Turning Gymnasts into Citizen-Soldiers: The Militarization of Physical Activities during the Third Republic in France (1870–1940)

Abstract

This paper analyzes the development of the ‘military preparation’ movement during the Third Republic in France, which, in turn, gives an insight into sports development in France in comparison with its neighbouring countries. On the eve of the First World War, militarized physical activities were widespread in France. Gymnastics (USGF), shooting (USTF), and military preparation (USPMF) federations had more members than sports federations. The spread of training societies was linked to military and political issues, with the support of the republican government being a key explanation for the rise in the number of training societies. The latter aimed to prepare young men for military service and turn them into French citizens. Furthermore, gymnastics and shooting societies fulfilled a social function in providing leisure activities. The distinction between sports activities and militarized activities was not always clear. Recent studies have underlined that the growth of shooting and gymnastics societies has been underestimated, especially for the interwar period. Such associations were still numerous in the 1930s. For a long time, physical activities were oriented by military or political issues, and early sports policies were mostly designed to develop militarized activities.