Југословенски спорт у служби јачања одбрамбене моћи земље 1945–1950.
Sport in Yugoslavia in the Service of Building the Country’s Defence Capacity, 1945-1950

Summary/Abstract: As a complex phenomenon, sport was used in socialist Yugoslavia as a powerful instrument of and for the state itself. During the period 1945-1950, when the Revolution was fragile and the country was under immense pressure from the West, the most important task was to strengthen the country’s defense capacity. Sport was used for that purpose, alongside with pre-military training and, of course, for enhancing the military. The two activities, sport and pre-military training, were perceived as important by Josip Broz Tito and the People's Youth of Yugoslavia. Under the purview of the Committee of Physical Culture, new, socialist sport was being developed while its military component was regarded as the most significant. Consequently, sport itself was transformed into a military program. The model was not new; it was framed by the system of the physical culture of the USSR and its maxim, ”Prepared for Work and Defence” (GOT). Being the largest organization of youth, with tremendous propaganda potential, the task of spreading the new physical culture was delegated to the People's Youth of Yugoslavia. Because of their equalization of pre-military training and sport, their actions had notable consequences. Adding to this, sports were differentiated by their contribution to the country’s defense capacity. The most important and valuable sports were mountaineering, skiing, swimming, and shooting. Other sports had to adapt and highlight their role in the militarization of the masses. Considered most useful in terms of military practice, marksmanship was identified as the state’s priority. The change came in 1950 after major political and ideological shifts in Yugoslavia itself (the conflict with Infrombiro, rapprochement with the West, and the new state’s ideology), when the Committee of Physical Culture was disestablished and sport came under the Ministry of Education. Thus, the accelerated sovietization of sport, and the dominant usage of it as a means of building the country’s defense capacity, was abandoned. Sport, however, remained a significant factor in the militarization of society, but to a lesser extent than it had in 1945-1950.

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