Sport and the Russian Revolution

 People are split into "Parties" on the question of a new gigantic canal, or the distribution of oases in the Sahara (this issue will also be available), weather and climate regulation, new theater regulations, chemical hypotheses, two competing music trends, and the best sporting system.

- Leon Trotsky, Revolution, and Literature

At the beginning of the 20th century, in Russia, the sport had not flourished in the same way as Britain's. The majority of the Russian population were farmers who spend hours doing retroactive agricultural work every day. Leisure time was a challenge, and even then, people were frequently exhausted. Of course, people still play games like laptops (similar to baseball) and gorodki (a bowling game). There was a melting pot of sports clubs in the larger cities, but they remained the preserve of the more rich members of society. Ice hockey is becoming more and more popular. The upper stages of community loved fencing and rowing; most people would never afford to use expensive equipment.

In 1917, the Russian Revolution revolved around the world and inspired millions of people with its vision of a society based on solidarity and human needs. In the process, an explosion of creativity was unleashed in art, music, poetry, and literature. It has affected every area of people's lives, including their games. However, the sport was far from a priority. The revolutionary Bolsheviks faced civil war, invading military forces, widespread famine, and typhus. Survival was the order of the day, not leisure. However, in the early 1920s, before Stalin crushed Stalin's revolutionary dreams, the debate about the best sports system Trotsky had predicted took place. The hygienists and the Proletkultists were the two groups to tackle the issue of "physical culture."

Hygienists

As its name implies, hygienists were a group of medical practitioners who were informed of their attitudes. In general, they criticized sport and expressed concern that its focus on competition put participants at risk of injury. They also disdained the West's matter to ride faster, jump higher or higher than ever before. It is unnecessary and irrelevant," said A.A. Zikmund, head of the Moscow Physical Culture Institute, "that everyone has set a new world or Russian record." The hygienists instead advocated uncompetitive physical gymnastics and swimming-like ways of staying healthy and relaxing.

Hygienists influenced Soviet policy on physical culture for some time. Their advice consisted of banning certain sports and not having football, boxing, and weight lifting at the First Trade Union Games in 1925. The hygienists, however, were far from unanimous in condemning sport. For example, V.V.Gorinevsky was an advocate for tennis, which he considered ideal physical exercise. Nikolai Semashko, doctor and People's Health Commissioner, went a long way, arguing that sport was "the open the door to physical culture," which develops the kind of willpower, strength, and skills to distinguish Soviet people."