Spain, regenerationism and sports during the First World War

Abstract

The First World War (FWW) was a turning point in the contemporary era. Its social impact led to the penetration by ideological forces into physical education and sport; and the publicity-related discourse of these forces were marshaled to capitalize on the productive capacity of adolescents and young adults. The current study focuses on analyzing —through the texts of the period—in what manner the events of the FWW influenced sport in Spain, socially and institutionally. The exploration of original texts from the period in question and a critical discourse analysis provides a chronological narrative of events. The study concludes that the impact of the FWW was decisive in enabling sport to appropriate the values of patriotic excitation provoked not by fears of the war itself, but rather by underlying fears of an expanding industrial context that might find itself compromised by the revolutionary conflicts of the workers’ movement.