Les muscles de Marianne: gymnastique et bataillons scolaires dans la France des années 1880

After the defeat by Germany in the French-German War of 1870-71, French republicans were aiming for a reform of culture, society and the military to "masculinize" the young male bodies of their nation, make them healthier and stronger and prepare them better for universal military service in the France army and with it for the next war. Two of the many reforms introduced in the early 1880s were gymnastics training for male pupils and school battalions in primary or secondary schools for boys. These reforms followed the model of the French enemy, Germany, and its tradition of the so-called Turner (gymnastic) movement, which aimed to form healthy and manly young patriots willing to defend the fatherland.