The Sokol Movement and the
Revival of Czech Nationalism
by Holly Stahlman
March 23, 1995
The Czechoslovakian nationalism which was growing
steadily in the 1860s was expressed through a number of outlets. The Czech
people were searching for new ways to show their patriotism which were uniquely
Czechoslovakian. Scientists began to write in Czech rather than German , while a
new school of writers came into being which included peasant tales by Bozena
Nemcova and short stories by Neruda. The first nationalistic political newspaper
was started in 1861, and it pushed for complete and equal rights for all races.
In 1882, Prague University was divided into two separate institutions. Charles
University became the Czech university, while Deutsche Universitat in Prague
became the German one. This fascilitated research and publication in the Czech
language, and there was a heightened value in the Czechoslovakian literature and
language. The nobility in Czechoslovakia were still tied to Germany and
therefore had different views towards Czech nationalism than did the lower
classes. This made it necessary for the common people to unite and win the
bourgeoisie over to their cause through the press, books, theater, and the arts.
The Czech people began to find a voice of expression in
music. Bedrich Smetana used music as an outlet of nationalistic feeling. He
could express the feelings of the Czech people because he felt strongly
nationalistic himself. He put intense emotion as well as a part of himself into
his music. Smetana was considered a "musician of the future." Rather
than model his music after previous French or German composers as many other
Czechoslavakian composers had done, Smetana preferred to form his own style,
which was new and uniquely Czech. He wrote operas, symphonic poems, piano
pieces, and dances. His first opera was "The Brandenburgers in
Bohemia," and his famous "Bartered Bride" was performed in 1866.
Smetana wrote piano compositions which were both very personal and very
Czechoslavakian. For him, the essence of Czech nationalistic music had to
include or imitate Czech folk songs because they were such an important part of
their culture and history. In contrast to Smetana, there are musicians such as
Anton Dvorak who modelled their musical compositions after other styles or
countries. Although Dvorak was influenced by his trip to the New World and his
experiences there, and his work is less unique to Czechoslovakia than some of
his contemporaries, he expresses a sense of nationalism nonetheless.
One movement which greatly encouraged the already
growing sense of nationalism in Czechoslavakia was the Sokol movement. The
Sokols (Sokol means falcon) were a gymnastic society founded in 1862 by Fugner
and Tyrs. It was modelled after the German "Turnvereine" which played
a role in German politics after the War of Liberation. The fifteen thousand men
and women in this movement gathered at the Slet, an Assembly of Sokols, and
performed physical drills and gymnastics. The group was promoting Czech
nationalism by proposing to improve upon the physical as well as the
intellectual status of its people. Tyrs wanted to revive the Fatherland "by
the education of body and spirit, by physical energy, by art and science, by all
moral means..." The theory was that every nation had the right to exist,
but it needed to exert its own energy and show itself able to do so. The Sokols
thrived on organization and a scientific method of gymnastic. Tyrs felt that the
motto of the Sokols should be "eternal evolution" or "eternal
discontent," and that they should not be satisfied until they have
"reached such a degree of perfection as to fear no comparison with the
foreigner." The Sokol movement was a movement of the middle class. Tyrs
felt that soldiers needed repeated exercises in discipline, both physical and
intellectual, and the gymnastics provided the physical part of this equation. He
felt that, " In a word, gymnastics as conceived by the Sokols are of a
higher order; they are a factor in our outlook on life, an artistic and moral
expressino of the human soul, a joyous cry of mass enthusiasm" Along with
teaching Czech people about democracy and equality, the Sokol movement prepared
people for the struggles of politics and improved general health and well-being
of the people.
The Sokol movement also played a major role in unifying
the nation of Czechoslovakia. Groups of the Sokol movement were founded in
Prague and in the provinces and then were spread throughout the land. It was a
movement based on democratic principles, and one in which the middle class led
the way, while the aristocracy stood aside. The members of the group were highly
patriotic among other qualities, and this patriotism spread to other areas of
Czechoslovakia. The Sokols portrayed a sense of determination, strength, and a
unified national spirit, and the Czechs were proud of the physical strides made
by these men and women.
In conclusion, Czech nationalism was expressed through
a variety of outlets, one of the most common of which was music and the arts.
Artists and musicians during this period were searching for a style which they
could call their own. They wanted to create things which were truly Czech, and
the Sokol movement was helpful in this search for identity. The young people
involved in the movement were disciplined and patriotic, a combination which
aids in the spread of new ideas and which gives the people a common name under
which to unite.
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