RSI - Red Sport International (defunct)
On 22.07.1921 in Moskva, 13 representatives from eight countries (URS, GER,
FRA, ITA, HUN, TCH, SWE, NED) founded the
International Association of Red Sports and Gymnastics Organizations, or
Red Sports International (RSI).
Headquarter of this communist counterpart to the social democratic Lucerne
Sports International (LSI) was Moskva, its chairman was Nikolay Podvoiskiy.
Its original task was agitation and propaganda in the existing
LSI-affiliated workers' sports organizations to bring them under communist
influence.
Outside the Soviet Union, there were no organizations until the affiliation
of the communist sports organization of TCH (founded in May 1921) in
October 1922, followed by FRA (1923) and NOR (1924). In October 1924, the
RSI had affiliate federations in URS, TCH, FRA, NOR, ITA, USA, BUL, EST and
URU. After the affiliation of the German Rotsport in 1931, new members from
JPN, ROU, ESP and HUN joined the RSI in 1932. The international office
moved to Berlin in 1930, to Copenhagen in March 1933, and to Prague in
1935.
In 1936, the RSI had still five member organizations in CAN, SWE, URS, ESP
and TCH. In April 1937, the Communist International (ComIntern)
incorporated the RSI as a sports department, which meant its practical end.
The ComIntern itself decided on its dissolution on 15.05.1943.
Spartakiads
The RSI held its 1st Winter Spartakiad in Oslo
in February 1928 and its 1st Spartakiad from
12.-22.08.1928 in Moskva. The Summer Spartakiad was originally planned for
Praha but could not be organized there. 4,035 athletes, including over 600
foreigners, competed at this Summer Spartakiad in almost all Olympic
disciplines.
The 2nd Spartakiad was supposed to hold in
Berlin from 04.-12.07.1931. The Spartakiad was finally banned on
01.07.1931. (The first ban had been lifted on 24.06.). They tried to
undermine this ban by organizing various smaller competitions (at festivals,
training competitions, etc.). Many German athletes also traveled
to Moscow to participate in a large sports parade of Soviet athletes, who
had been denied entry to Germany.
For March 1933, the 2nd Winter Spartakiad was
planned in the Soviet Union. The 3rd Spartakiad
was to take place from 01.-08.08.1933 in Moskva. Because of the global
political situation, the Spartakiads were postponed until 1934 and finally
canceled.
Following normalization of relations with the Socialist Workers' Sport
International (SASI), the associations affiliated with the RSI participated
in the SASI 3rd Workers' Olympiad in 1937.
Last modified: 20.01.2022