Heather L. Dichter

Kicking around international sport: West Germany's return to the international community through football

In 1948, the American Military Government worked with Swiss soccer officials to organise Germanys first post-war international matches, three simultaneous German–Swiss intercity games. The American occupation authorities viewed these games as part of their broader efforts to help teach Germans about democracy, as a way for the international community to begin the process of reaccepting Germany and as a way to raise funds for charitable purposes tied to the reconstruction efforts. These games received tremendous popular support in Germany and Switzerland from football officials, the general public and the press. These German–Swiss games also facilitated Germanys return to the international community by forcing one of the most powerful international sport federations to address Germanys exclusion. Through a combination of materials from military governments, football federations and the press, this article examines how states used the internationalism of sport to obtain diplomatic aims. With these three intercity matches, football provided a venue for Germans to participate in relations with other countries while Germany itself remained excluded from the traditional international relations of diplomats.

Rebuilding physical education in the Western occupation zones of Germany, 1945–1949

After the Second World War, the British, American and French believed education could be used to promote democracy in Germany. The Western powers faced particular difficulties with the field of physical education because of the strong Nazi influence in this area during the Third Reich. The premier pre-war physical education teacher training institute was located in the Soviet sector of Berlin. To help solve that problem as well as the dearth of qualified physical education teachers in post-war Germany, the Western Allies wanted to create a new institution for physical education. This article places the creation of the Deutsche Sporthochschule in Cologne within broader Allied education plans and goals for the occupation of Germany.

Prologue: Diplomacy and Sport

In attending the London Olympic Games of 2012, competitors and visitors at each venue were greeted with four flags; from left to right, they were the International Olympic flag—and the International Paralympic flag subsequently—the flags of the United Nations [UN] and the London Olympic Organising Committee [LOCOG], and the British Union Jack. These flags represent polities with a number of identities, but their most straightforward were as the foremost global sporting body that governs the quadrennial gathering of the “youth of the world,” the pre-eminent international organisation of states, a temporary organisational body, and the flag of a nation-state adopted in 1801. Each of these symbols is itself a form of communication; they represent something, and then signal a capacity for a relationship with other polities, one that requires consistent negotiation. These three characteristics are at the core of diplomacy’s purpose and its practice. The Olympic Games are universally seen as the pinnacle of sporting endeavour for vast swaths of the global audience, for sponsors, and, perhaps most importantly given the spectacle that results, for the athletes. The Olympics, perhaps more than any other sporting event, allow for what Naoko Shimazu considers “diplomacy as theatre.” Shimazu’s approach resonates neatly with sport where symbolic “performances” are undertaken upon particular “stages” set out for sport with perceivable levels of audience and athlete interaction. The sportsman or sportswomen as entertainer expressly allows for performances to surround the sporting endeavour; in tennis, one can think of the stark contrast in fiery John McEnroe and ice-cold Bjorn Borg’s “performance” alongside their sporting talents; in motor-racing, James Hunt and Nikki Lauder in the early 1970s or Aryton Senna and Alain Prost in the 1980s were sporting rivalries where performance as much as skill were at stake. In such performances, elements of those key diplomatic purposes are evident. Examples of the significance of sport to diplomatic practice are plentiful if routinely overlooked. They are overlooked in lieu of headline grabbing “sport and politics”; or the prospect of sport offering humanitarian solutions through the Sport, Development, Peace framework; or, and something that befalls both of these realms, because sport is seen as trivial or peripheral amid the crises that define global affairs. Of course, in many senses it is; as a general rule, contemporary sport does not result in life threatening hardship DIPLOMACY & STATECRAFT 2016, VOL. 27, NO. 2, 207–211 http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09592296.2016.1169780

Sporting Relations: Diplomacy, Small States, and Germany’s Post-war Return to International Sport

ABSTRACT Germany’s post-war return to international sport was not uniform across all federations. The nature of each sport—summer versus winter, team versus individual—influenced the speed with which each international sport federation dealt with the issue of Germany’s return. Some federations allowed German participation even before they formally re-admitted the country to federation membership. However, sporting relations were not the only issue considered by international federations. The historical political relations between Germany and its smaller European neighbours were as important. The combination of the historical relationship amongst European states—especially memories of the Second World War—and internal sport federation dynamics affected state relations within the broader international system. The actions taken by the international sport federations provided examples—in areas that would not result in another world war or destroy Western alliances—of how Germany could return as a full member of the international community. The debates regarding Germany’s return across a number of international sport federations reveal the complex interaction among memory, politics, and practical matters.

'We have allowed our decisions to be determined by political considerations': The early Cold War in the International Ski Federation

ABSTRACT Like other international federations after the Second World War, the International Ski Federation (FIS) received an application from the Soviet Union and both German states for recognition. As one of the earliest international federations to recognise East Germany separately – and as a full member – alongside West Germany, FIS was then forced to confront the Cold War numerous times over the next two decades. Actions taken by FIS as Cold War lines hardened brought politics into the federation’s business, and the federation faced multiple challenges as it attempted to negotiate the Cold War following the recognition of these states.

Animalympics, Or How I Became a Sport Scholar

Abstract While at first unintentional, the author’s path to becoming a sport historian has incorporated her academic trajectory of sport and German/European history along with working in the sport industry. These experiences have benefited both her scholarly research and her teaching and experiential learning opportunities for students in sport management programs.

Aspirational Reflections: The Future of Sport History

Abstract This article provides a scrambled form of SWOT analysis of the ideas contained in the various contributions to this special issue on sport historians and the field of sport history. The market for sport history, pure and simple, is not in good shape in many places. Yet we must be careful not to confuse trends in employment prospects with shorter term fluctuations in demand. Nor should we conflate national issues with the international situation. One thing is certain: worldwide academia is expanding; surely, there must be opportunities somewhere for sport history. Sport historians may have to be prepared to move geographically or to get a job. Nonetheless, the field of sport history also has many strengths highlighted, and opportunities abound for collaborations, public engagement, and supporting our fellow sport historians across the globe. Instead of allowing the external threats and weaknesses to continue to grow, sport historians should draw on the encouraging aspects contained herein and take advantage of our field’s strengths and opportunities to develop new and creative initiatives which demonstrate the vibrancy and breadth of sport history.

Aspiration and Reflection: Sport Historians on Sport History

Abstract Following the series of Presidential Forum conversation pieces instigated by Kevin Wamsley on the NASSH website, this piece places the context of the collection of comments and criticisms by 29 contributors to this special issue on sport historians reflecting on the field of sport history.

Corruption in the 1960s?: Rethinking the Origins of Unethical Olympic Bidding Tactics

Abstract Most scholarship about improprieties surrounding Olympic host city selections starts with the Salt Lake City scandal, which television reporters broke in 1998, after which more details emerged revealing similar actions by previous Olympic hosts (as well as unsuccessful bid committees). Yet, the actions of these post-Los Angeles bid committees were not new, with local newspapers from the cities bidding for Games in the 1960s regularly reporting on significant amounts of money bid committees spent in the hope of winning the Games. The actions of the candidate cities for the 1968 Olympic Games went to great lengths to secure the Games. IOC efforts to impose regulations in response to these actions failed to yield significant changes on candidate cities. These examples from the 1960s demonstrate that the bribery of Nagano, Sydney, and Salt Lake City did not start from nowhere. Instead, the IOC long had a culture of improprieties when it came to selecting Olympic host cities – albeit on a smaller scale.

Diplomatic and International History: Athletes and Ambassadors

The methods of diplomatic and international history present additional approaches to sport topics which can allow for more nuanced understandings of sport organizations, their events, and relations between countries. This study explores diplomatic and international history methods and how they can be utilized by sport historians.