The 1916 Summer Olympics were due to be held in Berlin, Germany but were ultimately cancelled because of the ongoing world war. But what if the IOC had made the decision to carry on with the games despite the war, perhaps even as a statement or protest against the conflict?
It seems unlikely that Germany would have been able or interested in still hosting the games, so it's possible one of the candidate cities that lost out to Berlin in the 1912 selection could have served as an alternate host. These were Alexandria, Amsterdam, Brussels, Budapest, and Cleveland.
Brussels was under German occupation, and very near to active combat zones, so would have been out of the question. Likewise, Budapest, as with Berlin, would likely not have been able to host, since the government would likely not have wanted to divert resources to the games, and travel to Budapest for athletes from outside of the Central Powers would have likely been impossible. Amsterdam was in neutral territory, but the Netherlands was experiencing food shortages and a refugee crisis from Belgium, so also an unlikely host city.
Alexandria was a marginally better proposition; the British authorities in Egypt could have gone with staging a propaganda-games, contrasting the "liberally"-minded British Empire playing gracious host to the world against the image of the German occupiers in Belgium putting people to forced labor, or something of the sort. However, Alexandria was still in close proximity to theaters of military operation.
That leaves the most likely choice, Cleveland. Woodrow Wilson was still in his first term, and the US was neutral. It would have been difficult for athletes from Europe to attend the games, as civilian passage across the Atlantic was unsafe, but a sort of reduced Olympics could have been held that was attended by mostly North American, Latin American, Asian, and Oceanian athletes.
Finally, it's possible that a different host city could have been chosen as a stopgap. St. Louis would have been a prime choice, located in a safe region and already having infrastructure from hosting the 1904 games. San Francisco had hosted the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in 1915, and so also may have had a good amount of infrastructure with which to accommodate attendees for an Olympics.
Regardless of venue, how likely is it that the Olympics could have gone ahead in 1916? How many athletes could have attended, and from which countries/regions? And what would have been the political and cultural interaction between the Olympics and the war?
It seems unlikely that Germany would have been able or interested in still hosting the games, so it's possible one of the candidate cities that lost out to Berlin in the 1912 selection could have served as an alternate host. These were Alexandria, Amsterdam, Brussels, Budapest, and Cleveland.
Brussels was under German occupation, and very near to active combat zones, so would have been out of the question. Likewise, Budapest, as with Berlin, would likely not have been able to host, since the government would likely not have wanted to divert resources to the games, and travel to Budapest for athletes from outside of the Central Powers would have likely been impossible. Amsterdam was in neutral territory, but the Netherlands was experiencing food shortages and a refugee crisis from Belgium, so also an unlikely host city.
Alexandria was a marginally better proposition; the British authorities in Egypt could have gone with staging a propaganda-games, contrasting the "liberally"-minded British Empire playing gracious host to the world against the image of the German occupiers in Belgium putting people to forced labor, or something of the sort. However, Alexandria was still in close proximity to theaters of military operation.
That leaves the most likely choice, Cleveland. Woodrow Wilson was still in his first term, and the US was neutral. It would have been difficult for athletes from Europe to attend the games, as civilian passage across the Atlantic was unsafe, but a sort of reduced Olympics could have been held that was attended by mostly North American, Latin American, Asian, and Oceanian athletes.
Finally, it's possible that a different host city could have been chosen as a stopgap. St. Louis would have been a prime choice, located in a safe region and already having infrastructure from hosting the 1904 games. San Francisco had hosted the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in 1915, and so also may have had a good amount of infrastructure with which to accommodate attendees for an Olympics.
Regardless of venue, how likely is it that the Olympics could have gone ahead in 1916? How many athletes could have attended, and from which countries/regions? And what would have been the political and cultural interaction between the Olympics and the war?