ABSTRACT
The history of sporting nationalism is linked as much to the development of the sporting movement (as it became increasingly autonomous and international) as to changes in French society. In opposition to the myth of sport as an eternally unifying factor, and an instrument of peace and brotherly feeling between peoples, is its image as a warlike activity, quick to glorify the national identity. Sporting nationalism, seen as chauvinist but basically well-meaning, has a darker aspect in its extreme formaggressive, xenophobic and even racist-and this contrast accounts for the disparity in the forms of sporting nationalism.
