanon * Philippines: the high step been practiced by military juniors or cadets for training purpose only. It has not been used in military parade, honor guard or official ceremony, however. * Portugal * Syria: the Syrian Armed Forces use the goose step, but Kurdish forces in the Syrian Civil War adopted the high step. * Somalia * Somaliland * Turkey * Uruguay * Yugoslavia: the high step was adopted by the Royal Yugoslav Army, abandoned in favor of the goose step by the Yugoslav People's Army after World War II, but reinstated when the country sought to disassociate itself from the Soviet Union as a result of the Tito–Stalin split. The former Yugoslav republics of Serbia, North Macedonia, Slovenia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina (except for Croatia) continue to use it to this day.

== In popular culture and propaganda == [[Image:Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1989-034-21, Warschau, Parade vor Adolf Hitler.jpg|thumb|left|Wehrmacht troops parading in Warsaw on 5 October 1939]]

The goose step was ridiculed by Western 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.<ref name="ruhl"/><ref name="walcott"/> 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.

Orwell commented in "England Your England" (1941) that the goose step was used only in countries where the population was too scared to laugh at their military. {{clear left}}

===Cultural references===  * In "The Germans", an episode of the British sitcom ''Fawlty Towers'' first broadcast in 1975, the main character Basil Fawlty imitates the goose step in front of some German hotel guests. *In Disney's ''The Lion King'' (1994), the hyenas marching through Scar's ''Be Prepared'' song perform the goose step to symbolize the dictatorship that will be imposed after Mufasa is overthrown.<ref>{{Cite web|date=10 September 2016|title=The Lion King: Be Prepared {{!}} Sing-A-Long {{!}} Disney|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPUe7O3ODHQ|access-date=14 July 2021|website=YouTube}}</ref> * In a 1999 television adaptation of Orwell's ''Animal Farm'', the goose step is performed by a flock of geese, singing the praises of their porcine leader Napoleon in a propaganda film. * In ''Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade'', Professor Henry Jones, Sr., defiantly calls an interrogating Nazi officer and his cohorts "goose-stepping morons" and suggests they "try reading books instead of burning them".

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 currently use the goose step, though this is sometimes the actual case. This can result in mistaken interpretations due to cultural differences: * In ''Spartacus'', a ballet by Aram Khachaturian, the Roman soldiers goose-step in most of their scenes. English-speaking reviewers sometimes conclude erroneously that the choreography must be intending to link the Roman Empire with the tyranny of Nazi Germany. However, goose-stepping in Russia carries no such connotation, and reflects only military discipline. Goose-stepping can be found in a number of Russian ballets in which it is not associated with the villains.<ref>{{cite web |title=Bolshoi in DC – Nutcracker |url=http://ballettalk.invisionzone.com/index.php?/topic/8417-bolshoi-in-dc-nutcracker/ |publisher=Ballet Alert! |access-date=27 June 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120415125625/http://ballettalk.invisionzone.com/index.php?%2Ftopic%2F8417-bolshoi-in-dc-nutcracker%2F |archive-date=15 April 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The older English meaning of ''goose-step''<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-goo3.htm|title=World Wide Words: Goose-step |last=Quinion |first=Michael |date=23 April 2011 |website=World Wide Words |publisher=Michael Quinion |access-date=3 January 2020 |quote=However, the English term wasn’t at first applied to the stiff-legged parade march but to a form of drill in which recruits were taught to stand alternately on one leg and swing the other back and forwards, keeping the knee straight.}}</ref> is sometimes found in a humorous context: * In ''The Tale of Tom Kitten'', a children's book by Beatrix Potter, the three puddle-ducks are described as "marching one behind the other and doing the goose step".<ref>{{cite book |url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Tale_of_Tom_Kitten#33|title=The Tale of Tom Kitten |last=Potter |first=Beatrix |date=September 1907 |via=Wikisource |publisher=Frederick Warne & Co. |access-date=3 January 2020 |quote=While they were in difficulties, there was a pit pat paddle pat! and the three Puddle-Ducks came along the hard high road, marching one behind the other and doing the goose step—pit pat paddle pat! pit pat waddle pat!}}</ref>

==See also== * Lockstep marching * Military step

==References== {{reflist}}

==Further reading== * {{cite book|author=Norman Davies|title=Europe: A History|url=https://archive.org/details/europehistory00davi_0|url-access=registration|year=1996|publisher=Oxford UP|page=[https://archive.org/details/europehistory00davi_0/page/612 612]|isbn=9780198201717}} * ''this article contains text originally from the [http://de.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Stechschritt&oldid=16602887 May 25 version] of the corresponding German Wikipedia article.'' * [http://www.slate.com/id/2077384/ Marching Orders] – Mark Scheffler, ''Slate.com'' (Jan 2003).

==External links== {{Commons and category|Goose-Step|Goose step}} * [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LaVI2GXcUbs Video of goose-stepping guards] at the Lenin Mausoleum (YouTube, 240p, 1:06 min) * [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wS8dugfNGZU Changing of the Guards] of the "Tomb of the Unknown Soldier" in Red Square in Moscow (YouTube, 360p, 2:00) * [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04AyYCYHgPk Goose step military parade] Indonesian Army soldiers goose-step during a military parade

Category:Authoritarianism Category:Military marching Category:Military traditions Category:Walking Category:Metaphors referring to birds Category:Military of East Germany Category:Military of Nazi Germany Category:Military of Prussia Category:Military of Russia Category:Military of the Soviet Union Category:German inventions Category:18th-century introductions Category:Political pejoratives