Germans became quite obsessed with sport in the 1870's following the end of the Napoleonic wars in Europe. Friedrich Ludwig Jahn popularized gymnastics which became a staple of the German education system. At this time gymnastics was not the sport we think of today, but instead more of a show of mass strength and to promote national unity in the newly formed Germany at the end of the ni

I do however believe that this was the worlds one chance to stop the Nazi's actions against the Jews before they really got started. A serious boycott effort by the powerful nations of the world like the United States would have been damning to the Nazi efforts who needed all the world to be there. A boycott would have crushed all of the Nazi plans because it would have made them look bad in front of their own people and it would have made the games that year a disaster. 30 million would have been wasted on an Olympics with no significant countries participating. That being said the world can hardly be blamed for going to the Berlin Olympics, because who could have ever dreamed that in ten years these same gracious hosts would have murdered over six million Jews

Even though there was a lot of racial violence going on in Germany, there was no serious moral outcry for a boycott from most of the nations. Tentative movements for boycotting the Berlin games occurred in Sweden, The Netherlands, and Czechoslovakia. In the end though the only country to boycott the games was Ireland. In Great Britain Walter Maclennon wrote a pamphlet called "Under the heel of Hitler: The Dictatorship over sport in Nazi German", in which he called for protests against the nazification of German Sport. Maclennon was right sports were under the regulations of the Nazi party, but his outcry gained very little support in Great Britain and there was never a real outcry for them to boycott the games. For the most part Britain took the view stated by Lord Aberdeen, who said"Britain should have no problem attending the Berlin Olympics, since it had so few Jewish Citizens.

Obviously the Berlin Games were a huge success for Hitler and Nazi party, but the question we have to ask is did it in any way lead to the horrific events in Germany over the next nine years. This is an impossible question to answer because the Jewish persecutions already seemed to be headed down a horrifying road even before the games began. Yes, the Nazi's were able to fool the world during these games and make them believe they were giving Jews as much freedom as the Americans were giving African Americans. However, even if the games had not been held there that year the persecutions would have continued down the same path to the Holocaust.

The Germans waited patiently and were extremely happy when they were awarded the With Olympiad, scheduled to take place in Berlin in 1916. By the time 1916 arrived most of Europe was involved in the "Great War" which was entirely blamed on Germany and these games were canceled to the great disappointed of the German sports officials. During the next three Olympics: Paris in Belgium in 1920, Paris in 1924, and Amsterdam in 1928 the Germans were not even invited to compete. During this time Germany's sports program was almost non existent, the only countries they competed with were there World War One allies and this was only sparingly.

As a result of this statement no Jewish people or Mischlings were allowed to compete on German sports teams. This led to the dumping of some very good talent. Alex Natan, Germany's fastest sprinter defected to Great Britain. Dr. Daniel Prenn, Germany's best tennis player was kicked off of their Davis Cup team by the German Lawn Tennis Association when they announced that no "non Aryans" would be allowed to compete. The most celebrated example of Jewish discrimination was against Helene Mayer who was born to a Christian Mother and a Jewish father, making her a Mischling under the Nuremberg. Mrs. Mayer was the most famous female fencer in the world, when she was expelled from her fencing club and told she would not be allowed to compete in the upcoming Olympics.

American sportswriters were also singing the praises of Germany. The New York Times reported, "at the conclusion of the games the Reich has more reason than ever to sit back and admire the Athletic mirac

Some common words found in the essay are:
National Socialism, National Socialist, Dr Goebbels, World Union, Adolf Hitler, African Americans, Jesse Owens, Hitler Nazi, Germany Olympic, Nazi Journal, nazi party, berlin games, jewish athletes, adolf hitler, allowed compete, olympic games, hitler nazi, boycott games, hitler nazi party, won gold, huge success, games huge success, able fool world, athletic scene america, allowed compete spot,
Approximate Word count = 4489
Approximate Pages = 18 (250 words per page double spaced)