The Olympic Games of Los Angeles 1932: a New Start in French and German Press Representations of the Former Enemy?

Previous works on German-French relationships in the sporting press prove that a time of open hostility in both countries until 1928 was followed in the mid-1930s by admiration of the French observers towards Germany, whereas the Germans showed arrogance or indifference when mentioning France. Yet the exact turn in these media representations remains underexplored and suggests focusing on the Olympic Games of Los Angeles in 1932. At this time the contraction of the money supply, loss of purchasing power, unemployment and bankruptcies visited most of the industrialised world and led to a depression. How far did these events impact the respective representations of ‘the other’ in France’s and Germany’s discourses on sport during the summer of 1932? This question is in the focus of a press analysis based on a selection of French and German sport and generalist newspapers. It comes out that the press accounts of the 1932 Olympics reflected the ongoing process of redefining the relationship between France and Germany in a time of transition.