Propaganda Purposes in the Olympic Games

Propaganda Purposes in the Olympic Games

The Olympics when held every four years attract huge amounts of people

to their TV screens they are immensely popular and for the nation

holding them there can be huge benefits. However there is a bad side

to this power that comes with the games and that is that the power can

be abused and has been in the past where the games act as a platform

for governments and individuals to promote themselves, their movements

or their country.

As the base of this essay is on how the Olympics have been used in the

past I will firstly mention the 1936- Berlin games, as these have been

the greatest example of the games being used for propaganda purposes

since the re-birth of the Olympics in 1896.

Despite IOC concerns of the rise of Nazism in Germany at the time they

were unable to move the games. German IOC members had given assurances

that rules would be abided by and so the games were to be held in

Berlin. The belief that no Nazi policies would interfere with the

games was widely held, with the chairman of the US National Olympic

Committee rejecting a boycott from the Jewish in America, assuring

them that no politics would enter the stadium.

However Hitler felt very differently, he thought it was a great

opportunity to promote Germany and prove the dominance of the 'Aryan

race'. Memorials were introduced in the games for all the dead German

soldiers that linked sport and the military and while anti-Semitic

propaganda was reduced when visitors were there it was still rife.

Also by associating himself with such a prestige event he will have

gained some popularity for the Nazi regime. The event most r...

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...ay to use propaganda.

Supposedly Los Angeles was to be the last Olympics where a boycott

would take place, however I doubt this to be the case because as long

as the games wield the power they have and the ability to influence

millions all over the world, points of view and propaganda statements

could still be made very effectively. The abuse of the Olympic ideal

by leaders and individuals is not looked upon well, at one time they

thought the Olympic movement would break down because of it,

fortunately the number of boycotts have decreased greatly over the

last 20 years. Although the corruption has increased due to the huge

amounts money involved these days. The games do not run without fault

but something on this scale is bound to have its problems we can only

hope they do not hinder the games greatly in the future.