Physical Education and Military Sports in the Second Spanish Republic (1931-1936)

Abstract

During the interwar period, the Spanish Army's Toledo Central School of Gymnastics (1919-1930) was designated for the training of physical education and sports instructors. Additionally, aside from spreading physical education and sports, the Central School of Gymnastics undertook a significant informative and propagandistic effort regarding also the technical aspect of sports, especially aimed at secondarily preparing recruits to participate in military sport championships. Later on, it was entrusted with managing and organising physical and premilitary training for the general population, which in fact was never enacted due to the advent of the II Republic. Consequently, the aim of this study is to document the development of military sports during the republican period that ensued (1931-1936) and to highlight the significance of military history within the general history of Spain. Finally, the present account is accompanied with a hermeneutic and interdisciplinary note including a critical analysis of that historical scenario in connection with military sports and their visibility in republican society.

It is argued that the Central School of Gymnastics continued with its foundational mission regardless of the prevailing ideological and political positions at the time. It contributed to a process of nationalization or "Spanishization" of the civilian population without leaning clearly towards the defence of any given political position. However, it perfected the ideology behind pro-patria sports, that is, it included a "governmentality" element that would later translate into the authoritarian character of physical education and sports during Franco’s regime.

Knowing well how difficult it may be to acknowledge the contribution of the Central School of Gymnastics to the civil population, this paper is thus intended to favour the spread of information so as to either complete or complement other related studies.