When the First World War broke out, the fate of prisoners of war was governed by Chapter II of the 1907 Hague Convention, which [SE1] made no mention of sport. From the start of the war, rank and file troops were interned in camps in Germany, where living conditions were tough. Leisure activities were at best scarce. Some accounts, like that of the French poet Géo-Charles, mention rudimentary football. He was taken prisoner in 1914, and wrote in his poem Sports that football games were some of the few moments in his long captivity in which “a little joy rises and falls / like dust on the pitch”. In those days, exercise and leisure for prisoners were mainly the preserve of officers. They were held from 1915 in separate camps and were dispensed from work. Instead, they dedicated their time to various disciplines like gymnastics, tennis, boxing and football. For them, sport also became a show when competitions were organized. After the war, the Geneva Convention, signed on 27 July 1929, strengthened the rights of prisoners of war when it came to their treatment. Article 13 established that they must all “have facilities for engaging in physical exercises and obtaining the benefit of being out of doors.”
Before the First World War, physical activities in the French army focused above all on gymnastics, swimming and a few combat sports. In civilian society, sporting events were managed by the Union of French Athletic Sports Societies (USFSA) and the Union of Gymnastics Societies of France (USGF), both of which had a largely Parisian and bourgeois membership. In the United Kingdom, competitions and the resulting popularity of sport were already widespread and team sports were practiced by all social classes. During the Great War, sports events behind the front, both between allied countries and within regiments, fostered the sentiment of identity and boosted the competitive spirit between participants and competitors. When the soldiers returned home at the end of the war, they brought back new leisure activities, giving rise to several championships. The main aim was no longer to participate, but rather to vanquish adversaries shaped to win, like the American champions who greatly impressed in Europe, having received professional training from their federations since before the war.
Over the course of the First World War, sport showed its ability to forge relationships between soldiers, including between allies. Off the battlefield, they met at sporting celebrations involving boxing, running, tugs-of-war and the high jump. Friendly competitions spread across the country. Team sports also played a major role when soldiers were at rest and on national holidays. Football in particular was a language shared by the different nationalities, and also required little in the way of space and equipment. Soldiers from the English-speaking world brought French soldiers not only the technique of these games, but also their philosophy. The games fostered fraternity and strengthened cohesion. A century on, the organization of sporting activities is more important than ever in army life. The main goal is to foster solidarity between service members involved in joint manoeuvres, in France and abroad. In overseas operations, the daily life of men and women is full of physical exercises managed by the armed forces. Some missions give rise to large-scale inter-allied competitions. Lastly, spontaneous inter-regiment and international matches remain common on operational bases.
Football came from the United Kingdom and was introduced to France in the 1860s. As the 20th century dawned, it was governed by several federations and international competitions, and was concentrated in cities. Matches were easy to organize and were common during the war, not far from the battlefield. Football provided the escape the men needed in moments of respite. It helped distract them from the fighting and fill long periods of inaction. It even sometimes replaced the gymnastics sessions run by officers. Britain’s favourite sport saw real growth during the Battle of the Somme in 1916. The “Tommies” provided French troops with real lessons in play, which they improved and clarified. Inter-regiment and inter-Allied matches, and even matches between civilians and service members, were organized in theatres of operations.
In 1917, the first Coupe de France was organized, both as a tribute to the many fallen footballers and to prepare the popularization of football in peace time. The 1920s saw this competition strengthen the national dimension of the sport. Meanwhile, the French Football Federation, created on 7 April 1919, soon gained the largest membership. Eight years later, the President of the Republic himself handed over the Coupe de France trophy, a tradition that continues to this day.