German-Polish Relationships in the Field Of Sport – From the Long Century to the Present Day – an Overview

Abstract

Topicality. The development of sports and physical education have become one of the important instruments for the economic modernization and development of civil society in Poland and Germany. Sport discourse between Germans and Poles before World War I is a discourse of alienation and national conflict between the сountries. Despite the difficulties of post-war formation, countries were able to develop and intensify sports activities, which became key in establishing cultural and social relations, integrating them into the European space. The aim of the research is to determine the international nature and specificity of German-Polish sports relations through a historical and legal analysis of their origin and formation on the European continent. The following research methods were used in the paper: analysis of literary sources in sports and physical education, methods of comparative analysis, systematic approach, historical method. The results of the research. A retrospective analysis of sports, in particular the football experience of Germany and Poland in the post-war period and to the present, showed its importance in the development of international relations of both countries, as evidenced by a sufficient number of sports games, competitions, football matches, and as a result – reaching mutual understanding between peoples and successful bilateral cooperation. Conclusions. In the postwar period, the factors that led to an increase the role of sports and physical culture in society were preserved in Germany and Poland. At the same time, the tendency to intensify the intervention of state structures, political parties, public and regional organizations in spreading physical culture and using it for their own interests, including as a means of ideological influence, was clearly manifested. Physical education developed in close dependence on the political and economic conditions of these countries. At the same time, democratic transformations in Eastern Europe have led to the emergence of new trends in physical education and sport.