Discussion on the Change of Nationalism in German Gymnastics in the 19th Century: Focusing on Two Nationalists

Abstract

PURPOSE This study examined the process and cause of change in nationalism in German gymnastics in the 19th century.METHODS The study used a literature study method and analyzed data from previous studies. Eleven articles related to the research topic were chosen for domestic research data by searching RISS for "German gymnastics," "Turnen," and "German nationalism." Overseas research data involved seven articles related to this study and were found by searching for "German gymnastics" and "Turnen" in Google Scholar.RESULTS First, German nationalism was originally divided into liberal nationalism and nationalistic nationalism, resulting in nationalistic nationalism after German reunification. Second, Jahn as a liberal nationalist and Spiess as a nationalist attempted to spread their ideas through German gymnastics. Finally, German gymnastics change from Jahn's liberal nationalism to Spiess' nationalistic nationalism was inevitable due to German gymnastics' external background and inherent limitations.CONCLUSIONS This study illustrated the process and cause of the change in the nationalistic characteristics of German gymnastics in the 19th century. Various historical cases that have not yet received attention but are worthy of investigation must be studied.