Frankophilie, Germanophilie und „Elsässertum“ in den Jugendbewegungen Straßburgs zwischen 1918 und 1925. Patriotismus – Körpererziehung – Naturbegeisterung

In Alsace, a region between France and Germany many youth organizations were formed in 1918, for example scouting movements and religious education associations. All these groups followed the same aim, i.e. to support young people and to transmit their values using physical education. These Alsatian associations, which were marked by 50 years of German presence, had to adapt to the expectation of the French government to rebuild a unified territory around a common identity. In doing so, they developed original forms of body culture that corresponded to an “Alsatian identity”. This article shows how youth organizations educated and trained young people under these conditions, and how they succeeded in defending the idea of French national identity as well as promoting an original form of culture based on local particularities.