Beauty pageant.

India s Democratic Pageant

You're thinking, the poor girl up there she thinks she's at a beauty pageant.

This is heady national rhetoric, and it was all put together in a great pageant launching the return.

Despite the gathering s pageant like appearance, the atmosphere was undoubtedly tense. The purpose was to settle a conflict between rebellious barons and their king, a ruler described by a contemporary as brimful of evil qualities.

At the time, the military parade in Red Square featuring almost 35,000 troops, up to 1,900 pieces of military equipment, and a 1,400 man orchestra was a well deserved pageant. The Soviet leadership spared no cost in staging its military displays, which, in the absence of an external military threat, became an important vehicle for rallying national unity.