Soviet Physical Culture Movement in Rural Areas in 1924-1928: Theoretical Principles and Implementation Practice

The authors examine the development of physical culture and sports in Soviet villages in the 1920s. These practices are important instruments of the cultural revolution, asthey were supposed to discipline and improve the health of peasants so that they could work as effectively as possible for the benefit of society. It was peasants themselves that made up most of the population, so the goal of “reforging” rural people was paramount; without it, the task of building socialism in the country would be impossible. To explore this topic, the author used regulatory, administrative, and statistical materials, stored in the State Archive of the Russian Federation, in the fund of the USSR Committee for Physical Culture and Sports (F. R 7576), and in the fund of the Central Committee of the All-Union Leninist Young Communist League (F. M 1) of the Russian State Archive of Socio-Political History, as well as various periodicals. It is shown that the rural population was highly distrustful of any innovations, including in physical culture. The analysis of sources reveals that the promotion of physical culture in rural areas began as part of the “Facing Village” policy of 1925-1926, with the primary goal being to “improve” physical and ideological health of rural people. The Komsomol shouldered the brunt of the practical work, employing a flexible approach that sought to motivate rather than coerce. The author reveals that the highest percentage of physical culture enthusiasts was in the central region part of Russia, whereas the lowest percentage was in the national republics and regions. The author concludes that, due to financial problems and lack of coordinated policy of all the agencies involved, progress in promoting physical culture in the rural areas by the end of the period was relatively insignificant; the number of physical culture clubs grew slowly, and they were often created spontaneously and lacked state oversight. In addition, there were few women involved, and the primary focus was on football rather than general physical training.