The Goose-Step

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This article is about the cartoon. For other uses, see Goose-Step (disambiguation).

The Goose-Step is a political cartoon by E. H. Shepard, drawn in 1936.

It shows an armed goose marching down a road. There is a swastika on its chest, and it is stepping on a torn Locarno Pact. The Goose holds an olive branch in its beak with a label reading "Pax Germanica" attached to it. There are many Nazi flags sticking out of the buildings it is walking past. Below the drawing of the goose there is a short poem, which parodies the nursery rhyme Goosey Goosey Gander:

The Goose-Step

"Goosey Goosey Gander.

Whither dost thou wander?"

"Only through the Rheinland—

Pray excuse my Blunder!"

This cartoon shows that the remilitarisation of Rhineland was the first step Hitler took towards abolishing the Treaty of Versailles. At the beginning Hitler claimed that he was going only for Rhineland "only through the Rhineland" but step by step he started conquering more land and demanded more things. The Goose-step is famous because it is considered to be a great step. It's actually a great step because it's the first big gamble that Hitler takes.