Association With Dictatorship
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.
The goose step was especially ridiculed by Allied propaganda 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 WWII, 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.
Read more about this topic: Goose Step
Famous quotes containing the words association with, association and/or dictatorship:
“Association with other people corrupts our character Mespecially when we have none.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)
“It is not merely the likeness which is precious ... but the association and the sense of nearness involved in the thing ... the fact of the very shadow of the person lying there fixed forever! It is the very sanctification of portraits I think—and it is not at all monstrous in me to say ... that I would rather have such a memorial of one I dearly loved, than the noblest Artist’s work ever produced.”
—Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806–1861)
“In the kingdom of consumption the citizen is king. A democratic monarchy: equality before consumption, fraternity in consumption, and freedom through consumption. The dictatorship of consumer goods has finally destroyed the barriers of blood, lineage and race.”
—Raoul Vaneigem (b. 1934)