The introduction focuses on the evolution of the number of students with a French government’s grant coming from central and eastern Europe between 1936‑1938. Aspects of this phenomenon are thus made apparent, among which is the will to revitalize intellectual influence.
The first part focuses on the present situation: specific characters of the French Institutes, their mission as pivots of an effective influence in central Europe, difficulties due to the ongoing economic crisis, limitations of their actions, open foreign competition potentially threatening the French alliances and positions: nazi Germany, fascist Italy. The following development presents the part given to the Institutes in the intellectual expansion program, as it was implemented by the Blum and Chautemps’s governments between 1936–1938. Here, one scrutinizes certain aspects of its modernization toward a more scientific, technical approach, and an action more open to an urban audience. The illustration of these evolutions lies on the case of the Warsaw Institute. This specific case and the study of new structures in Kraków and Poznań delineates a mutual will to cooperation and partnership. In the year 1938, the contrasts between two types of propaganda sharpen: nazi and french. Institutes contribute to the demonstration of the french power.

The introduction focuses on the evolution of the number of students with a French government’s grant coming from central and eastern Europe between 1936‑1938. Aspects of this phenomenon are thus made apparent, among which is the will to revitalize intellectual influence.
The first part focuses on the present situation: specific characters of the French Institutes, their mission as pivots of an effective influence in central Europe, difficulties due to the ongoing economic crisis, limitations of their actions, open foreign competition potentially threatening the French alliances and positions: nazi Germany, fascist Italy. The following development presents the part given to the Institutes in the intellectual expansion program, as it was implemented by the Blum and Chautemps’s governments between 1936–1938. Here, one scrutinizes certain aspects of its modernization toward a more scientific, technical approach, and an action more open to an urban audience. The illustration of these evolutions lies on the case of the Warsaw Institute. This specific case and the study of new structures in Kraków and Poznań delineates a mutual will to cooperation and partnership. In the year 1938, the contrasts between two types of propaganda sharpen: nazi and french. Institutes contribute to the demonstration of the french power.