WWII, The Olympics, and a Modern Interpretation

The Olympics have always been events that bring the world together. Or so we thought! It turns out that the Olympics were not always something that brought people together; it brought them apart. This was the case in 1940 when the unthinkable happened. The Olympics were cancelled! This event changed the Olympic Movement so drastically that no Olympic games have been cancelled ever since that 7-year period during WWII. There are huge differences between the olympics before WWII and those that have come after. WWII was a crossroads for the culture and society that is common today. WWII had a tremendous impact on everything and everyone in the world.

Beginning in 1938, a scandal began to unfold in the Olympic Movement. Japan had originally been selected to host the 1940 Olypics. Since Japan was emerging as an Axis Power, many nations began to threaten to boycott the Olympics if they were going to be held in Japan. Even the League of nations began to get involved. In late 1938, Japan finally decided to abandon it's attempt to host the Olympic games. Instead, the Oylmpics were awarded to Helsinki, Finland. Shortly after planning the complete olympics that would take place in Finland, WWII broke out in its full. The games were then completely cancelled and did not resume until 1948 when London hosted the next Olympic Games. At this point in time the winter and summer olympics were heald every year. That is a lot of sporting events that had to be cancelled just because of a war.

The modern Olympics that the world knows and loves have not been cancelled despite the ongoing outbreaks of wars around the world. Today, the Olympics are seen as a way to forget the troubles of the world and come together as common spectators to appreciate the art of sport. Olympics are now such a conerstone of world cuture that despite a recession, terrorism, many wars, and other global problems we still manage to put them on. This represents the difference between the Olympic Movement in the time of WWII and the Olympic Movement that we see today. This difference also helps to outline the greatness of modern times. The world could be at war and the countries that send the troops would still grind on without much of a glance. It is just the way that the modern society grows and functions. Wars that happen today are still important, but they do not pose the immidiate threat like they used to.

During WWII new tensions that had never been a problem on the world front before had broken out. This was the leading cause that the 1940 Olympics were cancelled. WWII was so encompassing and so deadly that event the simple act of participating in sports for one's country turned into an insult to the rest of the world. The pre-WWII Olympics can be described as more simple and less complex than they are now. The Olympics were put on and just included the traditional events. Today, the olympics carry substantially more events than they used to. It is unfortunate that the world was so entrenched in the acts of total war that the art of sport was forgotten for seven long years. The world was not developed enough to fight a war and still prosper domestically like we are used to today.

There can be many reasons why the Olympic Movement of today does not compare to the Olympic Movement of WWII. The biggest reason is fear. Today the world is terrified of having another all-encompassing war. There are weapons that the world has now that people in WWII could never have dreamed of. A war such as this would be devastating on so many levels. The world uses the Olympics as we know them today as an outlet to say that, no matter what, there are always two and a half weeks of every two years that we can put aside to enjoy friendly competition. As long as the people of the world continue to love sport, the Olympics will always be there to remind us that we all share at least some common ground.

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