How the Olympics Influenced History - Research Paper Example

?Introduction Berlin hosted 1936 Olympic Games, after a similar event that was scheduled in 1916 was postponed due to the First World War. Berlin wassupposed to host 1916 Olympics, but after conclusion of the First World War, Kass (223) notes that Germany was excluded from the popular global event. The decision to host 1936 Olympics in the country was to recognize the newly democratic government in Germany, under the leadership of Chancellor Weimer (Kass, 223). Shortly before 1936 Olympics, Germany experienced profound political and social transformations that were even experienced during the Olympic Games. This paper is critical analysis of the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, with special focus on the historical significance of that particular global event. Historians refer the 1936 Olympic Games in various terms, including “Hitler Olympics” and “propaganda Olympics” (Schaap, 200). Some of the factors that made the event remarkable include the features and facilities installed in the venues, use of modern telecommunication technology and the propaganda propagated by the Nazi government in addition to exemplar performance by the participating athletes. By the time Berlin City was granted the right to host Olympic Games, Germany was under the leadership of Weimer, but in 1933, Adolf Hitler took over the government heralding one of the most momentous and eventful eras in history. The coming to power of Adolf Hitler transformed the growing and delicate democracy into an absolute dictatorial country, under one party rule, the National Socialist German Workers Party popularly referred as Nazi (Rippon, 78-85) Hitler’s ascendancy to power in 1933 elicited widespread concern in the world, throwing the 1936 Olympic Games in jeopardy. United States and several European democracies questioned the morality of supporting and sponsoring Olympic Games under Hitler’s oppressive regime. Widespread racism in Germany was one of the most conspicuous events that characterized the coming to power of Adolf Hitler. According to, Young (63), Nazi regime intensified racial hatred against Jews, and anti-Semitism was one of the major policies of the administration. Hitler publicly declared his intent to make Germany a country of a pure race, consisting of the Aryan people, which he regarded as the superior and the only one worth of being German citizens (Rippon, 49). In order to make Aryans the dominant race in Germany, Hitler passed laws that authorized doctors to conduct sterilization by force on colored people, psychiatric patients and people with physical disabilities (Kass, 225). The Jews in German experienced the most severe crackdown characterized by physical assaults, economic boycotts on their interests, and forced expulsion from government jobs and other professions. In addition, they were excluded from social places such as recreation amenities. Moreover, Jews were prohibited from engaging in intermarriages with the Aryan race (Kass, 226). According to Rippon (152), Nazi leadership used the Olympic Games to promote the superiority of the Aryan race. German citizens that were not of Aryan ancestry were excluded from the German team, and sports facilities. In addition, they were condemned to poorly equipped facilities that severely limited their abilities to compete in the 1936 Olympic Games (Rippon, 163). The reports on persecution of Jewish athletes in Germany in 1933 reached organizers of the Olympic Games, which responded by the sending observers in the country to asses the situation. Young (144) notes that the American Olympic committee strongly condemned the unfolding events in Germany, by asserting that the basis of Olympic Games revitalization would be severely undermined by the limiting participation of athletes on grounds of race, creed or race. Several member nations in the Olympic committee considered Germany to be denied the right to host the games. In view of the growing concern from global leaders, the German government embarked on a well orchestrated propaganda aimed at impressing the world on its ability to host the event. In June 7 1933, the International Olympic Committee reaffirmed the right of Germany to host the event after receiving pledges and commitment from Hitler’s administration to end racial persecutions. However, racial persecutions continued in the country in spite of the pledges, prompting several countries in Europe to boycott the games (Jennings, 82). One of the major historical impacts of 1936 Olympics games in Berlin was raising the issue of racial discrimination in Europe and United States. The Olympic Games brought racism, one of the most contentious social issues that had remained unaddressed to national and global attention. In United States the issue of discrimination against African Americans came to the forefront (Schaap, 182). African Americans considered the stiff American opposition on German’s policies of racial discrimination as hypocrisy. The American government was involved in racial discrimination of the minorities and consequently, the blacks argued that the country did not have a moral right to criticize and boycott Olympic Games in Germany. This view was supported by other minority groups such as German Americans who were particularly vocal in the American government initial intent to boycott Olympic Games in Berlin (Schaap, 195). The debate surrounding hosting Olympic Games in respect to racial discrimination and persecution in Germany generated an issue of foreign policy, particularly on the extent that another country could interfere on another’s domestic issues. In supporting United States participation in the games, members in the American Olympic committee argued that they had no business in discussing how the German government treated Jews, just the same way the Germans did not have the right to discuss treatment of African Americans in American south, or Japanese in California (Kass, 228). The policy of non-interference on other country’s domestic issues particularly on racism resulted to some of the worst massacres in history, including the Holocaust (Kass, 231). The Berlin Olympic in 1936 disapproved the notion that some races were superior to others. Although the German team that consisted mainly of Aryan race won the games with the highest number of medals, athletes from different racial backgrounds made indelible mark during the event. United States team consisted one of the most racially diverse contingent than other teams during the event. Jesse Owens, an African American became one of the most successful athletes in the event winning a record of gold four medals. In addition, Jews from other participating countries won in eight disciplines, disapproving Hitler’s propaganda that Aryans were the superior sportspeople in the world (Rippon, 77). The Olympic Games in 1936 were used by Hitler’s administration for political reasons another major historic impact of the event. Young (83) argues that it is against the spirit of the Olympics games to host the event with an objective of achieving political goals. In early 1933 soon after coming to power, Hitler categorically stated his political desires from hosting the Olympic Games in Germany. According to Schaffer and Smith (55), Hitler asserted that he would do anything possible to advance the games and all possible sports interests during the Olympics. In the following year, the German minister of propaganda to the responsibility of publicizing the events, a situation that had never been witnessed before in the history of the Olympics. Kass (42) notes that this happening marked the first instance where the government was directly involved in the Olympics. Schaap (85) argues that it was in the interests of Nazis propaganda to demonstrate to the world that Germany was a super power, consisting of the happiest and wealthiest people in the globe then. Hitler’s administration wanted to show the world that the apparent prosperity of the country was the major reason why the country had many rivals in the world. In addition, Adolf Hitler wanted to advance his ideology pertaining to the perceived superiority of Aryan race in Germany over other ethnic groups (Rippon, 217). This explains why the German team in the Olympic Games consisted entirely of athletes from purely Aryan descent except one female participant Helen Mayer who had Jewish ancestry. Due to the apparent political interests of the games in the in the Nazi government, Rippon (39) argues that the planned boycott of United States would have dealt Hitler government a serious blow. This is due to the fact that United States was the only country that was more politically and economically advanced than Germany. Kass (231) argues that racial discrimination in Germany was against the spirit of fair play and equality, an important component of the Olympics games. Although this was sufficient reason to move the games from Berlin to another city, the Olympic committee voted against the move. This development changed the mission of countries especially the United States in the games which decided against boycotting the event because by doing so, it would fall into the propaganda of Adolf Hitler’s administration. Schaffer and Smith (63) argued that if United States pulled away from the games, the German government would have argued that the country feared competing with it (Germany) in sports. Hence, United States selected one of the most racially diversified team to disapprove Hitler’s false belief that Aryan race was superior in sports. American athletes such as Jesse Owens proved their point much to the embarrassment of Adolf Hitler, who even refused to acknowledge his triumph in the events (Schaap, 71). Conclusion The 1936 Olympic Games had a profound effect on the history of sports and political environment during the period. Although Germany was granted the right to host the games in recognition of its commitment to democratic reforms, ascendancy of Adolf Hitler to power undermined the efforts that the previous government had made in the country. The Olympic Games marked the first time that a country advanced political interest of racial discrimination, which undermined the spirit of fair play profoundly. The failure of other countries and international Olympic committee to punish Germany for persecuting Jews during the games justified racism. The consequences of the mistake became apparent shortly after the conclusion of the games in Berlin, when millions of Jews were executed in Germany. Work Cited Jennings, A. The Great Olympic Swindle: When the World Wanted its Games Back. London: Simon and Schuster, 2000. Kass, D. “The Issue of Racism at the 1936 Olympics”. Journal of Sport History, 3.3(1976):223-235. Rippon, A. Hitler’s Olympics: The Story of the 1936 Nazi Games. South Yorkshire: Pen and Sword Books, 2006. Schaap, J. Triumph: The Untold Story of Jesse Owens, and Hitler’s Olympics. New York: First mariner Books, 2008. Schaffer K., and Smith, S. The Olympics at the Millennium: Power, Politics and the Games. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 2000. Young, D.(2003). The Modern Olympics: A Struggle for Revival. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, 2003. Read More