Investigation of the Reasons for the Ottoman Empire's Limited Participation in the Modern Olympic Games

Abstract

The Olympic Games organised in the ancient Greek civilisation was a formation in which only Greeks and men could participate and individual competitions were held. Years later, the work carried out by archaeologists and researchers in Olympia attracted the attention of Baron Pierre De Coubertin. These studies sparked the idea of creating the modern Olympic Games, a modernised version of the ancient Greek games. Thoughts such as the modern Olympic Games, providing a peaceful and goodwill environment, and being open to the whole world affected the perspective of the Ottoman Empire on the Olympics, and in this sense, the Ottoman Empire was also involved in the process of participation in the modern Olympics, albeit limited. The aim of this study is to examine the Ottoman State's perspective on the modern Olympic Games, to analyse the process of participating in these Olympics and to determine the reasons for the limited participation considering the conditions of the period, which first started in Athens in 1896 and the date of the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. In the study conducted for this purpose, the conditions of the period in question were analysed and a literature review covering various articles and academic books was conducted. During the relevant period, the Ottoman Empire could not participate in the first Olympic Games due to financial difficulties and the oppressive regime; afterwards, this participation was made possible through individual efforts. The oppressive regime of tyranny imposed on Turks paved the way for the participation to be realised through non-Turkish athletes. In this sense, the reasons for the limited participation of the Ottoman Empire in the modern Olympics can be considered as financial impossibilities, the oppressive regime imposed, distance, the outbreak of the World War and the attribution of the responsibility to the Allied States in which the Ottoman Empire was located.