Russian Military Silliness and a Blog Pimping

The Russian military has always been adept at marching because of the sheer vastness of the country. Getting from A to B in most periods of Russian history meant that the average Russian army, whether Imperial or Soviet, needed to march long distances. Think of the long march on Paris 1812-1814, or the march on Berlin, 1942-1945. 

In crossing these vast distances the Russian armies have had their marching songs which helped them to maintain a steady march rate that ate up the miles as they crossed Europe in between savage battles. One of their favourite tunes was a song whose origin is lost in the mists of time. Some say it was derived from the ravings of a demented monk, others from the alcohol fuelled delirium of a particularly hated officer. Whatever its origins, it became the basis of a popular children's cartoon once a couple of American animators heard its nonsensical lyrics.

WTF? Is this final proof of the corrupting influence of US cultural imperialism? And why are there so many different units marching to the same silliness? Is it some sort of Russian military craze? Have they spent too long in the snowy cold of Siberia and collectively gone doolally?

Anyway, I shall be recommending my opponents in our upcoming Borodino game to send their troops forward with this song on their lips. We'll have to see if there's any footage of French troops marching to the Simpsons theme, or Italians marching to Kimba the While Lion....

On another tangent, Ian over at the Blog With No Name is having a competition with the prize a £20 sterling giveaway competition. He will pay 20 quid at the online store of your choice for whatever you want to buy. Of course, if you want to spend more than that, you can. He's not averse to some silliness himself and is asking for respondents to tell him a joke. I don't think it's a condition of entry and hopefully he's not basing the winner on the quality of the joke, otherwise I'm screwed!