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Nationalism at the Berlin and Beijing Games
In the Olympic Games of the modern era, host nations have always had reasons to celebrate their national pride, but none more so than Germany in 1936 and China in 2008.
By 1936, Germany had recovered from losing World War I (WWI), and had a prosperous economy. When Adolf Hitler and his Nazi party won the German general election in March of 1933, they inherited something they didn't really want-the 1936 Olympic Games. The Games had been awarded to Berlin at a meeting of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) two years earlier. The selection was seen as an opportunity to welcome Germany back into the international community after its defeat in WWI.
The Nazi party initially reacted by referring to the Olympic Games as merely "infamous festivals dominated by Jews." Hitler and his followers had little interest in anything Olympic at that time. But that all changed in October of 1933, when Hitler decided to inspect the Olympic stadium, which was being renovated for the upcoming Games. Several high-ranking German officials, including Dr. Theodor Lewald, the head of the German Olympic Organizing Committee, accompanied him.
The stadium had been built in 1913 to host the 1916 Olympics, which were canceled because of WWI. When Hitler arrived that day, the stadium was undergoing an expansion, increasing its capacity from 80,000 to 85,000 spectators. When Hitler noticed that the workers were excavating the floor of the stadium, he asked Lewald why the workers were digging down. When Lewald answered it was to provide more seating, Hitler made a surprising statement:
"This stadium must be demolished. A new one must be built in its place, capable of seating 100,000 people. It will be the task of the nation. If Germany is to stand host to the entire world, her preparations must be complete and magnificent."
Lewald was both surprised and pleased. Hitler had suddenly realized the propagandistic value of hosting the Games: a chance for the world to see Germany at its best, and a chance for the German people to take pride in their country's revival. The Germans decided that they would host the largest and best-organized Summer Olympic Games staged up to that time, no matter what the...