Jackboot
Ajackbootis amilitary bootsuch as thecavalry jackbootor thehobnailed jackboot.Thehobnailedjackboot has a different design and function from the former type. It is a combat boot designed for marching. It rises to mid-calf or higher without laces and sometimes has a leather sole with hobnails. Jackboots have been associated popularly withtotalitarianism,since they were worn by German military and paramilitary forces in the run-up to and during theSecond World War.However they have been used officially prior and since by other nations as well, such as the United Kingdom, and had some civilian uses.[1]
Cavalry jackboot
[edit]The term originally denoted tall ‘winged’ leathercavalryboots, which were reinforced against sword blows by use ofmailsewn into the lining of the leather.[citation needed]The ‘wings’ (backward projections) on these high boots particularly protected a rider's knee-joint from a sword blow. These boots are still worn and still so termed by theHousehold Cavalryregiment of the British Army, initiated during the 17th century. The term originates from the French wordjaquemeaning ‘coat of mail’.[2][3][4]These boots were made very heavy by the mail reinforcement but are slightly less heavy nowadays because modern materials are used as stiffeners. There are now few manufacturers of cavalry jackboots, the most famous being Schnieder Boots[5]of Mayfair, London, the official supplier to His Majesty the King's Household Cavalry.[6]
Hobnailed jackboot
[edit]
The second meaning of the term is derived from the first, with reference to their toughness, but is unrelated in design and function, being acombat bootdesigned for marching, rising to at least mid-calf, with no laces, sometimes a leather sole withhobnails,and heel irons.[7][8]The Germans term this bootMarschstiefel,meaning "marching boot". This is the classic boot used by the German infantry during World War I, though thestormtroopersdispensed with them in favor of laced boots of a type then used by Austro-Hungarian mountain troops.[9]An etymological source not derived from the cavalry jackboot has been suggested as from the word jack, jacket orjerkin,as a common garment worn by the peasantry.[10]
As a metaphor
[edit]
Totalitarianism
[edit]The boots are associated popularly withfascism,particularlyNazism,as they were worn by theSturmabteilungand later the field forces of theWehrmachtandWaffen-SSas part of theWorld War II German uniformbefore and even after Germany experienced leather shortages. Whengoose-steppingon pavement, the large columns of German soldiers inMarschstiefel( "marching boots" ) created a distinct rock-crushing sound which came to symbolize German conquest and occupation. A similar style of boot had been in use with German armies for World War I, theFranco-Prussian War,and before.
Jackboots were also associated with the armies of the former USSR (calledsapogi) andEast Germany.Jackboots are still a part of the modern parade and service attire of the armies of Russia and some other states.
The word is used often in English as ametonymand asynecdochefortotalitarianism,particularlyfascism,although jackboots and similar types of footwear have been worn by various Britishregimentssince the 18th century (seeWellington boot,origins).
In the United States in October 1993, theNational Rifle Association(NRA) published a four-page advertisement in the center of its magazineAmerican Rifleman,the first page of which showedgoose-stepping,jackbooted legs under the question, "What's the First Step to a Police State?"[11]Two years later, the NRA's executive vice-president,Wayne LaPierre,created controversy when he referred tofederal agentsas "jack-booted thugs" in an NRA fund-raising letter. The term had been invented by United States RepresentativeJohn Dingell,Democrat of Michigan, in 1981.[12]Such statements prompted former U.S. presidentGeorge H. W. Bushto resign his membership in the organization soon afterward.[13]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^John Carr,The Stranger in France, or, A tour from Devonshire to Paris,(London 1803:32).
- ^Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
- ^Chambers's Etymological Dictionary of the English Language
- ^jaquein the Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).
- ^Schnieder Boots website
- ^Schnieder Boots website
- ^dressColonial America - Britannica Online Encyclopedia
- ^Shoes: their history in words and picturesBy Charlotte Yue, David YueISBN0-395-72667-0,p. 43
- ^Gudmundsson, Bruce,Stormtroop Tactics: Innovation in the German Army, 1914–1918,(New York: Praeger Publishing, 1989), 51
- ^"Jack", 11th Edition ofEncyclopædia Britannica
- ^"What's the First Step to a Police State?".American Rifleman(Advertisement). National Rifle Association of America. October 1993.
- ^Butterfield, Fox (May 8, 1995)."TERROR IN OKLAHOMA: ECHOES OF THE N.R.A.; Rifle Association Has Long Practice In Railing Against Federal Agents".The New York Times.RetrievedApril 7,2014.
- ^Bush, George H. W. (3 May 1995)."Letter of Resignation Sent By Bush to Rifle Association".The New York Times.Retrieved23 July2015.
