The French colonial army and the sporting acculturation of members of the Indochinese elite (1897–1939)

France’s conquest of Indochina resulted in the emergence of a new local elite that accepted this domination and adopted the colonials’ lifestyle. The French army controlled the Indochinese people and played a key role after 1887, by familiarizing members of the indigenous elite with physical and sporting activities, thus creating many new social groups acquainted with Western sports. This article begins by analyzing how this process was set into motion in Cochinchina and Cambodia before the Great War. It then presents the institutional tools and the outcomes of this policy, before lastly identifying the main colonial actors and their Indochinese intermediaries.