The Fate of “Les Sports Anglais” in France: Emulation, Opposition, and Separation, 1870–1914

Modern French sport emerged between 1880 and 1914 amidst fears of racial, economic and military decline. The diffusion of sport in France has been seen as a simple donor-recipient relationship through which privileged young anglophiles tried to reinvigorate France through rugby, football, and athletics. However, this movement met with fierce resistance from the supporters of gymnastics and from advocates of strengthening France by reviving traditional French sports. Both groups considered British sports elitist, dangerous and unpatriotic. But gymnastics had internal weaknesses as a physical activity whilst the movement for French sports was undermined by external personal and political factors. The chief rival to British sports was cycle-racing, which gradually emerged as the new national sport.