Monson Riley Mrs. Moore 14, February 2023 Period 5 Mock War And International Conflict Author George Orwell said in his essay titled “The Sporting Spirit'' that he believed that sporting events are simply “mimic warfare” and that they lead to “orgies of hatred”. Orwell cites the 1936 Olympics where the Nazis made their debut showing off their aryan race, and famously discriminated against people of other nationalities. When looking at some of history’s international sporting events, it becomes apparent that Orwell's claim that international sporting events plainly mimic warfare, and breed hatred is factual. An example of international sports being a breeding ground of hatred is the 1969 world cup qualifier between El Salvador and Honduras that resulted in what has been dubbed the Hundred Hour War. An example of how sports can be presented as mock war was the gladiatorial combat that was held in the Roman coliseum during Rome's imperial age. Another example of how sports can be used as a mock war would be the boxing match between African American boxer Joe Louis and German boxer Max Schmeling that took place during Hitlers rise to power in 1939. In the mid-twentieth century, the majority of the land in the country of El Salvador was owned by the rich elites who used it …show more content…
But for sports to truly be the antidote for war, the nations involved would have to feel the adverse effects of their actions, and to have their assets on the line. Disputes cannot be settled based off of a scoreboard. It's in human nature to fight for what you believe in, so to deprive individuals of their nature would be catastrophic, and result in conflict; as seen in The Hundred Hour War. Because we all have differing paradigms, it's apparent that disagreements will occur. Sometimes war is necessary, no soccer game could have ended the Nazi