‘‘Miracle” and ‘‘Disaster” in Bern. Political and Propaganda Repercussions of the Football World Cup of 1954 in the FRG and Hungary Cover Image

„Cud” i „katastrofa” w Bernie. Polityczno-propagandowe reperkusje mistrzostw świata w piłce nożnej w 1954 roku w RFN i na Węgrzech
‘‘Miracle” and ‘‘Disaster” in Bern. Political and Propaganda Repercussions of the Football World Cup of 1954 in the FRG and Hungary

Author(s): Marek Andrzejewski
Subject(s): History
Published by: Instytut Zachodni im. Zygmunta Wojciechowskiego

Summary/Abstract: The article is an attempt to show the political and propaganda repercussions of an unexpected success of the FRG’s football team at the World Cup in Switzerland in 1954. For Hungarians defeat came as a shock and even led to riots in Budapest. It can be posited that a ‘‘mere’’ second place of the Hungarian team, in a sense triggered what might be termed as an energy of opposition. In the FRG, on the other hand, there was an explosion of joy. The victory in Bern was for the German society a cause for public merriment. Ten years after 1945 Germans could at last be proud of their country. The success in Bern and one year later the return of thousands of Germans from Soviet captivity marked for the west-German society an end of the hard post-war period.

  • Issue Year: 320/2007
  • Issue No: 02
  • Page Range: 268-279
  • Page Count: 12
  • Language: Polish