5th Winter Spartakiad of the Peoples of the USSR on the 1982 USSR postage stamp block

Spartakiad initially was the name of an international sports event that the Soviet Union attempted to oppose to the Olympics. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991 In Philately, a block is a group of Postage stamps still attached to each other The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991 The Olympic Games is an international Multi-sport event established for both summer and winter games (In Russian, there is a certain parallelism in the names: "Spartakiada" and "Olimpiada". ) The name, derived from the name of the slave rebel leader, Spartacus^[1], was supposed to symbolize proletarian internationalism because Spartacus' revolt united slaves from diverse ethnic backgrounds within the Roman Empire. As a social-economic system slavery is a legal institution under which a Person (called "a slave" is compelled to work for another Spartacus (c 109 BC-71 BC according to Roman historians was a Slave who became the leader (or possibly one of several leaders in the unsuccessful slave International Socialism redirects here For the journal of the same name see International Socialism (journal Proletarian internationalism is a The Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial As a Classical figure, Spartacus also stood directly in contrast to the aristocratic nature of the Ancient Olympic Games on which the modern "capitalist" Olympics are based. Classical antiquity (also the classical era or classical period) is a broad term for a long period of cultural History centered on the Mediterranean Aristocracy is a form of Government, where rule is established through an internal struggle over who has the most status and influence over society and internal relations The Ancient Olympic Games, originally referred to as simply the Olympic Games (Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες Olympiakoi Agones) were a series of Athletic The first Spartakiad was held in August, 1928 in Moscow. Year 1928 ( MCMXXVIII) was a Leap year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Moscow (Москва́ romanised: Moskvá, IPA: see also other names) is the Capital and the largest city of

Eventually the Soviet Union decided to join the Olympic movement, and international Spartakiads ceased. However the term persisted for internal sports events in the Soviet Union of different levels, from local up to the Spartakiad of the Peoples of the USSR (Спартакиада народов СССР^[2]). The latter event was held twice in four years: Winter Spartakiad and Summer Spartakiad, with international participation. The first Soviet Spartakiad was held in 1956. Year 1956 ( MCMLVI) was a Leap year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. These events were of huge importance for the Soviet sports. Everyone could participate in them - from ordinary people to top-level athletes. The number of participants, for example, in the 6th Summer Spartakiad of the Peoples of the USSR, was 90 million people (twice the number of athletes in the USSR in that time), including 8,300 Masters of Sports of the USSR. Unified Sports Classification System of the USSR (Единая Всесоюзная спортивная классификация was a document which provided general And in the 3rd Winter Spartakiad of the Peoples of the USSR took part 20 million people, including some 1,000 Masters of Sports of the USSR. ^[1] An importance of Winter and Summer Spartakiads of the Peoples of the USSR may also be seen from the fact, that each of them was commemorated on a series of postage stamps, released in millions of copies (an example of such a stamp is pictured). A postage stamp is an adhesive paper evidence of pre-paying a fee for postal services ^[3]

There was also a "Youth Spartakiad". Still another Soviet sports event with this name, Spartakiad of Trade Unions (Спартакиада профсоюзов), survived in a number of post Soviet republics, such as Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Uzbekistan. Russia (Россия Rossiya) or the Russian Federation ( Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) is a transcontinental Country extending Belarus ( Belarusian Беларусь / Biełaruś is a Landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered by Russia to the north and east Ukraine (Україна Ukrayina, /ukrɑˈjinɑ/ is a country in Eastern Europe. Uzbekistan, officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( Uzbek: O‘zbekiston Respublikasi or Ўзбекистон Республикаси is a doubly

The name Spartakiáda was also used for a mass gymnastics display [1], [2], which was held every five years at the Strahov Stadium in Prague, Czechoslovakia, when the country was under Communist rule. Mass games or mass gymnastics are a form of Performing arts or Gymnastics in which large numbers of performers take part in a highly regimented performance The Great Strahov Stadium ( Velký strahovský stadion in Czech) is a Stadium in the Strahov district of Prague, Czech Prague (ˈprɑːg Praha (ˈpraɦa see also other names) is the Capital and Largest city of the Czech Republic. Czechoslovakia may also refer to what is now the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Communism is a Socioeconomic structure that promotes the establishment of an egalitarian, classless, stateless Society based The first event of this name was held, however, already in 1921, and its initiator Jiří Chaloupecký is credited as the inventor of the name^[4]. Year 1921 ( MCMXXI) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display full 1921 calendar of the Gregorian calendar Similar events were held in Albania during Communist rule as well.

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd edition, volume 24 (part 1), p. The Great Soviet Encyclopedia ( Большая Советская Энциклопедия, or БСЭ; transliterated Bolshaya Sovetskaya Entsiklopediya 286, Moscow, Sovetskaya Entsiklopediya publisher, 1976
2. ^ Ukrainian: Спартакіада народів СРСР; Lithuanian: TSRS tautų spartakiada; Latvian: PSRS tautu spartakiāda
3. ^ Catalogue of Postage Stamps of the USSR 1918-1974, Soyuzpechat' Central Philatelic Agency of the Ministry of Communication of the USSR publisher, Moscow, 1976. Ukrainian (in Ukrainian украї́нська мо́ва ukrayins'ka mova,) is a language of the East Slavic subgroup of the Slavic languages. Lithuanian ( lietuvių kalba) is the official state language of Lithuania and is recognised as one of the official languages of the European Union. Latvian language (latviešu valoda is the official state language of Latvia. See also subsequent yearly catalogues.
4. ^ Rozhlas.cz - Jak vzniklo slovo „spartakiáda“

External links

• KÙPELE CENTRAL, Avantgardfilm by Sabine Maier (MACHFELD) dealing with the phenomenon of the spartakiad. MACHFELD is an Austrian Art duo Founded in 1999 by Media artists Michael Mastrototaro and Sabine Maier in Vienna