Fascism & Football: When Germany were the inferior team

4th December 1935: German goalkeeper Hans Jacob clears the ball during the Germany v England football match at White Hart Lane, Tottenham, London. England went on to win 3-0.

On December 4, 1935, the German football team travelled to London to play the home team, which was regarded to be the best one in the world at the time. There were anti fascist protests, but that failed to stop the match. According to writer Ulrich Linder, the reason for the German team going to play England was to show the international community that the Germans were a civilized set of people who knew how to behave and live like the rest of the world, contrary to the belief at the time. True to their reputation, England went on to dominate the game and the score line. A brace from George Camsell and another goal from Cliff Bastin made sure England comfortably won the match 3-0.

But even in defeat Hitler got exactly what he wanted. The English press hailed the sportsmanship of the German national team and lauded its efforts. A daily at the time read ‘The Germans played English football and played it like gentlemen’. There was an offside decision against the visitors in the match, which could have been debatable. However, the fans that had come to cheer on Germany, also behaved respectably and garnered the admiration of the British press, with another paper reading ‘But not one German’s voice was raised in protest. I doubt if any League crowd would have risen to this level of mass chivalry’

The German footballers might have lost but Hitler had completely and utterly succeeded in his propaganda mission. Hitler’s press officer said ‘Germany’s political soldiers of the Führer had won’

Hitler’s intentions were not known to the world for a long time. While the international community was always dubious about the nature of his rule, the German dictator made sure that they remained in that state, never sure of his next move. Taking the cover of the 1936 Berlin Olympics, the Nazi government of the time effectively hid its anti-Semitic agenda and plans for territorial expansion. It was also effective in bedazzling the many foreign spectators and journalists with an image of an ideal country- a peaceful, tolerant and efficient Germany. It has been stated that ‘the 1936 Berlin Olympics were the most successful exploitation of a sporting event in history’. The whole world watched Germany execute one of the most impeccably planned events in sporting history.

Even though the home team won the most medals, the shine was belittled by Jesse Owens, the black American athlete, who won four gold medals. Four days hence, the football team was supposed to make up for this. However, Hitler could only watch the Die Mannschaft, suffer an embarrassing defeat at the hands of Norway, a weaker team by any standards. This was the first match Hitler saw and it ended in a 2-0 defeat by the underdogs. Obviously the Führer, who was promised that his side would win the match ‘easily’, left in a mighty huff. What made Germany’s horrible showing at the Olympics even worse was Hitler’s native country, another German speaking nation, emerge as one of the best sides of the time. Austria had narrowly lost the final to Italy and were truly scintillating on the field. But the ‘Wunderteam’ loathed German football. When the two met in 1931, Austria destroyed them with the scoreline of 6-0, 5-0. The Austrians and Germans played opposite styles of play. While the Germans were inflexible in their style, the Austrians were fluid and inventive.