We mention the words “massive military parade” and we think of repressive regimes. The Soviet Union, and now Putin’s Russia. China. North Korea.

And France?

Yes. France has a big military parade each year on July 14, Bastille Day, which is a sort of a Fourth of July for France.

Except for the enormous military parade, that is, which the French stage in Paris, usually down the Champs Elysees, as it was this year.

And it makes you wonder why they stage such a martial parade when, to the best of my knowledge, none of the other Western democracies has anything quite like it.

Countries in the Western world might have a national-day parade, but it is likely to be staged at several places in each country. And the parades likely are not made up of any military units or equipment.

In France, the parade is overwhelmingly about the military, unit after unit marching or riding from the Arc de Triomphe to the reviewing stand at Place Concorde, where the president of the republic awaits them, sitting in a covered area, like some oriental potentate.

When the unit reaches the president (in this case, Francois Hollande) the flag-bearer dips the unit colors.

The French military people march in step, but they do not effect some of the trappings of the Russian or Chinese or North Korean conscripts — the exaggerated steps (see, Russia and China, with sound added), the precise movements, the machine-like “eyes right” when passing the reviewing stand. Thank goodness.

But the French did have military hardware on display today, including a handful of tanks and artillery pieces, as I recall, and lots of flyover aircraft.

They do not seem to use it as an opportunity to roll out their latest equipment, which has been a Russian/Soviet staple for decades. But the underlying message can hardly be seen as anything but “don’t mess with France”.

It is interesting to watch, on the main government TV station (TF1), where each unit is identified and talked about (something like a Rose Parade, except with soldiers instead of floats).

We were here for the Bastille Day parade a few years ago but made the mistake of attempting to see it in person — which does not afford a good view of the proceedings.

So.

It must be a powerful recruiting tool for young people who otherwise may not see the French military in public.

But it jars. All those units, all those marching people, in the capital, with government leaders watching in approval …

It seems an anachronism in an age where the French in their daily lives are not particularly bellicose.