LETTER OF THE MONTH Fighting for attention
I really enjoyed the interview with Matt McDowell regarding sportswashing and the ways in which sport has been used to promote propaganda and shape public opinion (The Conversation, October). It reminded me of the joint WCW (World Championship Wrestling) and NJPW (New Japan Pro Wrestling) event held in Pyongyang, North Korea in 1995. It is still the largest attendance record for any wrestling event, and was used as a propaganda tool for North Korea and the Kim dynasty.
Many spectators were forcibly compelled to watch the show, while the American wrestler Ric Flair read a statement stating that North Korea was a beautiful, peaceful place. Stills from the show were also airdropped on Seoul in further propaganda attempts.
It’s a fascinating piece of modern history and shows how sport and entertainment – or, in this case, sports entertainment – can be used to influence the masses. Unfortunately for North Korea, however, their attempts ultimately failed: the event is rarely mentioned in the western world today, although many participants have spoken out about it over the last 28 years.
Sean Thorpe, Sheffield
A necessary sacrifice...
Holger Afflerbach asks rhetorically whether, since it was started by accident and involved so much suffering, the First World War really had to be fought to the finish (Think Piece, September). The short answer is yes, in order to eliminate future wars. Rhetoric and doublethink aside, Germany saw the option of these wars as essential to their national identity and interests.
Also, there are the particular risks posed by peace negotiations for coalitions of democratic states, in terms of maintaining unity and managing the hopes and expectations of their electorates. These risks make it difficult to negotiate peace until fighting has stopped in a way that mitigates or removes altogether the risk of it restarting.
This explains how both world wars ended, without any negotiation of peace terms with Germany. After 1918, the Germans felt stabbed in the back, humiliated and subjected to injustice. Many later voted for Adolf Hitler and cheered his conquests. After 1945, meanwhile, the Germans chose to make the best of it. They voted for Willy Brandt and Konrad
