Danish Military Etiquette

“The worst thing about military establishments is their cultivation of false standards and their insistence on caste distinctions essentially undemocratic and unnecessary for discipline and efficiency. The American army and navy fortunately have less of that sort of thing than foreign establishments, yet more than they ought to have.” – Danish military uniforms of 1940 – image source, Pinterest

Manners Changing for the Military Ranks

The labor government of Denmark is smashing many precedents, especially military and social precedents. Laust Rasmussen, Minister of Defense, is one of the leading smashers. Here is something that gave the professional military officers a shock the other day: 

The Minister of Defense, on his way to army maneuvers in an official automobile, wanted a cup of coffee and stopped at an inn for it. Doing what seemed to him a perfectly natural and obvious thing, he invited his chauffeur to sit down at the table with him. When he reached the maneuvering field, he found that the news of his amazing conduct had preceded him, and the general staff was scandalized. A pompous officer in gold braid informed Minister Rasmussen that such things simply were not done. For which the Minister replied: “Why, that chap driving my car is an engineer in private life, and I'm a linotyper, you know, so we’re on about the same footing. Now, General, if it had been you driving my car, it would have been different. Then I couldn’t have got a cup of coffee.” 

The professional man probably failed to get the satire. But the Minister’s example ought to set a new precedent, in Denmark and elsewhere. Men are more than titles, even in the army, and courtesy is more than gold braid. The worst thing about military establishments is their cultivation of false standards and their insistence on caste distinctions essentially undemocratic and unnecessary for discipline and efficiency. The American army and navy fortunately have less of that sort of thing than foreign establishments, yet more than they ought to have. – San Pedro Pilot, 1924

Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia