Del campo a la trinchera Memorias del deporte obrero vasco / From the Field to the Trench: Memoirs of Basque Workers' Sport

At the beginning of the 20th century in Europe, sport ceased to be a form of entertainment exclusive to the bourgeoisie and became a key tool for the working class in its struggle for social transformation. More than just a recreational activity, it became a revolutionary instrument for generating class consciousness and promoting change. In the Basque Country (Hego Euskal Herria), this process gave rise to a workers' sports movement with specific characteristics, which adopted sport as a means to achieve the social and national liberation of the Basque working people.This essay offers a general overview of the transformations that shaped the course of sport during that pivotal moment in recent history, with particular attention to its evolution in the Basque Country. It focuses on significant milestones such as Basque participation in the 1936 People's Olympiad in Barcelona and the creation of the Culture and Sport Battalion after the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936. It allows us to explore the collective mindsets of the early 20th century and understand how an alternative sporting model with a strong social and political character was built.