Early Soviet battles for goal-setting of physical culture

Abstract

The article considers the early Soviet battles of various stakeholders for the purpose of physical culture. Institutionalization of physical culture of this period took place in the conditions of acute theoretical discourse, personal conflicts over goal setting. It has been established that during the 1920s the health-improving (hygienic) goal setting of physical culture under the leadership of M.O. Semashko fought on two fronts: the first was with M.I. Podvoisky «Proletcult»; the second – with B.O. Kal'pus "militarization". The end of the 1920s put an end to the controversy over the value goal setting of Soviet physical culture, which is associated with the reduction of the influence of M.O. Semashko. From the 1930s onwards, the goal of physical culture in the USSR, like all other institutions, would depend on the political situation. Adequately articulated goals that meet social demands and expectations are able to form a pool of stakeholders and trigger institutionalization, which identified during the work on the article.