In the Soviet Union, sport was an important part of everyday life, aiming to increase the health of the citizens and to make them fit for work. However, sport was controlled by the state and used as a major force to show the advantages of the communist ideology over capitalism. In the framework of the Cold War where the existence of two hostile world powers, the Soviet Union and the United States of America, were confronting each other, sports became an obvious field for international competition and for defeating the ideological opponent.
In this paper, it will be examined why sports gained more and more popularity in everyday life and how it was used as political force. The impact of policy will be shown on the specific example of ice hockey, one of the most popular sports on both sides of the Iron Curtain. In other words, it will be outlined how sport lost its innocence and became serious fun, a kind of weapon to wage war.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION
2. SPORT IN EVERYDAY LIFE
2.1. REASONS FOR INCREASING SPORT ACTIVITY
2.1.1. Increasing Prosperity
2.1.2. Increasing free time
2.1.3. Increasing Urbanization - Promotion of Sport in Town
2.2. STATE’S INSTITUTIONS FOR PROMOTING SPORTS
2.2.1. All-Union Committee on Physical Culture and Sport Affairs (Sports Committee)
2.2.2. Voluntary sports society (VVS) and Sport Societies
2.2.3. Sports Committee of Friendly Armies
2.2.4. Schools
2.3. SPORT AND MEDIA - HOW THE SOVIETS GOT INFORMATION ABOUT COMPETITIONS
2.3.1. Television
2.3.2. Newspapers
3. THE CONNECTION BETWEEN SPORT AND POLITICS IN THE SOVIET UNION
3.1. CREATING AN ELITE - SOVIET TOP ATHLETES AND THEIR MISSION
3.2. COLD WAR ON COLD ICE: HOCKEY AS MIRROR OF POLITICAL EVENTS
3͘2͘1͘ Political Revenge on Ice: Czechoslovakia’s Triumph
3.2.2. The American Miracle on Ice
4. CONCLUSION
5. LITERATURE
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