The Mighty Dynamos of 1945: Soviet Athletic Skill in Spectator Sports
Date
2025
Authors
Hannaford-Craveiro, Xander
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University Of Victoria
Abstract
The USSR, like many nations, wanted to harness the propaganda potential that spectator sports possessed. Through this, Soviet sporting merit increased as shown with the rise of their domestic soccer (football) clubs of which many were intertwined with branches of the Soviet state apparatus. The Soviets wanted to prove that their athletes and teams could go head-to-head and defeat those of capitalist nations, which would be a massive propaganda victory for the Soviet socialist system. This project looks at one instance where this successfully occurred, when the Soviet soccer (football) club Dynamo Moscow went to the home of the sport, Great Britain, on tour and in only four games gave the Britons who underestimated them a major shock.
Description
Keywords
dynamo, soviet, soccer, moscow, athletics, sport