In 1952 the world was facing the possibility of full-scale nuclear war. The United States and the Soviet Union were bitterly competing for world domination, at least ideologically, in Europe, Asia, and Africa. The Soviet Union participated on the field in Helsinki, but the team refused quarters with other nations in the Olympic Village. In fact, the Soviet Union and its satellite nations housed their athletes in their own quarters and enclosed the quarters with barbed wire. No outsider was welcome at the Otaniemi camp. Even news reporters, no matter their nationality, were turned away Encyclopedia (2010).
The amount of attention paid to Nationalist China's boycott of the 1952 Olympics inspired several nations in 1956 to use the Olympics as a forum to air their political grievances. The Netherlands, Spain, and Switzerland boycotted in protest of the Soviet Union's invasion of Hungary, which had declared its intention to become a neutral state. Communist China withdrew because Nationalist China had been invited; Egypt withdrew because it was at war with Israel; and Iraq withdrew to protest the military action by France, Britain, and Israel against Egypt in the struggle for control of the Suez Canal. The Norwegians asked the IOC to ban South Africa from the Olympics because of that country's racial policy of apartheid Encyclopedia (2010).
The amount of attention paid to Nationalist China's boycott of the 1952 Olympics inspired several nations in 1956 to use the Olympics as a forum to air their political grievances. The Netherlands, Spain, and Switzerland boycotted in protest of the Soviet Union's invasion of Hungary, which had declared its intention to become a neutral state. Communist China withdrew because Nationalist China had been invited; Egypt withdrew because it was at war with Israel; and Iraq withdrew to protest the military action by France, Britain, and Israel against Egypt in the struggle for control of the Suez Canal. The Norwegians asked the IOC to ban South Africa from the Olympics because of that country's racial policy of apartheid Encyclopedia (2010).
Politics began to intrude on the Games in a serious way at the 1972 Olympics in Munich, where Palestinian terrorists attacked Israeli athletes in the Olympic Village. Sixty nations boycotted the 1980 Moscow Olympics to protest the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, while the Soviets and some of their allies retaliated by declining to take part in the 1984 Games in Los Angeles. The end of the Cold War has eliminated the largest source of political conflict, and most Olympic controversies in recent years have centered on accusations Atlas (n.d.).
() (n.d.). Retrieved November 10, 2010, from http://www.worldatlas.com/aatlas/infopage/olympic.htm
Encyclopedia.Com (2010). In Cold War Olympics American Decades. Retrieved November 10, 2010, from http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3468302131.html
() (n.d.). Retrieved November 10, 2010, from http://www.worldatlas.com/aatlas/infopage/olympic.htm
Encyclopedia.Com (2010). In Cold War Olympics American Decades. Retrieved November 10, 2010, from http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3468302131.html
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