Spartakiad
Spartakiad was an international sport event that was sponsored by the Soviet Union. There were 5 international Spartakiad's in total. The name of the event, "Spartakiad" comes from the name of the rebel slave Spartacus and was meant to symbolize the struggle of the socialists against the capitalist system's. Spartacus was used because of his struggle against the Ancient Greek system under which he was a slave. Since the modern Olympics where based off of the ancient Olympic Games, Soviets saw them as 'capitalist'. The Spartakiad games were supposed to be a pro workers, left wing alternative. In 1952, the Soviet Union decided to join the Olympics and the Spartakiads came to an end. It's interesting to think how the Soviet Union even used sports as a way to emphasize the struggles of the working class and used the games as a platform to push communism.
It is interesting that the Soviet Union considered even an event like the Olympics as "capitalist." It might have been because the US and other capitalist-influence countries participated in it, but the Olympics were not representative of a country's foreign policy, so there was no reason to stay out of the event. Nevertheless, the Soviets found a communist alternative and attempted to have a communist-led Olympics-style event, but this also died out, as most of their missions did.
ReplyDeleteDuring the Cold War, Russia would use the Olympics as a way to show their power and further their rivalry with the U.S. However, interestingly enough, even though China was another communistic country, they didn't share the same aggression as Russia. An event that shows a contrast in cold war communistic policies can be seen with the Ping Pong Diplomacy of 1971. Following the 1971 World Championships in Japan, U.S. Player Glenn Cowan happened to enter a shuttle bus containing China's players. Zhuang Zedong, China's best ping pong player at the time stepped forwards to shake his hand leading both of them to exchange gifts. Mao saw it as an opportunity to improve relations with the U.S. and invited the U.S. on an all expense paid trip to China. This monumental event would be known as the Ping Pong Diplomacy. Following the trip, the U.S. eased travel bans and trade embargos on China. Even more shockingly, Nixon would visit the U.S. China making history as the first U.S. president to enter the country. Russia's switch to the Olympic and this even both show a "thawing" of the Cold War and a greater understanding from both sides.
ReplyDeletehttp://blogs.bu.edu/guidedhistory/russia-and-its-empires/guy-mcfall/
https://www.history.com/news/ping-pong-diplomacy
Something interesting that you talked about was the cultural message of Spartakiad. Often, during these events, political parades and displays were also put up in order to signify the revolutionary values and success of young people. Spartakiads were also sometimes divided by different work unions, rather than region of origin. Groups such as the police, medical, and army all competed against each other annually in the Spartakiad event. In total, 7000 Soviet citizens and 600 foreigners participated in the event. An interesting part of the event was that many non-competitive events such as hikes were also offered, as well as many historical education events. Furthermore, nearly no impoverished individuals participated and almost all were white-collar workers as a way to legitimize the soviet regime.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100521513
It is really interesting how far Russia went with staying communist, staying away from capitalism. At first they were very communistic and stayed away from the Olympics but eventually in 1952 they joined the Olympic movement. The name persisted in other events in the USSR to further the idea of communism within the nation.
ReplyDeletehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spartakiad