Donald Trump’s military parade: where might he find inspiration?

The Week offers a few suggestions for a president needing a show of bravado

Soldiers marching through Kim Il-Sung square during a military parade in Pyongyang
Soldiers marching through Kim Il-Sung square during a military parade in Pyongyang
(Image credit: This content is subject to copyright.)

Donald Trump has ordered the Pentagon to plan a military parade, conjuring up images of US soldiers and tanks marching down Washington DC’s Pennsylvania Avenue.

Many in the West view such displays of military might as “a relic of a bygone era and the Cold War, but they remain a common occurrence in many states - communist and former Soviet nations and beyond”, says the BBC, noting that the UK celebrates the Queen’s birthday each year with Trooping the Colour.

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Trump conjured up the idea after being “awestruck by the tableau of uniformed French troops marching down Avenue des Champs-Elysees”, The Washington Post says.

So what might a Trump military parade look like? The Week offers the president a few ideas for inspiration:

North Korea

North Korea

(Image credit: AFP/Getty Images)

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un regularly stages huge military parades in Pyongyang, showing off ballistic missiles in a bid to claim international prestige.

Indeed, the autocratic state is due to stage a massive military parade tomorrow, on the eve of the Winter Olympics. Some observers claim it “is a deliberate attempt to upstage the South Korean games and stir fear”, says CNBC.

Parades “are typically organised to commemorate key dates on the North Korean calendar, and last year’s parade marked the 105th anniversary of the birth of Kim Il Sung, who founded the state’s totalitarian system and Juche ideology”, says The Independent.

China

China Military

Since President Xi Jinping came to power in 2012, parades have become more common, as he seeks to “cement control over and reform the colossal People’s Liberation Army”, says CNN.

In 2015, Beijing hosted a massive military parade to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of the Second World War. The parade involved 12,000 troops, 200 fighter jets, hundreds of ballistic missiles, tanks, amphibious assault vehicles, drones, and other military equipment.

France

Led by French President Emmanuel Macron, the 2017 parade that inspired Trump’s decision involved 3,720 soldiers, 211 vehicles, and 241 horses, as well as fly-bys of dozens of planes and helicopters.

While most countries host military parades, those on the scale of France or China are rare. “Rarer still are parades involving hi-tech weaponry, tanks and other heavy equipment, which Trump has reportedly requested,” says CNN.

Russia

A column of Russian T-90 tanks rolls through Red Square

(Image credit: YURI KADOBNOV/AFP/Getty Images)

Moscow hosts an annual event to mark Victory Day, which celebrates the Soviet Union’s triumph over Nazi Germany during the War.

In 2015, this saw “Russia’s biggest ever military parade, with some 16,000 soldiers, 200 armored vehicles, 150 planes and helicopters, as well as ballistic missiles and other assorted hardware put on show”, says CNN.

Trump may want to take note of the troop and tank numbers, as he has already boasted to the world about the size of his nuclear button.