Sport as a Tool for Strengthening a Political Alliance: The Case of the Eastern Bloc during the Cold War

The aim of the article is to investigate sports exchanges within the Eastern Bloc from the perspective of their diplomatic significance. Such exchanges were intended to strengthen the alliance by generating friendship between the societies of its member states. This objective was not fulfilled, and positive sports diplomacy between the communist states failed. The article proves the hypothesis that the use of sport to strengthen the Eastern Bloc should not be associated exclusively with the interests of the Soviet Union, but with those of the communist governments of the allied countries in general. The investigation also sought the reasons for the failure of the whole initiative.The text is based on research financed by the National Science Centre, Poland, within project no. 2015/19/D/HS5/00513