The Image of Countries from the Soviet Bloc and the Capitalist World in “Przegląd Sportowy” (1948–1953)

Piotr Swacha

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The image of the Soviet bloc countries and the capitalist world created by „Przegląd Sportowy” in the years 1948–1953 reflected the attempts undertaken by the party and state propaganda to discredit the achievemets of sports people in the United States (US). In this period of time, the newspaper presented two different ways of perceiving the states which were part of two rival political blocs. Positive features were given to a group of countries that were under Soviet domination. They were on the way to democracy, progress, enabling citizens the social advancement. Sport activity of the countries was also presented in this dimension. While the Soviet Union was perceived as an unprecedented model to follow, the capitalist world was presented in an utterly different way. The United States were the embodiment of all the negative features. Sport in the US was, according to „Przegląd Sportowy”, a field in which making a profit seemed to be the most important criterion, and best results achieved at the expense of players' health. Moreover, it was to become a form of preparing young people to start imperialist war. This type of physical education was to spread to Western Europe as well, which caused widespread concern among party members and editors of „Przegląd Sportowy”.

KEYWORDS

sport, propaganda, players, Soviet Union, United States