Chapter 3:

It’s fascinating to see how the Fascist government used soccer to manipulate the people.  The article says, “The intro­duction of cup competitions was Fascism’s attempt to protect both big and small teams, while bringing the composite pieces of the puzzle closer towards an integrated national picture that would further develop the Italian game.” (Pg. 60)  It was used to galvanize the people and contribute positively to the Fascist Regime, which used the game to change the cultural identities of the people. The article continues “It was an argument often employed during the Fascist era, whereby the roots of football were attrib­uted to the ancient sport of calcio Fiorentino or calcio storico, a tradi­tional folk game of the Middle Ages, which was also restored to prominence by the regime.82 (Pg 66) This is an example of how they used soccer to build a new national identity, by creating the game as a past time with cultural values that they could build.  Then once they began having success with football and “as II Bargello was proud to proclaim in 1931: ‘even in sport, Fascism is teaching the old Europe and showing its greatest export.’ (pg. 72)  It’s really cool to see how the government built this and compare it to how Spain, thanks to Isabelle and Fernando, united their nation through Christianity and the newly reformed language of Castellano.

Chapter 7:

Chapter 7 continues on Martin’s exploration of the use of soccer as a political tool.  He says that for Mussolini, “The 1934 World Football Championship was his Berlin Olympics; an opportunity to show the world the achievements of Fascism while further uniting the nation behind the regime’s calcio creations.” (pg. 173) The game not only galvanized the people in the country, it was the symbol of the nation to show their dominance. As the symbol they were expected to represent Fascist Italy and “With international sport increasingly important, II Carlino reminded the athletes of their duty to assert themselves, as victories were ‘clear signs of racial superiority that are destined to reflect in many fields outside of sport’.” (pg. 175)  This can be seen with Pozzo’s ordering players to do the Italian salute twice in front of a unsupportive crowd:

“Pozzo ordered the players to perform it twice: ‘At the salute, as predicted, we were greeted by a solemn and deafening barrage of whistles and insults … We had just put down our hands when the violent demonstration started again. Straight away: “Team be ready. Salute.” And we raised our hands again, to confirm we had no fear . . . Having won the battle of intimidation, we played.’” (pg. 182)

This shows how strongly tied together the team and politics were.  It was interesting to read about how the players seemed to not mind having these political tensions over the game, as other people describe how all they really wanted to do was play the game.

Question:

Why did the government choose soccer, rather than a more traditional route of literature and historical myths?