Polski futbol w cieniu Hitlera. Polityczne implikacje rywalizacji piłkarskich reprezentacji RP i III Rzeszy

This article is a historical and political analysis of the sporting events of the interwar period. It is a consideration of five football matches that the national teams of Poland and Germany played against each other during the Third German Reich, between 1933 and 1938. Apart from their obvious sporting value, they carried significant political implications. The latter stemmed from the volatile political relations between Warsaw and Berlin following the Nazis’ rise to power in 1933. Triggering enormous public interest in both countries, the matches became a valuable instrument for the political and sporting elites of Poland and the Third Reich in creating political objectives in their mutual relations. Such an approach was facilitated by a progressive subordination of sport to state institutions in both countries. The above aspects are the object of analysis of sporting events from the interwar period using the historical and decision-making method. The analyzed events are the five matches that the national teams of Poland and Germany played in the then (and now) most popular sport discipline i.e. football during the period of the existence of the Third German Reich in the years 1933-1938.