War Games
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November 18, 2021Olympic War Crimes – Murdered
November 26, 2021War Games
By Satish Sekar © Satish Sekar (November 9th 2021)
The 32nd Summer Olympic Game in Tokyo ended three months ago. World records tumbled especially on a track built for it. Some argue with justification that the track was performance enhancing. But Tokyo could have hosted more records previously, as 1964 was not slated to be the second summer Olympic Games hosted by Japan’s capital.
This year was the third time the Summer Games were awarded to Tokyo but Japan was one of the few nations to have a scheduled Summer Olympic Games cancelled and it wasn’t just due to the Second World War. Tokyo easily won the right to host in the bidding process in 1936. Future enemies in the conflict that engulfed the world just over three years later enthusiastically supported Japan’s bid.
But why? Japan had trampled the Olympic Spirit under foot. The invasion of Manchuria, region in northern China, in 1931 resulted in the puppet state of Manchukuo. The conquered territory was ruled by the last Qing Dynasty emperor Pu Yi until the Japanese defeat in World War II. Interestingly, the invasion and conquest of Manchuria did nothing to prevent Japan being awarded the Olympic Games immediately after the Nazi Olympiad. Imagine the effect that would have had on the Olympics? First the Nazis; then Tojo et al basking in the kudos of the Olympic Games.
Regret Comes Too Late
The Japanese invasion of China, especially the Rape of Nanjing in 1937, eroded that support. Japan withdrew its bid – it had other more sinister priorities requiring attention and resources. Helsinki replaced Tokyo, but the 12th Olympiad was cancelled and the 13th was also cancelled.
The only previous Summer Olympic Games to meet the same fate was Berlin in 1916, the 6th Olympiad of the Modern era. While some credit the IOC members for exerting pressure in 1937, why did those members ignore Olympic ideals over the 1931 invasion?
And the hypocrisy is further exposed by the choices for the Winter Games. Garmisch-Partenkirchen was chosen to host the 1940 Winter Games after Sapporo in Japan withdrew – the same arguments apply to Sapporo as Tokyo. This was after the notorious Berlin Games.
Weaponised
But twenty years before the ‘Nazi’ Olympic Games, Berlin was deprived of the right to host the Olympic Games due to the War to End All Wars. It soon became clear that the peace process was really a punishment process. The defeated nations, especially Germany were subjected to swingeing terms. They were demilitarised and had debilitating reparations imposed on them, a harsh punishment for France’s defeat in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, which brought down Napoléon III. French President Georges Clemenceau returned the favour to Germany with interest.
A lesser known punishment was that the victors insisted on the defeated nation not being allowed to participate in Antwerp’s Olympiad in 1920. Shamefully, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) acquiesced.
Four years later a worse betrayal occurred. Unable to meet the crippling reparations payments, Germany was punished further in 1923 by France and Belgium, which invaded the Ruhr Valley, the industrial heartland of Germany to seize their ‘dues.’
Germany, undoubtedly the victim of aggression on that occasion was punished further. The IOC excluded them from the 1924 Olympic Games as well, which were held in Paris for the second time.
Shamefully, aggression had been rewarded.
