Socialist Workers' Sport International

Last updated
1925 Poster for the Workers' Olympiad in Frankfurt 1925 Poster for the Labour Olympiad in Frankfurt.jpg
1925 Poster for the Workers' Olympiad in Frankfurt

Socialist Workers' Sport International (German : Sozialistische Arbeitersport Internationale, SASI) was an international socialist sporting organisation, based in Lucerne. It was founded in 1920, and consisted of six national federations (with a combined membership of about one million) at the time of its foundation. Initially it was known as International Association for Sports and Physical Culture. Informally it was known as the Lucerne Sport International. It adopted the name SASI in 1926. [1] The Austro-Marxist Julius Deutsch was the president of SASI. [2]

Contents

International Labour Sports Federation (CSIT) was established in 1946 as the successor of SASI. [3]

Foundation

An international meeting of workers sports associations had been held in Ghent, Belgium, in 1913. However, the First World War put the build-up of an international workers' sport organisation on hold. After the war two Belgians, Gaston Bridoux and Jules Devlieger, took initiative to revive the cooperation. Preparatory meetings were held in Seraing, Belgium in 1919 and in Paris, France, during Easter 1920. The founding congress of the international took place in Lucerne from 13 to 14 September 1920. During the foundation, the French and Belgian delegations urged that the word 'Socialist' be omitted from the name of the organisation, in order to attract a broader following. [4]

Politics

The organisation upheld a policy of neutrality towards party organisations, a policy inherited from the German workers' sports movement (which tried to steer away from the fractional conflicts between the German socialists). This policy was however challenged by the communists, which claimed that the workers' sport movement could not abstain from taking part in revolutionary struggle. In 1921, the third congress of the Communist International decided to form a parallel sport international. In August 1921, the Sportintern was founded. Sportintern launched fierce political attacks against the Lucerne international. Its Czechoslovak section had suffered a split in July 1921, as the communists deserted it. [4]

At the second congress of the Lucerne International, held in Leipzig 1922, the French delegation argued in favour of unification between the two Internationals. This policy was not supported by the congress. The following year, the French affiliate FST decided to shift its membership to Sportintern. [4]

Ahead of the 1925 Workers Olympiad, the Sportintern appealed to the Lucerne International that four Sportintern delegations (France, Soviet Union, Norway, Czechoslovakia) should be allowed to participate. Discussions lingered on within the Lucerne International, but after communist sportsmen had made a public protest at a German Workers Sports Festival in Karlsbad in 1924, it was decided that the Sportintern would be barred from the Workers Olympiad. Likewise SASI barred its affiliates for participating in the 1928 Spartakiad organised by Sportintern. [4]

Politically, SASI was supported by the International Federation of Trade Unions and the Labour and Socialist International. [5]

Workers' Olympiads

The main activity of SASI was the organizing of the International Workers' Olympiads, portrayed as a socialist alternative to the 'bourgeois' Olympics. At the Workers Olympiads only the red flag was used, rather than national flags.

Affiliates

Membership

As of 1931, SASI claimed the following membership figures: [14]

CountryMembership
Germany 1211468
Austria 293700
Czechoslovakia

136977


70730

Finland 30257
Switzerland 21624
Denmark 20000
Netherlands 16795
Belgium 12909
France 6000
Alsace-Lorraine 5000
Poland
  • Polish federation
  • Jewish federation
  • German federation
  • Ukrainian federation

7000
4369
938
1925

Norway 10000
Lithuania 5171
United Kingdom 5000
Palestine 4250
USA 697
Romania 2500
Yugoslavia 1800
Hungary 1750
Estonia 1600
Total:1872460

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Communist International</span> Political organization (1919–1943)

The Communist International (Comintern), also known as the Third International, was an international organization founded in 1919 that advocated world communism, and which was led and controlled by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. The Comintern resolved at its Second Congress in 1920 to "struggle by all available means, including armed force, for the overthrow of the international bourgeoisie and the creation of an international soviet republic as a transition stage to the complete abolition of the state". The Comintern was preceded by the dissolution of the Second International in 1916. Vladimir Lenin, Leon Trotsky, and Joseph Stalin were all honorary presidents of the Communist International.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Workers' Socialist Federation</span> Political party in the United Kingdom

The Workers' Socialist Federation was a socialist political party in the United Kingdom, led by Sylvia Pankhurst. Under many different names, it gradually broadened its politics from a focus on women's suffrage to eventually become a left communist grouping.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Communist Party (British Section of the Third International)</span> British political party

The Communist Party (British Section of the Third International) was a Left Communist organisation established at an emergency conference held on 19–20 June 1920 at the International Socialist Club in London. It comprised about 600 people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">World Confederation of Labour</span> International labour organization

The World Confederation of Labour (WCL) was an international labour organization founded in 1920 and based in Europe. Fascist governments of the 1930s repressed the federation and imprisoned many of its leaders, limiting operations until the end of World War II. In 2006 it became part of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), ending its existence as an independent organization.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Profintern</span> International labor union confederation

The Red International of Labor Unions, commonly known as the Profintern, was an international body established by the Communist International (Comintern) with the aim of coordinating communist activities within trade unions. Formally established in 1921, the Profintern aimed to act as a counterweight to the influence of the so-called "Amsterdam International", the social-democratic International Federation of Trade Unions, an organization which the Comintern branded as "class-collaborationist" and as an impediment to revolution. After entering a period of decline in the middle 1930s, the Profintern was finally dissolved in 1937 with the advent of Comintern's "Popular Front" policy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Finnish Workers' Sports Federation</span> Finnish amateur sports organization

The Finnish Workers' Sports Federation is a Finnish amateur sports organization founded in 1919. In addition to the competitive sports, TUL focuses on youth activities and youth education as well as offering activities regardless of age, gender, ethnicity or financial means. TUL is one of the member associations of the Finnish Olympic Committee.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bourse du Travail</span>

The Bourse du Travail, a French form of the labour council, were working class organizations that encouraged mutual aid, education, and self-organization amongst their members in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Léo Lagrange</span> French politician

Léo Lagrange was a French Socialist, member of the SFIO, named secretary of State in the Popular Front government of Léon Blum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Red Sport International</span> International Communist sports organization

The International Association of Red Sports and Gymnastics Associations, commonly known as Red Sport International (RSI) or Sportintern was a Comintern-supported international sports organization established in July 1921. The RSI was established in an effort to form a rival organization to already existing "bourgeois" and social democratic international sporting groups. The RSI was part of a physical culture movement in Soviet Russia linked to the physical training of young people prior to their enlistment in the military. The RSI held 3 summer games and 1 winter games called "Spartakiad" in competition with the Olympic games of the International Olympic Committee before being dissolved in 1937.

Fédération sportive du Travail d'Alsace et de Lorraine was a labour sports federation in Alsace-Lorraine during the interbellum period. FSTAL was organized separately from the French Fédération sportive du Travail (FST). During the spring of 1923, FSTAL had 11542 members whilst FST had a total membership of about 5000. FSTAL published Le Sport Ouvrier.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pierre Besnard</span> French revolutionary syndicalist (1886–1947)

Pierre Besnard was a French anarcho-syndicalist. He was the co-founder and leader of the Confédération Générale du Travail-Syndicaliste Révolutionnaire (CGT-SR) and its successor the Confédération Nationale du Travail (CNT), and the principal theoretician of anarcho-syndicalism in France during the early 20th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International Federation of Trade Unions</span> International organization of trade unions (1919–1945)

The International Federation of Trade Unions was an international organization of trade unions, existing between 1919 and 1945. IFTU had its roots in the pre-war IFTU.

Fédération sportive et gymnastique du Travail d'Alsace et de Lorraine was a workers' sport organization in Alsace and Lorraine. FSGTAL was founded in December 1926, and was socialist in its political orientation. It was founded in order to counter the influence of communist Fédération sportive du Travail d'Alsace et de Lorraine (FSTAL). Socialist sectors had begun to break away from FSTAL in February 1926. FSGTAL was affiliated with the Socialist Workers' Sport International.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CSIT (Sports)</span> International sports organization

The CSIT – International Workers and Amateurs in Sports Confederation is an international multi-sports organization. It was established as the successor to the Socialist Workers' Sport International and, as such, celebrated its centenary in 2013. The core principles of contributing to physical activity and sports have stayed in its action policy; upholding the right of men and women to do sports no matter what their professionalism levels are. The key concept of CSIT's sports policy has always been "Sports for all." The policy stems from the historical ideas of the international worker sport movement.

International Workers' Olympiads were an international sporting event arranged between 1925 and 1937 by Socialist Workers' Sport International (SASI). It was an organisation supported by social democratic parties and International Federation of Trade Unions. Workers' Olympiads were an alternate event for the Olympic Games. The participants were members of various labor sports associations and came mostly from Europe. Nowadays the CSIT World Sports Games are the successor sports events of the International Workers' Olympiads. The "World Sports Games" is the main highlight and a new brand of the International Workers and Amateurs in Sports Confederation (CSIT). It is a sports event for thousands of workers and amateurs held every two years. The CSIT is an international multi-sports organization.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1937 Workers' Summer Olympiad</span>

The 1937 Workers' Summer Olympiad was the sixth edition of International Workers' Olympiads. The games were held from 25 July to 1 August at Antwerp in Belgium. They were originally planned for Barcelona 1936, but cancelled due to the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War.

The Socialist Party of Transylvania was a political party in Romania, active primarily in Transylvania. Born out of the ethnic Romanian section of the Social Democratic Party of Hungary (MSZDP), it gradually attracted other socialist and social-democratic groups active in the Transleithanian lands of Austro-Hungary incorporated into the Kingdom of Romania after World War I. Although initially it claimed, under the title Social Democratic Party of Transylvania and Banat, the adherence of the MSZDP party sections in Banat, the latter, while maintaining close links with the Transylvania party, constituted themselves as a distinct political organization. The party also actively sought the cooperation of the socialist parties active in other regions of Romania, working towards a unified political party of the working class. Such plans were however soon thwarted by repression from the part of the Romanian authorities, as well as disagreements both inside the party and among the different socialist formations of Romania. The disagreements were further aggravated by the request of the Third International that the leaders of the party that had collaborated with the Romanian National Party be excluded from the merger, and eventually resulted in the split between the reformist social-democrats and the revolutionary-minded communists. While the former decided to retire from unification talks and re-establish an independent Transyvanian party, the latter joined the majority of Socialist Party of Romania (PSR) to create the Communist Party of Romania in May 1921. The social-democratic faction would late join the PSR members that disagreed with the new orientation of their party, founding the Romanian Social Democratic Party in 1927.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1921 Workers' Olympiad</span>

1921 Workers' Olympiad was the first unofficial edition of the International Workers' Olympiads, organized by the 1920-established Lucerne Sport International and hosted by the Czechoslovakian Workers' Gymnastic Association in Prague, Czechoslovakia. The original scheduled date was August, but finally the games were held from 25 to 29 June 1921. The first official Workers' Olympiads were held in 1925 in Schreiberhau (Winter) and Frankfurt am Main (Summer) in Germany. The unofficial Czechoslovakian games were staged again in 1927 and 1934.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">3rd World Congress of the Communist International</span>

The 3rd World Congress of the Communist International (Comintern) was held in Moscow on 22 June–12 July 1921. The third official meeting of the Communist International included delegations from more than 50 different national structures and took place in the back-drop of two major events; the failure of the German revolution and the introduction of New Economic Policy in Soviet Russia.

<i>Fédération des sociétés féminines sportives de France</i> French womens sport organisation

The Fédération des sociétés féminines sportives de France was a French organisation set up to promote women's sport. The FSFSF was responsible for the French women's football championship from 1919 until 1932, and organised the Women's Olympiad, an alternative to the Olympic Games, between 1921 and 1923.

References

  1. Kidd, Bruce. The Struggle for Canadian Sport. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1996. p. 153
  2. 1 2 Wheeler, Robert F.. Organized Sport and Organized Labour: The Workers' Sports Movement , in Journal of Contemporary History, Vol. 13, No. 2, Special Issue: Workers' Culture (Apr., 1978), pp. 191210
  3. Arnd Krüger & James Riordan (eds.) (1996). The Story of Worker Sport. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. ISBN   978-0873228749; Halevi Olin (ed.) (2013). Sport, Peace and Development. International Worker Sport. 1913 - 2013. Wien: CSIT ISBN   978-3-9503593-1-2
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Steinberg, David A.. The Workers' Sport Internationals 192028 , in Journal of Contemporary History, Vol. 13, No. 2, Special Issue: Workers' Culture (Apr., 1978), pp. 233251
  5. 青沼, 裕之 (31 October 2001). "アントワープ労働者オリンピアードとウォルター・シトリーン". 尚美学園大学総合政策研究紀要 = Bulletin of Policy and Management, Shobi University. 2: 87–103.
  6. "Outlook Magazine - Reporting on the News Trends in Canada".
  7. Eric de Ruijter (2008). "A Dozen Pictures of the Labour Olympiads". International Institute of Social History . Retrieved 2008-09-29.
  8. "News - new additions - Archives Hub".
  9. 1 2 Kugelmass, Jack. Jews, Sports, and the Rites of Citizenship. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2007. pp. 119120
  10. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2008-05-13. Retrieved 2008-09-27.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  11. "Hannu Itkonen".
  12. "Gerade auf LeMO gesehen: LeMO Kapitel: Weimarer Republik".
  13. 1 2 Gounot, André. Die Rote Sportinternationale, 1921-1937: kommunistische Massenpolitik im europäischen Arbeitersport . Schriften zur Körperkultur, Bd. 38. Münster: Lit, 2002. p. 55-57
  14. "CONTENTdm" (PDF).