Spartakiad
Encyclopedia
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
attempted to use to both oppose and supplement the Olympics
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
. (In Russian, there is a certain parallelism in the names: "Spartakiada" and "Olimpiada".) The name, derived from the name of the slave
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
rebel leader, Spartacus
Spartacus
Spartacus was a famous leader of the slaves in the Third Servile War, a major slave uprising against the Roman Republic. Little is known about Spartacus beyond the events of the war, and surviving historical accounts are sometimes contradictory and may not always be reliable...
, was supposed to symbolize proletarian internationalism
Proletarian internationalism
Proletarian internationalism, sometimes referred to as international socialism, is a Marxist social class concept based on the view that capitalism is now a global system, and therefore the working class must act as a global class if it is to defeat it...
because Spartacus' revolt united slaves from diverse ethnic backgrounds within the Roman Empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
. As a Classical
Classical antiquity
Classical antiquity is a broad term for a long period of cultural history centered on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of ancient Greece and ancient Rome, collectively known as the Greco-Roman world...
figure, Spartacus also stood directly in contrast to the aristocratic
Aristocracy
Aristocracy , is a form of government in which a few elite citizens rule. The term derives from the Greek aristokratia, meaning "rule of the best". In origin in Ancient Greece, it was conceived of as rule by the best qualified citizens, and contrasted with monarchy...
nature of the Ancient Olympic Games on which the modern "capitalist" Olympics were, according to the Soviet hierarchy, supposedly based. The first Winter Spartakiad was held in February 1928 in Oslo
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
, and the first Summer Spartakiad was held in August 1928 in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
.
In 1952 the Soviet Union decided to join the Olympic movement, and international Spartakiads ceased. However the term persisted for internal sports events in the Soviet Union of different levels, from local up to the Spartakiad of the Peoples of the USSR (Спартакиада народов СССР, Spartakiada narodov SSSR). The latter event was held twice in four years: Winter Spartakiad and Summer Spartakiad, with international participation. The first Soviet Spartakiad was held in 1956. These events were of huge importance for the Soviet sports. Everyone could participate in them - from ordinary people to top-level athletes. The number of participants, for example, in the 6th Summer Spartakiad of the Peoples of the USSR, was 90 million people (twice the number of athletes in the USSR in that time), including 8,300 Masters of Sports of the USSR
Unified Sports Classification System of the USSR
Unified Sports Classification System of the USSR is a document which provided general Soviet physical education system requirements for athletes. The classification was established in 1935 and was based on separate classifications, which existed for several sports disciplines before...
. And in the 3rd Winter Spartakiad of the Peoples of the USSR took part 20 million people, including some 1,000 Masters of Sports of the USSR. An importance of Winter and Summer Spartakiads of the Peoples of the USSR may also be seen from the fact, that each of them was commemorated on a series of postage stamp
Postage stamp
A postage stamp is a small piece of paper that is purchased and displayed on an item of mail as evidence of payment of postage. Typically, stamps are made from special paper, with a national designation and denomination on the face, and a gum adhesive on the reverse side...
s, released in millions of copies (an example of such a stamp is pictured).
There was also a "Youth Spartakiad". Still another Soviet sports event with this name, Spartakiad of Trade Unions (Спартакиада профсоюзов), survived in a number of post Soviet republics, such as Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, Belarus
Belarus
Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
, Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
, Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan , officially the Republic of Uzbekistan is a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia and one of the six independent Turkic states. It shares borders with Kazakhstan to the west and to the north, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the east, and Afghanistan and Turkmenistan to the south....
.
The name Spartakiáda was also used for a mass gymnastics display http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3757706707929752013, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUtrL3NoGLc, which was held every five years at the Strahov Stadium
Strahov Stadium
The Great Strahov Stadium is a stadium in the Strahov district of Prague, Czech Republic. The stadium is the largest in the world, and is the second largest sports facility worldwide after the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, seating around 220,000....
in Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
, Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
, when the country was under Communist rule. The first event of this name was held, however, already in 1921, and its initiator Jiří Chaloupecký is credited as the inventor of the name.
Six similar events were held in Albania
Albania
Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...
during communist rule as well (in 1959, 1969, 1974, 1979, 1984, and 1989).
In 1984, the Soviet Union organised the Friendship Games
Friendship Games
The Friendship Games or Friendship-84 was an international multi-sport event held between 2 July and 16 September 1984 in the Soviet Union and eight other socialist states which boycotted the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles....
, aimed at countries which boycotted the 1984 Summer Olympics
1984 Summer Olympics
The 1984 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held in Los Angeles, California, United States in 1984...
.
External links
- KÙPELE CENTRAL, Avantgardfilm by Sabine Maier (MACHFELDMACHFELDMACHFELD is an Austrian art duo.Founded in 1999 by media artists Michael Mastrototaro and Sabine Maier in Vienna, Austria, they work in different fields: Netart, short and experimental films, streaming projects, interactive installations, and art in public space...
) dealing with the phenomenon of the spartakiad.