Imagination of "the Homeland" : The Sokol Movement in Predominantly German Districts in Bohemia before World War I

The gymnastics club Sokol (Falcon in Czech), which grew to become the biggest association in Czech society before World War I, extended their range of activity into predominantly German districts from the end of the 19th century, and began to actively organize the Czech minority in those districts. In this process, predominantly German districts were depicted as "an area threatened by the danger of Germanizing," and the Czech minority was treated as "fellow countrymen who should be rescued." With an eye on this Sokol activity, the following two issues will be considered in this paper. The first is the question of why the Sokol club developed a serious interest in predominantly German districts at that time. The second issue is the methods in which Sokol has tried to produce a sense of solidarity between Czech people in predominantly German districts and that in Czech districts centering in Prague. It was at the first half of 1880's that Sokol began to have influence in predominantly German districts, which would be named "Sudentenland" later, as well as the Central School Foundation (Ústřední Matice školská) and National Unions (Národní Jednoty), aiming at support of the Czech minority. But it was only after the year 1896 that the "plight" of the Czech people in predominantly German districts began to be frequently introduced in the club's organ, and Sokol began an active campaign to support the Czech minority. Two factors are thought to be responsible for this situation. The first factor is an event in which the authorities forbade both a Sokol festival in Teplice (northwest Bohemia) and a Sokol excursion to Prachatice (southern Bohemia) planned for the spring Pentecost in 1896. The context in which these two festivals came to be forbidden was not the same, and their prohibition was not a result of "harassment" to the Czech minority, either. As a result, however, these two cases were recognized as important by the Sokol leaders, and they induced these leaders to begin a series of support campaigns targeted at the Czech minority in predominantly German districts. Moreover, it is necessary to also mention as the second factor that the confrontation between the Young Czech Party, which had a close relation with Sokol, and the Social Democratic Party was aggravated. Since the fifth curia, which was the universal male suffrage section of the Reichsrat, was newly established by the electoral reform in June 1896, both parties came to confront each other directly in canvassing for votes in this curia. Important to note is the fact that the Czech minority supported by Sokol was mainly laborers in the industrial area. Thus, it is clear that Sokol's campaign had a strong linkage with the trial of the Young Czech Party, which tried to protect the laborers from the so-called "International." In answer to the question of how the Sokol actually supported the Czech minority, the following three points are important. (1) Sokol founded as many of their own branches as possible in predominantly German districts, and increased public awareness of the existence of the Czech nation in the concerned area through events like gymnastic festivals and excursions, (2) they created public arenas such as gymnasiums, and trained a Czech elite that could lead public activities among the Czech nation, and (3) they created a sense of solidarity in the Czech nation through interchanges between branches in Czech districts with those in predominantly German districts. With such activities Sokol has tried to create an image of "the homeland," which included predominantly German districts, but was constituted exclusively by Czech speaking people. In other words, this could also be seen as an attempt to unite the personality principle (Personalitätsprinzip), classified by language, with the territorial principle (Territorialprinzip), which falls under the historical sphere. It could be said that two vectors have always been included in Czech nationalism. One vector was directed to the historicity of Bohemia or Czech lands. The other emphasized the ethnic side, like the Czech language. But the more the territorial community overlapped with the personality community, the more the Germans' (German speaking people) position in Czech society became problematic. The inconsistency of Czech nationalism must have appeared in the most severe form just in predominantly German districts. Although the scope of research in the current paper is limited to a discussion of the association known as Sokol, it is the feeling of the author that this discussion could offer a new perspective on such problems