The Selection of Stockholm.

In 1896 the first modern Olympic Games were held in Athens, the site of the original games. Subsequent Olympic Games were hosted by Paris in 1900, Saint Louis in 1904, and London in 1908. These Olympic Games were held in conjunction with World's Fairs, events that often overshadowed the athletic contests. Meeting in Berlin in 1909, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) selected Stockholm, Sweden, as the site of the fifth Olympic Games. "Of all the countries in the world," remarked Baron Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympic movement and secretary-general of the IOC, "Sweden is at the moment best qualified to host a great Olympic Games." Although Stockholm's award was largely because of a strong campaign by Sweden's longtime IOC representative, Col. Victor Balak, who would become the chairman of the Swedish Olympic Organizing Committee, Germany ensured the selection of the Swedish...