Britain and the Cold War's 'Cultural Olympics': Responding to the Political Drive of Soviet Sport, 1945-58
Title:
Britain and the Cold War's 'Cultural Olympics': Responding to the Political Drive of Soviet Sport, 1945-58
Author:
Beck, Peter
Appeared in:
Contemporary British history
Paging:
Volume 19 (2005) nr. 2 pages 169-185
Year:
2005-06
Contents:
David Caute's descriptor, the 'Cultural Olympics', highlighted sport's role in Cold War propaganda. For Britain, the 1945 Moscow Dynamo tour, though presented as continuing the wartime alliance, highlighted sport's potential for conducting anti-British propaganda as well as aggravating an already problematic Anglo-Soviet relationship. Subsequently, the overt politicisation of Soviet bloc sport, alongside official concern about Britain's sporting performance, caused considerable difficulties for post-1945 British governments. However, their fundamental antipathy to sporting links with the Soviet bloc was qualified by an appreciation of the risks of intervention, given enduring attempts to present the autonomy of sport as a distinctive British value.
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