Competitive Skating between the Wars

This chapter discusses competitive skating during the interwar period. The Treaty of Versailles marked the end of the war, but the rebuilding of Europe was a slow process hindered badly by the severity of the treaty and the resulting economic depression. In spite of this, the International Skating Union (ISU) was able to hold its first postwar congress in October 1921 and set dates for resumption of competition early the following year. By the end of the 1920s, ISU membership had increased by more than 50 percent, with new members coming from East European countries, the Baltic states, Italy, the United States, and Japan. The chapter covers the ISU's adoption of a set of compulsory figures, most often called “school figures”; evolution of free skating; evolution of jumping and spinning; employment of dance steps as connecting links in free-skating programs; male and female champions; and North American skaters.