International university sports in search of autonomy: Private parties engaging for French diplomacy (1919-1939)
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Abstract
From the start of the 1920s, the university sports movement was shaped by French sports directors within the International Confederation of Students. The French influence was reflected in the involvement within the institution of private players and the internationalisation of university sports. Promoters of university sports, represented by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and international federations, defended their autonomy and values inspired by the League of Nations, which opposed professionalism and paternalism in sport. The World University Games, whose first edition was held in Paris in 1923, had for France an ideological and diplomatic significance, which was later strengthened in the context of the success of totalitarian regimes in Europe and in particular on the eve of the Second World War
Keywords
- University sport –
- World University Games –
- International relations –
- French diplomacy –
- History of sport
