Transcript 1980 Moscow Olympics: A World divided

1980 MOSCOW OLYMPICS:
A WORLD DIVIDED
By: Elise Stevens Wilson
Background to the Games

The Cold War
 The
United States and the Soviet Union had been
antagonistic since 1948.
 The USSR was communist country while the US was a
democracy with a capitalist economy.
 The two countries were sworn enemies who constantly
threatened each other, yet no bombs were dropped or
armies confronted on a battlefield.
 That’s
why it’s called a cold war.
Both sides constructed many weapons, but
didn’t use them – the Arms Race
http://www.darkgovernment.com/images/cold-war.jpg
The Cold War affected all
aspects of people’s lives.
The Invasion of Afghanistan

In 1979 the USSR invaded Afghanistan to support a
Marxist (communist) government, not the US-backed
government.
The U.S. responds


The US condemned the Soviet Union for invading
Afghanistan.
President Carter established an embargo and
threatened to boycott the upcoming 1980 Olympics
that were being held in Moscow.
Moscow Olympics


The 1980 Summer Games were the first Olympics
held by a communist country.
Many western countries like the US and Great
Britain believed that the USSR violated people
rights and therefore should not be granted the
privilege of hosting the Olympics.
Sporting events as a battleground
Sporting events, and the Olympics in particular,
became a fierce competition between the USSR and
the United States over who could win more medals,
and therefore, could garner more glory as a nation.
Politics in Previous Olympics
The Moscow
Olympics
were not the
first to be
politicized.
(Left: 1936,
Right: 1968)
Sources

Dr. Strangelove Poster http://www.historyteacher.net/HistoryThroughFilm/Images/DrStrangeloveMoviePoster.jpg

Red Square http://www.lindsayfincher.com/russia/RedSquareParade.gif

Cuban Missile Crisis http://www.state.gov/cms_images/SovietMissilesIII.jpg

Cold War map http://www.csa.com/discoveryguides/russia/images/coldwar.gif

Fallout Shelter http://www.boingboing.net/_109_301226946_562a8d849f.jpg

Afghanistan map http://www.rescueattempt.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/afghan-1.jpg

Carter image http://trcs.wikispaces.com/file/view/JIMMY.jpg/41121037/JIMMY.jpg

Moscow Olympics poster http://estate.vonrunte.com/wp-content/uploads/1980/03/moscow.jpg

1936 Olympics poster http://www.nelson.usf.edu/spccoll/collect/images/36oly.jpg
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

Mexico Olympic medal stand http://artfiles.art.com/5/p/LRG/14/1432/C8ER000Z/black-power-mexicocity-olympics-1968.jpg
Olympic medal 1980
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1980_Summer_Olympics_bronze_medal.JPG
1980 Olympic medal ceremony Lake Placid
http://rockefeller.tv/db3/00260/rockefeller.tv/_uimages/Olympics-1980-GoldMedalCeremonyflagsH2O.JPG