@article{aup:/content/journals/10.5117/TVGESCH2020.4.003.CAST, author = "Montes, Enrico Castro", title = "Ambassadeurs op het sportfront", journal= "Tijdschrift voor Geschiedenis", year = "2020", volume = "133", number = "4", pages = "639-658", doi = "https://doi.org/10.5117/TVGESCH2020.4.003.CAST", url = "https://www.aup-online.com/content/journals/10.5117/TVGESCH2020.4.003.CAST", publisher = "Amsterdam University Press", issn = "2352-1163", type = "Journal Article", keywords = "diplomacy", keywords = "war", keywords = "sports", keywords = "Spain", keywords = "politics", abstract = "Abstract Ambassadors on the Sports Front: Sports, Politics and Diplomacy during the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) This article examines the role of sports in the international politics and diplomacy of nation states in wartime. Through a case study on public diplomacy during the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), this article shows how sport could influence international public opinion. By focussing on some lesser-known international sporting events from this period, such as the 1937 Labour Olympiad in Antwerp, this article will move away from the dominant focus in sports history on mega-events such as the Olympic Games. Although research about the relationship between sports and diplomacy has grown in recent years, it has barely taken into account the influence of a war context on sport and diplomacy. This article attempts to fill this gap by analysing left-wing Belgian and Spanish newspapers, archives of the Belgian workers' sports movement, and unused source material from the FIFA archive.", }