Thesis Paragraph Harry Vardon

Harry Vardon Research Paper

Crimson red colored battlefields, throats that have been cut, patriotic chants of “make them bleed bleed blood and guts”, and one country that has risen above this is the nationalism we’ve all heard of. The armies of Bonaparte and Van Bismarck were familiar to the rush of nationalistic pride that came from victory in battle and for ages and ages before these leaders nationalism was the product of war and terroritorial struggle. However, in 1885 a new brand of nationalism was being developed under the leadership of Harry Vardon. This new mold of nationalism came from taking less than 80 strokes on green grass and white sand not thousands of lost lives lost in a far off land; this form of nationalist simply required the act of hitting a white ball under a blue sky. Despite its non-violent nature, golf, lead by Harry Vardon, became a battleground of sorts for countries to compete amongst each other through pure sport. Vardon’s golf tour through America serves as one of the first monumental example of the magnitude of nationalism that could be created through athletics. This paper will analyze to what extent was golf able to spawn nationalism, and unveil the true significance of Harry Vardon himself. Vardon is important because his life story shows the widespread nature of Marxist ideals and demonstrates how big of an impact the Industrial Revolution had on the “average European Man” in the late 19th century.