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‘23 rd August’ Stadium in Bucharest (1953–1989)

2013; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 18; Issue: 5 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/13602365.2013.837947

1466-4410

Alexandru-Rareș Puni,

Sport and Mega-Event Impacts

AbstractIn February, 1953, Bucharest was chosen as the host for some major events: the International Youth Congress and the World Festival of Youth and Students. On this special occasion, the communist regime decided to build a sports complex of huge dimensions, the first of its kind in Romania, its main asset being an impressive stadium able to accommodate 80, 000 people. It was built by hundreds of workers as well as many young volunteers, whose joint efforts made possible its completion in July, 1953.Our study aims to analyse the building of this stadium in a special political environment, namely the establishment of the communist dictatorship in Romania, and also the highlights of its existence until 1989. We believe that its purpose was not only that of hosting various sporting events, but, transcending the world of sport, it also became a favourite location for public festivities, intended to illustrate the support the Romanian people gave to the communist regime. This type of communist manifestation, wherein thousands of people were forced to participate, was also characterised as a patriotic activity and consisted of hours of mechanistic parading whilst holding placards, singing patriotic songs agreeable to those in power and reciting poems that underlined the benefits of the communist regime. Notes1. D. Deletant, Romania sub regimul comunist, (Bucharest, Fundatia Academia Civica, 1997), p. 38; R. R. King, A History of the Romanian Communist Party (Stanford, Hoover Institution Press, 1980), pp. 40–43.2. The printed word in this context was confined to newspapers such as Scânteia and România Liberă, which praised the Communist Party in every issue and were thus allowed to function by the authorities. Freedom of the press was not compatible with the communist regime.3. Scânteia, XXI, no. 2434 (23rd August, 1952).4. The transformation of sport within state politics in communist countries has been extensively analysed by J. Riordan in Sport under Communism: the USSR, Czechoslovakia, the GDR, China, Cuba (London, McGill-Queen's University, 1981).5. The National Archives of Romania, Fond CC al PCR, Secția Propagandă și Agitație, file no. 99/1949, page 1.6. K. Kiritescu, Palestrica. O istorie universală a culturii fizice, (Bucharest, Editura Uniunii de cultură fizică și sport, 1964), pp. 448–469.7. K. Marx, Opere I, vol. XIII, Part I (Bucharest, Editura Politică, 1962), p. 199.8. L. Boia, Mitologia științifică a comunismului (Bucharest, Editura Humanitas, 2011), pp. 135–145.9. Monitorul Oficial, no. 58 (9th March, 1946).10. Monitorul Oficial, no. 40 (25th June, 1949).11. Hotărârea asupra problemei stimulării si dezvoltării continue a culturii fizice și sportului, issued by the Political Office of the Central Committee of the Romanian Workers' Party on 6th August,1949: in Enciclopedia Educației Fizice si Sportului din România (Bucharest, Editura Aramis, 2002), pp. 35–36.12. A. M. Zahariade, Visul comunist și Dacia 1300: Fragmente de peisaj sub communism, in Arhitectura în proiectul comunist. România 1944–1989 (Bucharest, Editura Simetria, 2011), pp. 31–33.13. Scânteia, XXII, no. 2592 (25th February, 1953).14. This plan to re-arrange Bucharest also included the building of: a new open theatre in Nicolae Balcescu Park; a large cinema near Bucureștii Noi-Dămăroaia Road; the embellishment of the I.V. Stalin Culture and Rest Park; the development of the Arlus Cultural-Sportive Park on Dr Staicovici Street: Știință și Tehnică pentru tineret, V, no. 5 (May, 1953), p. 6.15. Scânteia, XXII, no. 2616 (22nd March, 1953); N. Postolache, Din istoria mișcării sportive muncitorești și de mase (Bucharest, Editura Sport-Turism, 1975), p. 262.16. Sportul Popular, IX, no. 2245 (11th June, 1953).17. Scânteia, XXII, no. 2638 (17th April, 1953).18. Scânteia, XXII, no. 2674 (30th May, 1953); Sportul Popular, IX, no. 2245 (11th June, 1953).19. Scânteia, XXII, no. 2708 (9th July, 1953).20. Unique moments were filmed as an official exercise during the building of the vast sports complex in the Romanian capital: they were used by the journalist Stelian Tanase to produce a television documentary. The series ‘Bucharest Strictly Secret’ included an episode dedicated to the 1953 Youth World Festival in Bucharest, giving a glimpse of the huge efforts made to complete such a grandiose project in so short a period.21. Sportul Popular, IX, no. 2272 (4th August, 1953).22. Sportul Popular, IX, no. 2271 (3rd August, 1953).23. I. Chirilă, World Cup '66 (Bucharest, Editura Uniunii de cultură fizică și sport, 1966), p. 117.24. I. Chirilă, Mexico '70: Jurnal sentimental (Bucharest, Editura Stadion, 1970), p. 9.25. I. Chirilă, M. Ionescu, Un veac de fotbal românesc (Bucharest, Editura Fundației Pro, 1999), p. 263.26. Almanahul Scânteia (Bucharest, 1977), p. 364.27. These ideas can be found in the speech given by Nicolae Ceausescu at the first Congress of Socialist Culture and Education, 2nd–4th June, 1976: the Presidential Committee established to analyse the communist dictatorship in Romania, Raport final (Bucharest, 2006), p. 613. This festival was intended to marginalise intellectuals and to promote a so-called ‘popular culture’, which consisted entirely of dances, poems and songs praising the communist leader.28. L. Allison, The Politics of Sport (Manchester, The Manchester University Press, 1986), pp. 76–78.