harlem globetrotters visit schools

World Famous Harlem Globetrotters visit Mesa school to surprise a special boy

GILBERT, AZ — The Harlem Globetrotters are known for entertaining crowds around the world, but two players from the squad made a surprise visit to a Valley elementary school, all for a special student.

There were claps and smiles all around, Thursday, at Greenfield Elementary. The kindergartners could barely contain themselves when the World Famous Harlem Globetrotters showed up.

Globetrotter Scooter and Flip showed off their basketball tricks to more than 100 children on the playground courts.

The dazzling duo showed life skills as well, like working together as a team, proper fitness, nutrition, and mental health.

"We're bringing some of our charm, some of our basketball wizardry, just trying to give the kids something to smile about," said Scooter Christensen, now in his 18th year with the Globetrotters.

But the true star of the show and reason for the surprise was kindergartner, Knox Bowyer. Knox has cystic fibrosis, a serious lung condition, but it didn't stop him from getting out and having a blast with his all-time favorite team.

"The Harlem Globetrotters came to our school!" Knox said with excitement, after doing basketball tricks with Flip and Scooter. "They're my favorite team," he said.

Knox's mom, Kylie was on hand to bring awareness to his condition, while watching her son have the time of his life with the players.

"This was a great opportunity for everyone to come out and see the joy that he brings to the world," Kylie Bowyer said.

"He loves basketball and he loves the Harlem Globetrotters, he's a huge fan," she said.

Knox's teachers say he's the most beloved kid in class.

"He started my class very shy, very reserved, and now he is just blossomed so big!" said Greenfield Elementary teacher, Heather Costa.

"He loves everybody. He's a friend to everybody. He is the perfect example of a perfect child," Costa said.

Globetrotters, Scooter and Flip have entertained in more than 80 countries around the world but say they get the most satisfaction interacting one-on-one with kids like Knox and his classmates.

"This is right up our alley, man we love doing this!" Christensen said.

Bowyer says Knox fell in love with the Globetrotters after getting a front-row seat to see them perform live and in-person once. And he'll get the chance to cheer them on again after the players hooked him up with tickets to their upcoming game.

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Assembly Program

Amazing eye-popping entertainment that goes beyond basketball.

Your students jump with joy, laugh and ooh and aah with our INTERACTIVE show. The Wizards are fantastic role models who entertain and educate. They are great athletes who are approachable, compassionate, enthusiastic and bond in an incredible way with the kids.

The Wizards deliver a character message in every show from our acronym WizFit:

What will you do?

The Harlem Wizards Assembly is approximately 45 minutes. There will be fun-filled comedic skits, ball-handling tricks and Wizardry. On top of that this is a full participation assembly that includes active movement and engagement available to all the kids. From tricks, fun fitness, and dancing.

Where is the show?

Typically, we perform the show in your school’s gym (half-court with kids on the floor, or your black top). We can work out something in almost all environments! We even have an amazing virtual show if you prefer. Please consult your sales rep.

How much does it cost?

Half-court show.

Up to 500 elementary school students

• One Show, One Wizard: $1,250
• One Show, Two Wizards: $2,500
• Two Back-to-Back Shows, One Wizard: $1,900
• Two Back-to-Back Shows, Two Wizards: $2,900

Bump up the excitement!

• For bigger shows we can add an MC/DJ and more.
• Add a Wizard P.E. live workshop.

What are the travel fees?

• Local :  (NY, NJ, CT, eastern PA) 1st 50 roundtrip free, then 75¢ a mile (plus tolls) from the Harlem Wizards office in Fairfield, NJ).
• Nationwide : If within 50 miles of previous and following day’s shows, no travel fee. If more than 50 miles: Driving is 75¢ per mile; Flying is the cost of the flight plus rental car(s).

Schedule your assembly program now!

Phillip Ryndycz

Lead Teacher

Whitehall Elementary School

Norristown, PA

Kathy O’Conner

Vice President

Springhurst Elementary School PTA

Dobbs Ferry, NY

Lainie Dalby

Buckingham ES PTO

Doylestown, PA

Katherine Good

Executive Director

Frazee Elementary PTO

Connersville, IN

Donna Torrisi

Frank G. Lindsey Elementary School

Montrose, NY 

Mark Thompson

Mulchay Middle School

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Copyright © 2024 • Harlem Wizards

Harlem Globetrotters hope to inspire Tampa kids before World Tour

"I just want kids to believe in themselves, right? I want kids to understand how important it is to have confidence in themselves. And by having confidence in yourself, you can accomplish any dream that you put your mind to," said Harlem Globetrotter Darnell "Speedy" Artis.

It's an important message for Artis and the team of Globetrotters.

ABC Action News caught up with them as they visited ICON Preparatory School in Tampa.

The talented men and women of the Harlem Globetrotters not only shine on the court, they visit schools and clubs before their tours; showing kids their skills and heart.

"Our team is one of the most inclusive teams, and all sports history, one of the winningest teams, of all sports history. So we're going to schools, Boys and Girls Clubs, any environment where I'm gonna get a chance to talk to a kid and inspire a kid, I want them to feel me. I want them to not just look at me and think that I'm just someone just pitching something. But that I really have been through things, you know, I really am a human that has that opportunity to accomplish extraordinary things. So just like them, they can accomplish extraordinary things," said Artis.

Because at the end of the day, it's more than just basketball.

Artis said, "I want them to leave inspired, right? Not inspired to just play basketball, not inspired to chase a sports dream. But I want them to aspire to just be a better each and every day, you know, if you take your time each and every day, if you go after the thing that you really want, if you move with confidence, right, that success will come to you. It won't, it won't be something that you feel like you're chasing, or when you feel like you're chasing something that might always be just out of hand's reach. But if you just go after the thing that you truly believe in, right, which is spirit, with your energy with your effort with confidence, then there's going to be nothing you can't accomplish."

The Globetrotters will kick off their Florida part of the Spread Game Tour April 20. They will honor longtime Globetrotter Fred "Curly" Neal who wore #22 for 22 seasons. Click here to find out more about their schedule.

"Well, this is what when I was eight years old, you know I wanted to be a basketball player. But I told my mom when I was a kid that I wanted to change the world. And I feel like this is my opportunity. This is my chance this is my purpose. So it's not something that I'm just trying to do is just actually who I am. It's not just a job is really what's inside," Artis.

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How the Harlem Globetrotters Rose From Obscurity to Become Global Stars

By: Rashad Grove

Updated: January 5, 2024 | Original: February 25, 2020

For nearly a century, the Harlem Globetrotters have brought flair and antics to the game of basketball. The team has played to more than 148 million people, in over 26,000 exhibition games in 124 countries and territories.

The Harlem Globetrotters began in 1926 as the Savoy Big Five, an African American basketball team who mostly hailed from Wendell Phillips High School in Chicago’s South Side.

They first played under the banner of the South Side's Giles Post of the American Legion and then became known as the Savoy Big Five after Chicago’s Bronzeville's Savoy Ballroom hired the team to play as pre-dance entertainment. For Midwest audiences, the game of basketball was still novel and, from early on, this team brought an entertaining style of play to the sport.

Seizing on a golden opportunity, sports promoter Abe Saperstein purchased the team and became the manager and coach. Saperstein, a short-statured Jewish man from Chicago’s North Side, even pitched in as a player from time to time when a team member was ill or injured.

They played their first road game in Hinckley, Illinois on January 7, 1927. Eager to advertise the team’s unique all-Black roster, Saperstein changed their name in 1930 to the Harlem Globetrotters to link the squad with the neighborhood known as the mecca of Black culture. Despite the name, the Harlem Globetrotters didn’t actually play a game in Harlem until 1968.

Before they became known for their on-court antics, the Globetrotters were highly competitive in professional basketball and introduced a flashy, schoolyard style of play. They popularized the slam dunk, the fast break, emphasized the forward and point guard positions, and the figure-eight weave.

In 1940, the team captured the World Professional Basketball Tournament title. Even as they introduced tricks and comedy into their play, the Globetrotters remained competitive. In 1948, the team defeated the Minneapolis Lakers, champions of the all-white National Basketball League, the precursor to the National Basketball Association (NBA).

Not only were the Globetrotters innovative in their basketball style, they were pioneers as a barrier-breaking, African American team when the professional ranks were racially segregated. Jim Horne , who played for Globetrotters for five years during the 1950s, recalls the racial oppression that the team endured.

“I faced segregation in the Army. When we traveled, signs said, ‘Coloreds Eat in the Back,’” Horne says. “But when I played with the Globetrotters it was entirely different because we were entertaining people and still treated less than human. In the South, we couldn’t eat in most places and we had to stay in the worst hotels. Coming from Buffalo, New York, it was a rude awakening. It was rough during those days.”

Throughout their storied history, the team has counted among its ranks legendary players such as Reece “Goose” Tatum, Marques Haynes, Meadowlark Lemon, Fred “Curley” Neal, “Wee" Willie Gardner, Nat "Sweetwater" Clifton, Wilt "The Stilt" Chamberlain, Connie "The Hawk" Hawkins, and Lynette Woodard, the first woman to play on the team. In 1982, the team received the ultimate recognition for their role as entertainers: a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

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The Harlem Globetrotters visit College Station on Thursday: 2023 World Tour

COLLEGE STATION, Texas — The Harlem Globetrotters — known for traveling around the world exhibiting athleticism, theater and comedy through basketball — will visit College Station on Thursday.

Julian “Zeus” McClurkin, a Globetrotter playing in his 13 th season, shared the history of the organization and their impact on communities all over the world.

McClurkin said Harlem was the epicenter of African American arts, culture and entertainment.

“In fact, a lot of people think that we’re called the Harlem Globetrotters because we started in New York," he said. "We actually started in Chicago, but it was in the last 20s and the early 30s that this thing was going on called the Harlem Renaissance."

McClurkin said this was during a time when African Americans were not allowed to play in white-only basketball leagues.

The Harlem Globetrotters would then go around to not only play but defeat every team that challenged them.

In 1948, the Globetrotters beat the Minneapolis Lakers, creating history by breaking the color barrier.

“That led to the first African-American to be signed to an NBA contract in 1950,” said McClurkin. “He name was Nat 'Sweetwater' Clifton, and he was a former Harlem Globetrotter.”

McClurkin said he was drawn to the Globetrotters from their representation on and off the court.

“Everywhere that they go, every community that they go to, they don’t just play basketball, but they also go into the schools," he said. "We do anti-bullying rallies. We go to children’s hospitals. We got a program called Smile Patrol, where we just go into the rooms and just try to put a smile on these kid’s faces.”

Joey “Hot Rod” De La Rosa was inspired to join the Globetrotters ever since he was a young boy.

“When I was nine years old, the Globetrotters inspired me to play,” De La Rosa said. “From me being a little boy at nine years old, it sparked something in me to play competitive basketball. Then a few years later, go Division I, play at a Division I school, play professionally for three years, and then after that, I ended up being a Globetrotter.”

De La Rosa said he is proud to be part of an organization that continuously makes history.

The Globetrotters also broke the gender barrier in basketball with Lynette Woodard.

Now, there are four women on the team.

“She was the first woman athlete to play on a team of all males,” said De La Rosa. “That opened the door for a lot of females, especially the females that we have on our team now for the world-famous Harlem Globetrotters.”

If you would like to see the Harlem Globetrotters in action, you can catch them at 7 p.m. Thursday at Reed Arena, as they play the Washington Generals.

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Harlem Globetrotters Visit City View!!!

Thank you to the Harlem Globetrotters for visiting our school! Bull, Hot Rod, and Hops showed their amazing skills and visited students in the classroom! They also honored our amazing partner in education, HD Supply with the Great Assist Award! Jersey Mike's came out and fed our students and staff! We also had a visit from radio station V103's Big Tigger and Jazzy McBee.

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Harlem Globetrotters Visit Irving School

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Liftoff from Florida’s Space Coast! Delta IV Heavy rocket makes final launch

Harlem globetrotters mesh learning with fun at youth program in orange county, students learn about coding, robotics and more.

Emily McLeod , Anchor/Reporter

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – Kids participating in the Frontline Innovation Studios program were in for a special treat on Saturday.

They were able to meet the Harlem Globetrotters, and while there is plenty of learning happening, Frontline Innovation studios also makes sure there’s time for fun too.

After an application and interview process, students who are selected to be in a Frontline Innovation Studios cohort will have the opportunity to learn about coding, gaming, robotics, digital media and digital storytelling.

Frontline Innovation Studios Executive Manager Gemima Canga said teaching kids about new tech is motivating for the organization.

“To hear what they have gotten from the experience (...) they’re like, ‘If not for this place Frontline, I would have never done blah, blah, blah,’ and that’s motivating for us,” Canga said.

[EXCLUSIVE: Become a News 6 Insider (it’s FREE) | PINIT! Share your photos ]

14-year-old Jirziah Clark is in a cohort this year and one day wants to work with planes. He said one of his favorite parts about being in the program is the feeling he gets when he finishes a project.

Clark recently completed a project that involved activating LEDs on a circuit board through a code they wrote.

“We just wrote this one code and when it worked, it amazed me because I liked the pattern and the feeling of it being finished — it was exhausting,” Clark said.

Desiree Moore was also in the program but is back this year as a student mentor. She plans to attend UCF in the fall and one day pursue a career in the medical field.

“This was like my starting point when I started walking toward my goal,” Moore said. “Before it was more like a dream or this is what I want to do, but here, I’m getting to do it.”

To learn more about Frontline Innovation Studios, click here .

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About the Author

Emily mcleod.

Emily joined WKMG-TV in November 2022, returning home to Central Florida.

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Dogwood Festival, Brick Fest Live, and More Things to Do this Weekend in Atlanta with Kids

Looking for the best things to do in Atlanta this weekend? Here are some family-friendly events and activities to add to your list for this weekend! 

Nothing signifies spring in Atlanta like the annual Dogwood Festival , happening this weekend in Piedmont Park. The popular, free event features music, art, food, and our favorite, the kids village. This weekend the Georgia Renaissance Festival kicks off its run in Fairburn, with games, rides, jousting and delicious food. Visitors can partake in all of this every Saturday and Sunday through June 2nd. LEGO fans can still get tickets to Brick Fest Live , a huge brick-building experience at Cobb Galleria this weekend. 

More Things To Do in Atlanta This Week With Kids:

• Fun, Free Events in Atlanta:  April 2024
• Spring  Activities Guide for Atlanta Kids
• Guide to Free Activities in Atlanta
• Atlanta Family Calendar

Get out and about with your kids this spring by subscribing to our newsletter! 

Best Things To Do This Weekend in Atlanta With Kids

Atlanta dogwood festival.

April 12-14

The Atlanta Dogwood Festival is back for its 88th year! Head to Piedmont Park on April 12-14 for music, art, food, events, nature, and so much more. Highlights include the Kids Village and the Mimosa 5K run! read more

Georgia Renaissance Festival

Opening weekend! Sat/Sun through June 2

Huzzah, the Georgia Renaissance Festival is here! Time for turkey "legges," jousting, games, rides, and the artisan market. read more

Orchid Daze at The Atlanta Botanical Garden

Final weekend! Through Sunday, April 14

The Atlanta Botanical Garden welcomes guests for Orchid Daze, an annual indoor plant exhibition in the Fuqua Conservatory and Orchid Center, which is scheduled to showcase a variety of orchids including festoons, aerialists, and chandeliers. read more

Twilight Trek at Zoo Atlanta

Friday, April 12

Curious kids and adults can see what the animals do at night. Starting at dusk, zoo educators will take visitors on a tour and spot out animals that don't normally emerge during the day. Activities vary from season to season.  read more

Play Unstoppable Festival at LEGO Discovery Center

April 12 - May 12

Visitors to LEGO Discovery Center get to join in the all-new Play Unstoppable Festival. Guests experience the brand-new exclusive LEGO Friends 4D movie and enjoy a festival of imagination, creativity, music and fun.  read more

Track Speeder Days at Southeastern Railway Museum

Train enthusiasts get to see and ride on the track speeder. A speeder (section car, putt-putt, railway motor car, track-maintenance car, quad, inspection car) is a little self-powered railcar used by inspectors and work crews.  read more

Spring Fling at Mall of Georgia

Final weekend! Through Saturday, April 13

Big Rock Amusements brings iconic rides, games, and attractions to Mall of Georgia. Guests enjoy a variety of rides catering to all ages from thrilling to gentle kiddy rides.  read more

KIDSFITSTRONG Fitness Challenge at Piedmont Park

Saturday, April 13

The KIDSFITSTRONG Fitness Challenge is a roving mobile fitness event that makes its way to select U.S. cities in an effort to engage kids in healthy activities. read more

Brick Fest Live

April 13 & 14

Brick Fest Live is a LEGO Fan Experience for enthusiasts of all ages. read more

Meet the Neighbors in Milton

Organized by the City of Milton and Milton Equestrian Committee, “Meet the Neighbors” takes place at the City’s 12-acre pasture-like greenspace at Freemanville and Birmingham roads. read more

Run Like Hell 5K/Run Like Heck 1K

The largest cemetery run in the country, Run Like Hell is a fundraiser, with all proceeds going to the restoration and preservation of historic Oakland Cemetery. The 2024 race returns to Oakland in the Spring for the second year in a row with a "Run Like Heck 1K" option for kids 16 and under.  read more

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Celebrate spring with Oakland Cemetery at their annual Spring to Life family festival at Magnolia Square. The event is followed by the popular Run Like Hell 5K.  read more

Disney Princess - The Concert

Audiences hear and see familiar, beloved songs come alive on stage with a host of Broadway and television stars in Disney Princess - The Concert.  read more

Monster Jam at Atlanta Motor Speedway

The trucks and the noise are all back at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Families can enjoy the action-packed event and see fan favorites like Grave Digger and El Toro Loco.  read more

Reptile enthusiasts gather at the Gwinnett County Fairgrounds for all-things reptile. Visitors come to buy, sell and see reptiles. Tickets must be purchased online in advance.  read more

Sunday Funday at MODA

Sunday, April 14

On the plaza every second Sunday of the month MODA throws a free outdoor party. April's theme is futuristic fun. read more

UPS Second Sunday at the High

On the second Sunday of each month, families head to the High Museum of Art for FREE admission for all visitors and special family-friendly programming. Kids art-making activities, performances, and the High’s permanent collection and special exhibitions.   read more

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Caitlin Clark scored more than everyone, but context is needed

Records come, records go. clark is deserving of plaudits, but an explanation of the scoring record requires a deeper dive..

Lynette Woodard holds the Wade Trophy, given to the top women’s college basketball player in 1981 and (right) AP Player of the Year Caitlin Clark of the Iowa Hawkeyes poses with the award in 2024.

Sun-Times file (Woodward), Getty Images (Clark).

Caitlin Clark finished her four-year career at Iowa with 3,951 points, the most scored by anybody in NCAA Division I basketball history, male or female.

She passed previous NCAA women’s record-holder Kelsey Plum when she reached 3,528 points in mid-February. She passed Pete Maravich and his 3,667 points with a free throw March 3 against Ohio State.

Just before passing ‘‘Pistol Pete,’’ she passed Lynette Woodard, the four-time All-American who scored 3,649 points during her career at Kansas (1977-81). Woodard, who won a gold medal with the U.S. Olympic team and was the first woman to play for the Harlem Globetrotters, said something intriguing afterward.

Louisiana State University ‘s Pete Maravich flies through the air during his record breaking performance to become college basketball’s leading scorer of all time, Feb. 1, 1970 in Baton Rouge.

‘‘My record was hidden from everyone for 43 years,’’ she stated. ‘‘I’ll just go ahead and get the elephant out of the room. I don’t think my record has been broken because you can’t duplicate what you’re not duplicating. So unless you come with a men’s basketball and a two-point shot ...’’

Woodard didn’t play with the smaller women’s ball now in use, and she didn’t play when there was a three-point shot. So we understand. But she clearly rethought her statement, knowing it was bad karma to rain on the Clark parade, and took it all back shortly after.

‘‘To clarify my remarks ... no one respects Caitlin Clark’s accomplishments more than I do,’’ she said in a statement. ‘‘My message was: A lot has changed, on and off the court, which makes it difficult to compare statistical accomplishments from different eras. Each is a snapshot in time.’’

On that, she is 100% correct.

Indeed, career records broken in sports almost never occur on what we like to believe is a level playing field. Home runs hit at mile-high Coors Field? Not quite the same as those hit at old Candlestick Park, where the fog and mist blew in like cotton baffling. How about NFL records, with 12-game seasons against 17-game seasons?

But Woodard inadvertently brought up another element of Clark’s record: It was set with the NCAA as the ruling body, while Woodard played in the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW), which governed the sport from 1972 to 1981. Back then, the NCAA wasn’t interested in women’s basketball. Not enough money in it, you see.

Trailblazers such as Donna Lopiano, the last AIAW president, had worked hard to promote women’s sports, only to get big-footed when dollar signs showed up in the NCAA’s eyeballs. By 1982, the AIAW was dissolved.

As far as the record books go now, the AIAW might as well never have existed. The NCAA doesn’t recognize any of those marks, so Woodard, through no fault of her own, has been ignored by stats keepers for more than four decades.

Then there’s Pearl Moore. Ever heard of her? She scored 4,061 points for Francis Marion University in 1975-79 and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2021. The school started in the basement of the Florence County (South Carolina) Library in 1957, but it soon had a women’s basketball team. And on March 10, 1979, in her final game, the 5-7 Moore scored 42 points against Tennessee-Chattanooga to break the previous all-time scoring record — male or female — of 4,045 set by Travis Grant of NAIA member Kentucky State in 1968-72.

Anybody remember Travis Grant? He went on to play in the NBA and ABA, even for a spell with Wilt Chamberlain on the Lakers.

Yet our idea of records is only as solid as our belief in them. Think of all the old sharpshooters and what they could have done — great gunners such as Purdue’s Rick Mount and USC’s Cheryl Miller — if they had played when three-point shots were part of the game. How many could long-distance ace Maravich himself have scored, for that matter?

Maravich averaged 44.2 points, anyway. Incredible. But consider that there were no Black players on his LSU team and that the SEC was almost lily-white during his reign. What was the competition like? Then again, ‘‘Pistol Pete’’ had only three years to do his scoring because freshmen weren’t eligible during his time; Clark had four.

Or ponder this: Clark could have stayed for a fifth season at Iowa because of the COVID-19 exemption. What if she added 1,000 or so points to get her total to more than 5,000 in her career?

Records come, records go. Clark’s will get wiped out someday. Keep an eye on USC’s JuJu Watkins.

And don’t forget that Babe Ruth hit his 60 homers in a 154-game season in an era before steroids.

Is he still the king? Hmmm.

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Ernest Mandel

De gaulle’s trip to moscow.

Source: From World Outlook , 29 July, 1966, Volume 4, No. 24, Paris and New York City Written: July, 1966 Translated: by World Outlook Transcrition & Marked-up: by David Walters for the Marxists’ Internet Archive 2009. Public Domain: Creative Commons Common Deed . You can freely copy, distribute and display this work; as well as make derivative and commercial works. Please credit “Marxists Internet Archive” as your source, include the url to this work, and note any of the transcribers, editors & proofreaders above.

[The following article has been translated from the July 9 issue of the Belgian left socialist weekly La Gauche.]

“As to alliances, we would think that they ought to be constructed ‘in three stages’: a Franco-Russian treaty procuring a first degree of security; the Anglo-Soviet pact and an agreement to be concluded between France and Great Britain constituting a second degree; the future pact of the United Nations, in which America would be a capital element, crowning the whole and serving as the ultimate recourse.” It was in these terms that Charles de Gaulle in December 1944, at the time of his first trip to Moscow, defined his concepts concerning European security, according to his Memoirs. (Volume III, p. 83, “Livre de Foche” edition.) Many things indicate that he has not changed his mind twenty-two years later. Wasn’t his second trip to Moscow designed to advance this concept?

Those with a more dour outlook will immediately object. The head of the Fifth Republic had something much more Machiavellian in mind. What he is aiming at is the predominance of France in Europe, or at least Western Europe if he is unable to extend it “from the Atlantic to the Urals.”

Since France doesn’t have the necessary economic weight, it must neutralize the drive of German industry through military superiority and diplomatic ruses. Hence it has two interests in common with the Kremlin—to block the Bundeswehr from getting nuclear arms and to break the American grip on “little Europe.” Thus the trip to Moscow was a power play against Washington and Bonn.

No doubt these analysts are right on the long-range aims of the general. But the nature of things is such that the designs of men—no Tatter how imbued with their own “grandeur”—are not at all sufficient to shape the destiny of the world. This is determined by the relationship among the big social forces. More than once in history, the diplomatic maneuvers of a power that was too weak have ended in serving the ‘big ones” despite the best intentions in the world. Didn’t this happen once again with the trip to Moscow?

Thus in the United States, the most cunning, like the servile tools of the (Johnson administration, carefully refrained from denouncing the general. “De Gaulle in Moscow served the United States despite the United States,” said some. ‘He worked for the whole West,’ others said approvingly. In Bonn, after weeks of glacial chill, the barometer of Franco-German relations again points to “fair weather.”

The truth is that de Gaulle, contrary to the groundless fears of some, did not betray his West German class brothers any more than he did his Polish class brothers at the time of his first trip.

In December 1944, Stalin dangled a “good, firm alliance,” real support against the Anglo-Saxons, in return for immediate recognition of the Lublin committee. But de Gaulle was not deceived. This would moan betraying a perhaps ‘democratic’ but certainly bourgeois Poland in behalf of a perhaps despotic but certainly noncapitalist Poland. And he did not want to take responsibility for an act contrary to “honor and honesty.” (Memoirs, Volume III, p sa.)

In June 1966, Brezhnev and Kosygin dangled an offer of just as real support against the United States, even genuine political leadership in Europe. In exchange they asked for recognition of the German Democratic Republic; that is, “of the two German states.” Be Gaulle brusquely replied that there could be no question of recognizing this “artificial construction. And with that rejoinder the serious conversation came to an end. The balance was nothing but decorations and fine talk.

Of course, the differences between Paris and Washington, between Fans and Bonn, are real in relation to the political future of our continent, its relations with the United States and the best strategy to follow to block the rise of the anti-imperialist and anticapitalist forces in the world.

Be Gaulle seeks a Europe freed largely from American supremacy. He seeks an Atlantic alliance on the basis of equality between North America and a Western Europe combined under his guidance. He favors a more supple policy, with regard to the USSR, which in his opinion should be definitively separated from China and the “extremists” among the revolutionists of the Third World, through some indispensable concessions.

He holds that it is necessary to “relax” the tensions to be able to resolve the questions in dispute, such as the reunification of Germany, while the Americans and the Germans of Bonn maintain that without this reunification no real relaxation is possible in Europe. But at bottom, they all defend a common cause—the cause of Big Capital. They all seek to hold back the enemy—socialism and the peoples of the Third World who are rising and seeking to break out of the capitalist world market. They all seek refuge under the “nuclear umbrella” of the Pentagon, without which they cannot counterbalance Soviet military power on the European continent (if anything confirms this, it is the explosion of the ridiculous French nuclear device in Polynesia which amounts to nothing in face of the power of the USSR). The means may differ, the aim is the same.

In this respect the Soviet Union represents something else again. The means are perhaps the same, but the aim is entirely different. Thus treaties on mutual consultation can be concluded—even by means of a direct telephone line!—treaties on technical cooperation, or whatever cultural and commercial exchanges are desired; the fundamental opposition between the interests of the French bourgeoisie and the Soviet leaders will by no means make it possible to form a genuine alliance in the present world context.

The Soviet leaders are aware of the weakness of the present Communist parties in Western Europe (for which they are in part responsible). They are aware of the temporary stabilization of caitalism in this part of the world (which they largely contributed to). From this they draw the conclusion that it is necessary to return to a policy that seeks to ‘exploit the interimperialist contradictions,” as before the second world war. They commit an error in believing that de Gaulle is ready to follow them into a têtei-tête, when he seeks in reality only to increase his power and prestige within the Atlantic Alliance

The French Communist leaders would obviously make a still greater error in concluding that the time has come for an ‘agonizing revision” of their political orientation in France, as in 1935 or 1944.

It is true that the policy of the USSR places them before a cruel dilemma; they no longer know if they should applaud or complain when the Soviet crowds cheer the person who remains, until proved otherwise, the fiercest and most dangerous class enemy of the French workers. If they oppose him, they are tempted to make an alliance with de Gaulle’s pro-American adversaries like Nollet and Nitterrand—and then the capitals of Eastern Europe are not very contented. And if they approve, what remains of their role as an opposition in France? There remains the socialist perspective which stands in complete opposition to the politics of de Gaulle; but the leaders of the French Communist party do not think this is any more “realistic’ than do the Social Democratic leaders of the SF10, or even the technocratic ideologists of neocapitalism.

That will the practical results of the trip amount to? The American Newsweek summarized the situation as follows: “At least he will have succeeded in engaging the Russians in a new diplomatic dialogue with the West.” That puts it in a nutshell. At a time when the intensification of the American aggression against the Vietnamese people makes a public dialogue between Moscow and Washington more difficult, de Gaulle is playing, objectively, the role of go-between for the Atlantic Alliance as a whole Thanks to him, the head of one of the capitalist states in this alliance has been acclaimed by crowds in the Soviet Union. For the first time in many years they have been shown a face of capitalism which their own leaders now say is benevolent, attractive, peaceful, full of good intentions toward the peoples of the world.

Pravda in connection with this trip, talks about an ‘irreversible process.” Let them beware of certain processes, which while still reversible, bode nothing good for the USSR. By attending mass in Leningrad, de Gaulle, like a good politician, was already prepa:ing for his coming trip to Poland. Rumania, ceaselessly increasing its trade with the West, already told the Russians in Bucharest that it would like to see the Warsaw pact modified just as de Gaulle wants to modify NATO. Decidely, if things are in movement, thanks not a little to the general, not everything is stirring in favor of socialism and not everything is stirring against the interests of American imperialism.

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Last updated on 7 February 2009

Oxford University Press's Academic Insights for the Thinking World

The History of the World: Nixon visits Moscow

The history of the world: sixth edition.

• May 22 nd 2013

22 May 1972 The following is a brief extract from The History of the World: Sixth Edition by J.M. Roberts and O.A. Westad.

In October 1971 the UN General Assembly had recognized the People’s Republic as the only legitimate representative of China in the United Nations, and expelled the representative of Taiwan. This was not an outcome the United States had anticipated until the crucial vote was taken. The following February, there took place a visit by Nixon to China that was the first visit ever made by an American president to mainland Asia, and one he described as an attempt to bridge ‘sixteen thousand miles and twenty-two years of hostility.’

When Nixon followed his Chinese trip by becoming also the first American president to visit Moscow (in May 1972), and this was followed by an interim agreement on arms limitation – the first of its kind – it seemed that another important change had come about. The stark, polarized simplicities of the Cold War were blurring, however doubtful the future might be.

Reprinted from THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD: Sixth Edition by J.M. Roberts and O.A. Westad with permission from Oxford University Press, Inc. Copyright © 2013 by O.A. Westad.

J. M. Roberts CBE died in 2003. He was Warden at Merton College, Oxford University, until his retirement and is widely considered one of the leading historians of his era. He is also renowned as the author and presenter of the BBC TV series ‘The Triumph of the West’ (1985). Odd Arne Westad edited the sixth edition of The History of the World . He is Professor of International History at the London School of Economics. He has published fifteen books on modern and contemporary international history, among them ‘The Global Cold War,’ which won the Bancroft Prize.

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Balashikha is the largest city in Moscow Oblast , Russia .

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Balashikha was founded in 1830, and became the center of the textile industry, but that is now closed

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From the Kursk railway station (Kurskaya and Chkalovskaya stations) in Moscow, trains leave for the Balashikha station (41 minutes).

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The center of Balashikha is 6 km from the Moscow ring road. Gorkovskoe highway M7, Shchelkovskoe highway A103 and Nosovikhinskoe highway pass through the city.

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There are 16 city bus routes and fixed-route taxis in Balashikha. Suburban routes connect Balashikha with the nearest metro stations and with the cities of Zheleznodorozhny and Reutov. Transit suburban routes follow from Moscow to settlements in neighboring districts of the Moscow region.

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• Sports and ski complex "Lisya Gora" , Razinskoe highway, 69 , ☏ +7 495 521-81-18 , + 7-985-210-09-06 . W-Su 10:00 - 17:00 . ( updated Oct 2021 )

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