The Workers’ Sports Movement in Search of Its Roots. Strasbourg in the Aftermath of the Great War

In the early 1920s, the Workers’ Sports Movement was a leading international leisure movement that was particularly strong in Germany. This article analyses how the movement adapted in Strasbourg when Alsace became French in 1918. The first section focuses on the structure put in place and the tensions between socialists and communists. The second section addresses the characteristics of the Workers’ Sports Movement in Strasbourg; a section is devoted to women’s sport, which has been ignored in historiography until now. Finally, the article presents the sporting and cultural activities aimed at improving workers’ lives. Ultimately, this article, based on rare printed sources, shows that the change in national affiliation did not fundamentally affect the Strasbourg Workers’ Sports Movement, which was German in inspiration and expression but international in scope.