|
| |
1936 OLYMPICS IN BERLIN.
Term Paper ID:24641
|
|
|
Essay Subject:
Examines political, propagandistic, racial & bureaucratic aspects of Hitler-managed Games from acquisition to media coverage to performances.... More...
|
9 Pages / 2025 Words
9 sources, 27 Citations,
TURABIAN Format
$36.00
Return to List of Papers
|
Paper Abstract:
Examines political, propagandistic, racial & bureaucratic aspects of Hitler-managed Games from acquisition to media coverage to performances.
Paper Introduction:
Though it may seem odd, in retrospect, that Hitler and his Nazi party allowed the 1936 Olympics to be held at Berlin, this is only because subsequent legends of the event obscure the true propaganda value the games had for the Reich. Both in terms of inspiring the German people and in impressing Germany's good will and increased power on other nations, the National Socialist agenda was forwarded by the superbly managed Eleventh Olympiad. The question then arises, why did the United States and the principal European nations willingly provide Hitler with such a platform? It may be argued that in the early 1930s the true extent of the Nazi threat could not be foreseen. But the historical record demonstrates that it took a considerable degree of willful blindness toward Nazi ideology, policies, and actions for other nations to participate at Berlin.
Text of the Paper:
The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper.
Thus what Schumann recalls from the Olympics is the blur of excitementthat Germans felt as the nation's teams did exceedingly well. An Approved History of the Olympic Games. This victory for the IOC was offered as proof that the Nazis werenot dictating to the Committee. Both in terms of inspiring the German people and inimpressing Germany's good will and increased power on other nations, theNational Socialist agenda was forwarded by the superbly managed EleventhOlympiad. BibliographyBaker, William J. Being Present: Growing Up in Hitler's Germany. It seemed to many of them that, as the Nazishad hoped, they were seeing the clear superiority of their race in thegames' results. The Nazi Years: A Documentary History. The Nazi Olympics. [12]International Olympic Committee, quoted in Duff Hart-Davis,Hitler's Games: The 1936 Olympics (New York: Harper & Row, 1986), 148. But evidence of the Nazis' true intentions was not lacking during theyears 1933 to 1936. [6]William Brustein, The Logic of Evil: The Social Origins of the NaziParty, 1925-1933 (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1996), 6 . The nationalist feeling at the games was more concentrated than ithad ever been before. New York: Harper & Row, 1986.Henry, Bill. [9]Willy Schumann, Being Present: Growing Up in Hitler's Germany,(Kent, OH: Kent State University Press, 1991), 14. As each charge came up, the Berlin organizing committee painstakingly issued a denial, but the publicity given the widespread campaign against participation seriously affected the securing of funds for the Olympic teams of many countries . An American journalist reported on the crowds'"wildly rapturous victory celebrations [which were] followed by silent,glum dejection when a German lost."[22] Indeed, in an atmosphere in whicheven the potential universal ownership of Volkswagens was touted as"another powerful step forward in the development of the German people,"the effect of the Olympic spectacle and the many German victories wasincalculable.[23] And, as the Völkischer Beobachter reported at theconclusion of the Olympiad, the Reich's magnificent management and stagingof the games had "shown the world its true face."[24] The impression ofstrength and peaceful intentions had also been effectively established. Jesse Owens: An American Life. In the mid-193 s it was not apparent to most Germans, or to manyforeigners, that these ideas could only be fully realized if Lebensraum wasacquired through war, if the Jews were literally exterminated, if massiverearmament stimulated the economy, and if war took place to counteract theinflationist tendency of the IEP. But Owens, since no one believedhis denials anyway, found that "to claim the 'snub' as his own would workto his advantage" and, after denying the story at Berlin and later inAmerica, allowed the myth to continue.[25] Buoyed by popular belief insuch myths, defenders of the 1936 Olympics derive consolation from theapparent fact that the Olympiad was "a living denial of the purely [sic]Nazi racial theories."[26] But this only betrays their ignorance of theskills of the Nazi propaganda apparatus. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1987.Remak, Joachim, ed. Kent, OH: Kent State University Press, 1991.----------------------- [1]Bill Henry, An Approved History of the Olympic Games, rev. ed. What was immediately apparent to theGerman people after 1933 was the success the party seemed to have inturning the economy around. [5]Mandell, 47. Mandell, The Nazi Olympics (New York: Macmillan, 1971),xiv. The system of youth education and indoctrination that hadbeen put in place by the party would develop this advantage in theinterests of the whole country. South Brunswick, NJ: A. New York: Touchstone, 1986.Schumann, Willy. If there had been a snub of a blackathlete, it was Cornelius Johnson, who won his medal on the first day ofcompetition, who had been ignored following Hitler's greeting of German andScandinavian winners earlier in the day. But the historical record demonstrates that it tooka considerable degree of willful blindness toward Nazi ideology, policies,and actions for other nations to participate at Berlin. [17]Quoted in Mandell, 75. [2]Quoted in Joachim Remak, ed., The Nazi Years: A Documentary History(New York: Touchstone, 1986), 82. And,on March 7, 1936, Hitler reoccupied the Rhineland, in "the most blatant actof promise-breaking which he had so far dared to commit."[13] Theconcentration camps for political prisoners (a very broad category) hadbeen publicized by escapees. And, "with great enthusiasm we children countedthe gold, silver, and bronze medals won by Germany."[19] Indeed the German athletes far exceeded anyone's expectations, aresult that seemed to go far beyond simple home-court advantage. [16]Hart-Davis, 196-97. .[1]Since this same committee had just refused a Nazi ultimatum demanding theremoval of its partly Jewish president, the "stories" about the racialpurity of the German team would be somewhat difficult for the committee todeny, however "painstakingly" they went about it. Considerable opposition was mounted in many quarters, but thedetermination of the International Committee managed to overcome it. The Jews are eliminated because they are not good enough as athletes. As Willy Schumann recalled in amemoir of his childhood in Nazi Germany, "there seemed to be visibleprogress in all areas [and] people were regaining some of their self-respect, self-confidence, and pride."[9] In every school child's textbookthe story of this supposed economic miracle closed with a well-knownpicture "of Hitler breaking ground for the building of the first Autobahnsegment."[1 ] Germany, it seemed, was working. [1 ]Ibid., 12. For example, There were stories that Hitler [sic] racial theories would be applied to representation on the German team and that non-Aryans of whatever nationality would not be welcomed either as participants or spectators at the games in Berlin. Why there are not a dozen Jews in the world of Olympic caliber.[17] With help from such determined advocates of internationalcompetition, with their own unstated prejudices, the Olympiad became one ofthe centerpieces of the Nazi propaganda effort. [7]Ibid., 6 . The second important facet of the plan was the party's ImmediateEconomic Program (IEP), in which Hitler proposed a Keynesian agenda ofpublic works projects and linked "the economic well-being of the middleclass to the elimination of unemployment"--a program consideredinflationary by his opponents of the left and right.[8] In addition,Hitler called for economic self-determination--urging the resettlement ofGerman workers and farmers in the east and the establishment of a German-controlled economic zone in the eastern half of Europe. [3]Richard D. But itwas not until they had secured power that the party felt themselves free topursue all their goals without regard for popularity "and the party's anti-Semites were given freer rein."[7] During their rise the Nazis laid theirheaviest emphasis on the appeal to national pride. Radiobulletins, announced with a special fanfare, proclaimed every victory of aGerman athlete or team. After the first day, however,Hitler acceded scrupulously to the committee's rule that, as host, he mustcongratulate all or none of the winners. Through a careful combination ofcoercion, persuasion and action, the party transformed Germany in aremarkably short time. As further assurance General CharlesSherrill, a member of both the American and International OlympicCommittees, noted that, Germans are not discriminating against Jews in their Olympic tryouts. Official publications of the International Olympic Committee (IOC)continue to play down the benefits that Hitler and his party may havederived from the 1936 games. Anti-Semitism, "though a driving force in the foundation of the Naziparty," was not the major factor in its rise for the simple reason that itwas too common a theme in Weimar political discourse, and incurredsufficient opposition in some quarters, to have "sufficient appeal tomobilize the masses."[6] The most vehement side of Nazi anti-Semitismcontinued to be expressed in Julius Streicher's Der Stürmer and othervenues, and racialist theories were always promoted by the Nazis. [11]Cited in John Lucas, The Modern Olympic Games (South Brunswick,NJ: A. [15]Quoted in Hart-Davis, 61-62. [13]Hart-Davis, 1 9. The famous storyof Hitler's refusal to congratulate Owens was largely inaccurate. New York: Macmillan, 1971.Peukert, Detlev J. In themore subdued version, published in the Daily Express in November, 1936, heclaimed that Hitler, "the George Washington of Germany, [had] won for hiscountry independence from all her oppressors."[2] But it was not onlydirect sympathizers who were able to justify Berlin's hosting of the games. [19]Schumann, 12.[2 ]Mandell, 288.[21]Hart-Davis, 68.[22]Ralph Barnes, cited in Lucas, 13 .[23]Robert Ley, head of the German Labor Front, in the VölkischerBeobachter in 1938, quoted in Remak, 76.[24]Quoted in Hart-Davis, 226.[25]William J. The Modern Olympic Games. [14]Ibid., 18. S. Though it may seem odd, in retrospect, that Hitler and his Nazi partyallowed the 1936 Olympics to be held at Berlin, this is only becausesubsequent legends of the event obscure the true propaganda value the gameshad for the Reich. K. [18]Brustein, 6 . [8]Ibid., 144. Peukert, Inside Nazi Germany: Conformity,Opposition, and Racism in Everyday Life, trans. In the "approved" history, for example, Henryboasts repeatedly of the Berlin Organizing Committee's refusal to allow theGerman government to control the games. In short order the party made up for its lack of a legislative majorityby forming coalitions that enabled it "to enact a radical program whichwas, in effect, a seizure of power."[5] The party moved quickly to reformthe country into a national state run by party bureaucracy and, by July 14,1933, other political parties were outlawed, concentration camps wereestablished for opponents, and the Nationalist Socialists were the onlylegal political entity in Germany. It was not until 1933 that the National Socialists garnered enoughseats in the Reichstag to force Hitler's appointment as Chancellor on March5. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1996.Hart-Davis, Duff. It had been the party's"uncanny skill at disseminating its positions and casting itself in therole of a winner" that had propelled the Nazis to great popularity andthat, after 1933, enabled them to build support for Hitler's plannedtransformation of the nation.[18] The Olympic games, like every otheraspect of life, were to be transformed into direct support for this agenda. But evenOwens himself tired of denying it. K. [4]Quoted in Detlev J. Richard Deveson (New Haven:Yale University Press, 1987), 169. The Olympic spirit, Henry argues,was preserved from an infusion of politics. But Henry's rathersingle-minded determination to ignore whatever he does not wish to see isinteresting because it reflects the mood of many people half a centurybefore. The 1936 games had not, of course, been awarded to the Nazi regime.In 1932, just before the opening of the Los Angeles games, Theodor Lewaldand Carl Diem, who had organized Germany's aborted attempt to host the 1916games, were notified that they had succeeded in a new bid for 1936. Translated by Richard Deveson. In Britain, for example, a 1934 incidentinvolving the camps meant that "no British MP could honestly claim to beunaware of what was happening in Germany."[14] Yet the IOC's response wasan effort to gloss over the situation. In the 193 s Nazi sympathizers outside Germany were not hard to find. New York: Free Press, 1986.Brustein, William. CertainlyHitler had done very little to disguise the general intentions of the Reichother than issuing protestations of good will toward other nations andrefraining from suggesting the literal annihilation of the inferior races.On September 15, 1935, the notorious Nuremberg Laws were enacted, deprivingthose of Jewish ancestry of their citizenship and all other rights. Los Angeles: Southern California Committee For the Olympic Games, 1981.Lucas, John. Though the newspaper Der Stürmer had made the position perfectlyclear in 1933, saying "Jews are Jews and there is no place for them inGerman sport," the IOC believed that getting a few Jewish members on theGerman team would correct matters.[15] When the German government concededto the Committee's wishes and included two persons of Jewish ancestry onthe national team, the IOC announced that the problem had been solved. Barnes, 198 .Mandell, Richard D. Though the president of the IOC, Henri Baillet-Latour,boasted that any overt politicization of the games or violations of thehost nation's traditional disinterested approach could result incancellation "up to the eve of the competitions themselves," the fact wasthat almost the entire Olympics sports establishment had long beendetermined to brook no opposition to holding the games at Berlin.[11]Instead, on the eve of the games, one of the most outspoken opponents ofthe Nazi games, Commodore Lee Jahncke, an American member of the IOC, wasexpelled for having "clearly infringed the status of the IOC in betrayingthe interests of the Committee."[12] From 1933 through 1936 Jahncke and others, such as the William E.Dodd, American ambassador to Germany, British diplomat Robert Vansittart,and New York rabbi Stephen Wise, had spoken out or waged campaigns againstthe IOC's intention to allow the Berlin games to go forward. Throughout the games, Germannewspapers found their own methods of accounting for, and ignoring, theimplications of Owens' gold medals. AsMandell noted, "totalitarian inspiration seems capable of working wondersupon the will and, through the will, upon the body."[2 ] The largelyGerman audience in the stadiums, in the grip of a mixed feeling of reliefat their improved situation and renewed nationalist pride after 2 years ofhumiliation, were ecstatic. Hitler's Games: The 1936 Olympics. Theathletes were both women, inherently less important beings in the Nazischeme of things. After two decades of unending crisis--the lossof the war, the hyperinflation of the 192 s, and the Great Depression--itappeared that good times had returned. Barnes, 198 ), 131. Der Angriff, for example, hurriedlydesigned a reporting system that "airily ignored the medals won by Negroesand presented the medals of the blacks to the first Germans that followedthem."[27] The German press simply used whatever method ensured thatAryans seemed to dominate the events--an appearance that reassured theGerman people regarding the destiny Hitler had defined for them. Thefourth winter games would be held at Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Bavaria andthe eleventh summer games in Berlin. The Logic of Evil: The Social Origins of the Nazi Party, 1925-1933. Baker, Jesse Owens: An American Life (New York: Free press,1986), 91.[26]Henry, 177.[27]Cited in Mandell, 2 2. A few months after the Olympiad, for example, former British primeminister David Lloyd George had to be urged by fellow sympathizers to tonedown his praise of Hitler when he reported on his tour of Germany. Rev. ed. In mitigation of these effects, that were facilitated by the OlympicOrganization and its supporters, much has been made of the success of JesseOwens, and numerous other non-Aryan athletes, at Berlin. The question then arises, why did the United States and theprincipal European nations willingly provide Hitler with such a platform?It may be argued that in the early 193 s the true extent of the Nazi threatcould not be foreseen. S. Gretl Bergmann was secretly barred from participatingwhen the time came.[16] The other Helene Mayer, who earned a silver medalin fencing, was only half Jewish and, in appearance, was the perfect Aryantype. (LosAngeles: Southern California Committee For the Olympic Games, 1981), 177. The principal theme of these programs,according to the manual "Proficiency for German Youth," was that "physicaltraining is not the concern of the individual [since] your body belongs toyour country [and] you are responsible to your country for your body."[21]By placing themselves in the hands of the state, German youth would receivethe training, and the inspiration, needed to serve the nation. Theywere aided in this by the determination of the National Socialists tocreate an international impression of the Reich "as not only powerful andstable, but respectable as well."[3] While, at home, the Nazis wanted toinspire their Aryan constituency to a revived pride in all things Germanicand the creation of a race of young men who were, in Hitler's words, "ashard as Krupp steel, tough as leather, swift as greyhounds."[4] Thesponsorship of the 1936 Olympiad was not, therefore, a matter to be takenlightly, and the Nazis willingly spent millions of marks, exertedthemselves enormously, and even made a few political concessions to keepthe games. . Inside Nazi Germany: Conformity, Opposition, and Racism in Everyday Life. Even in 1981, with theadvantage of hindsight, Henry is somehow able to ignore the trueimplications of games held in Berlin. The creation ofVolksgemeinschaft, or national community, was to occur through theleadership of Hitler and the party, and this newly perfected race wouldthen be ready for its assumption of the leadership of the entire world.The elimination of those who were not part of the Volk was not usuallytaken literally, but racist notions were accepted, with varying degrees ofenthusiasm, by the party's supporters.
If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again:
or
Click here to request an essay written just for you.
|
|
|
