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“Every Czech a Sokol!”: Feminism and Nationalism in the Czech Sokol Movement

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 February 2009

Claire E. Nolte
Claire E. Nolte
Affiliation:
Visiting Assistant Professor of History at Bucknell University, Lewisburg, PA 17837.
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TheSokol (Falcon), the Czech gymnastic organization, was a major component in the transformation of Czech nationalism into a mass movement. It was also one of the few organizations to mobilize women for the national cause, and their involvement in the club forms a major chapter in the history of women in Czech society. There are few sources on Czech women's history, in part because historians have tended to focus on the more advanced feminist movements of Western Europe or the United States to the detriment of the smaller nations of Europe's borderlands, where the complex ethnic composition created a special context for the emergence of the “women's question.” In the Czech lands, the rivalry between Czechs and Germans defined the conceptual framework of Czech feminism and lent the national struggle an overriding importance that served both to inspire and to limit the campaign of Czech women for expanded rights and opportunities. This convergence of feminism and nationalism is evident in the changing role of women in the Sokol from the founding of the organization in 1862 until World War I, a time when the Sokol emerged as a leading force in the Czech national movement, and when Czech women began to challenge traditional attitudes and demand equality with men. In manifesting these broader processes, the history of women in the Sokol exemplifies their larger effort to define their role within an evolving national community.

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Austrian History Yearbook , Volume 24 , January 1993 , pp. 79 - 100
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Copyright © Center for Austrian Studies, University of Minnesota 1993

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References

1 Kohn, Hans described the Sokol as “the greatest inspiration to the Czech national movement”; Pan-Slavism: Its History and Ideology (Notre Dame, Ind., 1953), 184Google Scholar. Garver, Bruce wrote that it “made the greatest contribution to reviving Czech patriotism and self-confidence”; The Young Czech Party 1874–1901 and the Emergence of a Multi-Party System (New Haven, 1978), 31Google Scholar. Prinz, Friedrich warned that its “meaning for the development of national cooperation and mass consciousness cannot be overestimated”; “Die böhmischen Länder von 1848 bis 1918,” in Handbuch der Geschichte der böhmischen Länder, ed. Bosl, Karl (Stuttgart, 1967–1968), 3:86Google Scholar.

2 A recent work on Czech women in the nineteenth century is Volet-Jeanneret, Helena, La femme bourgeoise á Prague 1860–1895 De la philanthropie á la emancipation (Geneva, 1988)Google Scholar. Four articles on aspects of the subject are David, Katherine, “Czech Feminists and Nationalism in the Late Habsburg Monarchy: ‘The First in Austria,’” Journal of Women's History (Fall 1991): 26–45Google Scholar; Freeze, Karen J., “Medical Education for Women in Austria: A Study in the Politics of the Czech Women's Movement in the 1890s,” in Women, State and Party in Eastern Europe, ed. Wolchik, Sharon L. and Meyer, Alfred G. (Durham, N.C., 1985), 51–63Google Scholar; Horská, Pavla, “K ekonomické aktivitě žen na přelomu 19. a 20. století—Příklad českých zemí” (Concerning the economic activity of women at the turn from the 19th to the 20th century—the example of the Czech lands), Československý časopis historický (1983): 711–43Google Scholar; and Horska, Pavla, “Zur Frauenfrage in Böhmen in den siebziger Jahren des 19. Jahrhunderts,” in Bildungsgeschichte, Bevölkerungsge schichte, Gesellschaftsgeschichte in den böhmischen Länder und in Europa: Festschrift für jan Havránek zum 60. Geburtstag, ed. Lemberg, Hans et al. (Vienna and Munich, 1988), 244–.50Google Scholar. In addition to the Wolchik, and volume, Meyer, another book on women's history in Eastern Europe is Women in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union, ed. Yedlin, Tova (New York, 1980)Google Scholar.

3 In 1912, there were 119, 183 adult members in Czech Sokol clubs in the empire. If adolescents and children are counted, the number was 168, 260. The total number of clubs and “independent sections” (i.e., women's clubs) that year was 1, 156. “Statistika České obce sokolské za rok 1912” (Statistics of the Czech Sokol Union from the year 1912), Sokol: časopis věnovaný zájmum tělocvičným (1914): 219.

4 The most extensive biography of Tyrš was written by his wife, Tyršová, Renata, Miroslav Tyrš, jeho osobnost a dílo (M.T.: His personality and his work), 3 parts in 1 vol. (Prague, 1932–1934)Google Scholar. His work in the Sokol is emphasized in Jandásek, Ladislav, Život dr. Miroslava Tyrše (The life of Dr. M.T.) (Brno, 1932)Google Scholar. The first edition of his collected works appeared as Tyrš, Miroslav, Úvahy a řeči (Articles and speeches), ed. Scheiner, Josef, 2 vols. (Prague, 1894)Google Scholar.

5 Originally the left wing of the national coalition that had guided Czech politics since 1848, the Young Czechs formed their own party in 1874. Their history is the subject of Garver, The Young Czech Party.

6 Nováková, Teréza, “Staré úpomínky sokolské” (Old Sokol memories), inVzpomínky na Dr. Mir. Tyrše, comp. L. jandásek (Prague, 1934), 114Google Scholar. The Matice česká (Czech Foundation) was an organization for the publication of Czech books attached to the Royal Bohemian Museum Society.

7 Therapeutic gymnastics originated in the Enlightenment, when doctors and edubtcational reformers propagated gymnastic exercise to overcome disease and deformity, especially in children. It was so popular in France that the longest entry on gymnastics in Diderot's Encyclopédie was devoted to this topic.

8 Neuendorff, Edmund, Geschichte der neueren deutchen Leibesübungen vom Beginn des 18. Jahrhunderts bis zur Gegenwart (Dresden, 1930–1936), 3:395Google Scholar.

9 Tyrš's exhortation appeared in an article he wrote for the club paper, “Tělocvik v ohledu estetickém” (Gymnastics from an aesthetic point of view) Sokol (1873): 19Google Scholar. Tyrš's Sokol ideology is described in Nolte, Claire E., “‘Our Task, Direction and Goal’: The Development of the Sokol National Program to World War I,” Vereinswesen und Geschichtspflege in den böhmischen Ländern (Munich, 1986), 123–38Google Scholar.

10 Tyrš, explained the military aspect of his program in an article in the club paper, “Pokud tělocvik a jednoty tělocvičné k brannosti národni přispívaji” (How gymnastic training and gymnastic clubs contribute to national defense), Sokol (1871): 29–30, 37–39, 45–47, 53–54, 61–63.Google Scholar

11 The word Slet was based on the Czech word for the flocking of birds.

12 The early years of the Sokol are examined in Nolte, Claire E., “Training for National Maturity: Miroslav Tyrš and the Origins of the Czech Sokol, 1862–1884,” Ph.D. dissertation (Columbia University, 1990)Google Scholar.

13 The creation of a central union for all Sokol clubs had been Tyrš's dream, one never realized during his lifetime because of government opposition. See , A. P., “Před založenim Č.O.S.— Snahy Tyršovy o spolek ústředni” (Before the founding of the Č.O.S.—Tyrš's struggle for a central union), Věstník sokolský, list svazu České obce sokolské (1909): 174–77Google Scholar. The initials Č.O.S. stood for “Czech Sokol Union” after the Bohemian Sokol Union expanded to include Sokol districts in Moravia and Lower Austria in 1903. In the first Czechoslovak Republic, the initials stood for “Czechoslovak Sokol Union.”

14 D.T.J. history is recounted in Mucha, Vilém, Dějiny dělnické tělovýchovy v Československu (The history of workers' physical education in Czechoslovakia), 2d ed. (Prague, 1955)Google Scholar; and Silaba, R., Třicet let dělnické tělovýchovy (Thirty years of workers' physical education) (Prague, 1928)Google Scholar. The beginnings of the Orel are described in Jiroušek, Tomáš, “Ke vzniku hnutí Orla československého u nás” (About the origins of the Czechoslovak Orel movement), Vlast (1930): 560–.63Google Scholar; and Řezniček, Josef, “Vývoj československého Orla” (The development of the Czechoslovak Orel), Život (1929): 6–10Google Scholar.

15 Vaniček, Karel, “Na tři fronty” (On three fronts), first published in Sokol (1909) and reprinted in Vaniček, Sokolské epištoly (Sokol epistles), 4th ed. (Prague, 1923), 30–33. Total adult membership in D.T.J. clubs in 1913 was 19,894, and there were 12,068 members in Orel in 1914. “Překvapující čislice; statistické” (Surprising statistical figures), Tělocvičný ruch: orgán svazu dělnických tělocvičnych jednot Českoslovanských (1914): 162; see also Řezniček, 9Google Scholar.

16 The resolution is recorded in ”Valný sjezd České obce sokolské” (The congress of the Bohemian Sokol Union), Sokol (1895): 327–28Google Scholar.

17 Czech women's clubs in Prague at this time are discussed in Volet-Jeanneret, La femme bourgeoise, 101–239; and Horská, “K ekonomické aktivitě žen,” 727–32.

18 Volet-Jeanneret, La femme bourgeoise, passim; Evans, Richard J., The Feminists: Women's Emancipation Movements in Europe, America and Australasia, 1840–1920 (London, 1977), 33Google Scholar; and Anderson, Bonnie S. and Zinsser, Judith P., A History of Their Own: Women in Europe from Prehistory to the Present (New York, 1988), 3:353Google Scholar.

19 This is the thesis of Volet-Jeanneret, La femme bourgeoise. See also Smith, Bonnie G., Changing Lives: Women in European Society since 1700 (Lexington, Mass., 1989), 218–19Google Scholar.

20 Tyrš, Miroslav, “Řeč o veřejném cvičeni Sokola pražského dne 26. března 1865” (Speech at the public exercising display of the Prague Sokol on March 26, 1865), Úvahy a řeči (1894):29Google Scholar.

21 Similar ceremonies were carried out in other clubs at this time. That such ceremonies were present in the Turnverein is evident from an 1847 letter from Turnvater Jahn describing the presentation of the colors in a Turnverein, where local women had embroidered the flag. Jahn, F. L. to Frau Emilie Messert, January 17, 1947, in Die Briefe Friedrich Ludwig Jahns, ed. Meyer, Wolfgang (Leipzig, 1913), 521–22Google Scholar.

22 The ceremony is described in “Slavnost svěcení praporu Sokola Pražského” (The presentation of the colors of the Prague Sokol), Památník vydaný na oslavu dvacetiletého trváni tělocvičné jednoty Sokola Pražského (Prague, 1883), 62–66Google Scholar. A personal memoir of the occasion is Tyršová, Renata, jindřich Fügner: paměti a vzpomínky na mého otce (J.F.: Memories and reminiscences of my father) (Prague, 1927), 2:24–26Google Scholar. Světlá's life and work is assessed in Volet-Jeanneret, La femme bourgeoise, 169–74, 210–30; and Špičák, Josef, Karolina Světlá (Prague, 1966)Google Scholar.

23 Červinka, Václav, U kolébky Sokola (At the cradle of the Sokol) (Prague, 1920), 77Google Scholar. Eliška Krásnohorská, a leader of the Czech feminist movement in the 1890s, recalled that Tyrš had once suggested the creation of a girls' Gymnasium and generally supported women's equality; Pechová-Krásnohorská, Eliška;, Co přinesla léta (What the years brought), ed. Strejček, Ferdinand, 2 parts in 1 vol. (Smichov, 1927–1928), 1:20, 2:110–11Google Scholar. Tyrš's wife, however, claimed that “Tyrš was never enthusiastic for the struggle, which is called emancipation”; Tyršova, Tyrš, 1:88. The women's demands were not unprecedented, since women had trained in Turnverein clubs in the liberal 1840s. Neuendorff, Geschichte der Leibesübungen, 3:542; and Pfister, Gertrud and Langenfeld, Hans, “Die Leibesübungen für das weibliche Geschlecht—ein Mittel zur Emanzipation der Frau?” Geschichte der Leibesübung, ed. Ueberhorst, Horst (Berlin, 1980), 3/1: 499Google Scholar.

24 Prussia introduced physical education in primary schools in 1862. The influence of conservative forces, especially the opposition of powerful Roman Catholic clerics, limited school physical education in the Austrian empire. In 1869, teacher training academies in the empire were commissioned to give instruction in physical education, an order that was only partially realized, because instructors and training areas were lacking. Until 1918, physical education occupied only one hour per week in the primary school schedule. The various gymnastics clubs in the empire spearheaded the drive for expanded physical education in the schools. Neuendorff, Geschichte der Libesübungen, 3:539, 4:19, 31–32.

25 Musil was an assistant professor at the Pathology Institute in Prague and also a trainer in the Prague Sokol. In response to criticism from some Sokol leaders that it was inappropriate to hold girls' gymnastic sessions in Sokol quarters, Tyrš pointed out that the Prague Turnverein held exercise classes for girls in its training hall. Meeting of Executive Council, May 29, 1862, Státní ústřední archiv v Praze, Prague Sokol Collection, box 5. Reminiscences of this institute are in Nováková, “Staré úpomínky,” 116–19.

26 Quoted in Kostková, Jarmila, “K počátkům tělovýchovného hnutí žen v českých zemích” (About the beginnings of the women's physical training movement in the Czech lands), Teorie a praxe tělesné výchovy a sportu (1969): 652Google Scholar.

27 Such fears were not limited to Czech society. The Austrian feminist Rosa Mayreder recalled that her parents had forbidden her to engage in gymnastics as a child for fear it would enlarge her hands. Johnston, William M., The Austrian Mind: An Intellectual and Social History, 1848–1938 (Berkeley, 1972), 156Google Scholar.

28 Although the first Women's Pedagogical Institute in the Habsburg empire had opened in Prague in 1866, Marie Riegrová, the wife of the prominent Czech political leader František Rieger and a leader in women's philanthropy, had difficulty convincing the city council to allow female teachers in the nursery school she opened in 1869; Volet-Jeanneret, La femme bourgeoise, 122–24. The division of opinion on this issue echoed the early nineteenth-century controversy about female teachers ignited by Friedrich Froebel's Kindergarten movement; see Smith, Changing Lives, 190–91.

29 Volet-Jeanneret, La femme bourgeoise, 207.

30 Except for Kateřnna Fügnerová, who, according to her daughter, did not approve of the emancipation movement and “regarded it as natural to submit to the superiority of men,” all of these women supported the feminist program of the day; Tyršová, Fügner, 1:130. See also Tyršová, Tyrš, 1:88. An 1865 letter from a family friend described the Hanušová sisters: “Their delirium about female emancipation is ingrained in them. It is all that they think or talk about.” Ctibor Helcelet to Jan Helcelet, November 1, 1865, Státní muzeum tělesné výchovy a sportu v Praze, oddělení archivní dokumentace, Tyrš Papers, folder 662.

31 Among the titles of these works were Divči tělocvik (Girls' gymnastics), 3 vols. (1872–87); Dětský tělocvik (Children's gymnastics) (1883); Tělocvičné hry mládeže (Gymnastic games for young people) (1896); and Tělocvik domácí (Gymnastics for the home) (1907). Her work is explored in Wachtlová, Markéta, Dílo Klemeni Hanušové (The work of K.H.) (Prague, 1948)Google Scholar.

32 Púsobeni tělocvičného spolku paní a dívek Pražských (The work of the Gymnastic Club of the Ladies and Girls of Prague) (Prague, 1891), 2–3. Klemeňa Hanušová fought to have reports on the women's club included in the Prague Sokol paper, Sokol. Státní ústřední archiv, Prague Sokol Collection, box 159; and “Zprávy spolkové” (Club news), Sokol (1871): 103 and (1874): 21.

33 A. Meergansová, “Tělocvičný spolek paní a dívek Pražských” (Gymnastic Club of the Ladies and Girls of Prague), Památník Sokola Pražského, 279.

34 Ibid., 278.

35 No similar efforts took root in the Czechs lands for many years, and by 1890 there were only four other clubs of this type in addition to the Prague club; Kostková, “K počátkům tělovýchovného hnuti žen,” 653. A similar organization was founded in 1882 in New York at the impetus of Sokol members there; Vesely, Josef, “Tělocvičny sbor dívek a paní v New Yorku” (Gymnastic club of ladies and girls in New York), in Památník vydaný k oslavě dvacetipětiletého trvání tělocvičné jednoty Sokol v New Yorku 1867–1892 (New York, 1892), 113–15Google Scholar.

36 Women's employment patterns in Prague and in the Czech lands are examined in VoletJeanneret, La femme bourgeoise, 273; and Horská, “K ekonomické aktivitě žen,” 712–25.

37 The Progressive position on the women's question is discussed in Freeze, Karen J., “The Young Progressives: The Czech Student Movement 1887–1897,” Ph.D. dissertation (Columbia University, 1975), 132–37Google Scholar. See also David, “Czech Feminists,” 30.

38 Garver, The Young Czech Party, 301. The Czech National Socialist party was a democratic party of labor unrelated to the German party of the same name.

39 Minerva is discussed in Volet-Jeanneret, La femme bourgeoise, 246–54; and Pechová-Krásnohorská, Co přinesla léta, 1:119–44.

40 The relationship between sports and women's emancipation is referred to in Anderson and Zinsser, A History of Their Own, 3:202; Pfister and Langenfeld, “Die Leibesubüngen,” 515; Branca, Patricia, Women in Europe since 1750 (London, 1978), 131Google Scholar; and Robertson, Priscilla, An Experience of Women: Pattern and Change in Nineteenth-Century Europe (Philadelphia, 1982), 39, 76, 92, 99, 129, 341Google Scholar.

41 Púsobení tělocvičného spolku, 5.

42 Jandásek, Ladislav and Pelikán, Jan, Stručné dějiny Sokolstva 1862–1912 (A brief history of the Sokol movement) (Prague, 1948), 38Google Scholar. Statistics on women's Sokol activity are given in Kostková, “K počátkům tělovýchovného hnutí žen,” 654. The Vienna Sokol had founded a women's section in 1889, and the first women's section in the Turnverein dated from 1887. aGlettler, Monika, Sokol und Arbeitertumvereine der Wiener Tschechen (Munich, 1970), 49Google Scholar; and Pfister and Langenfeld, ”Die Leibesübungen,” 510.

43 According to a 1912 survey of Sokol women enrolled in gymnastic teams, schoolteachers made up 5.4 percent of this group, a high percentage considering the small number of female schoolteachers at that time. Vaníček, Karel, “Výstava” (Exhibit), Památník sletu slovtmského Sokolstva roku 1912 v Praze, ed. Očenášek, A. et al. (Prague, 1919), 80–81Google Scholar. See also “Proč ženy, když se provdají, opouštějí většinou řady sokolské” (Why women, when they marry, mostly leave the Sokol ranks), Věstník sokolský (1911): 217–18Google Scholar. Precise information on the occupational background of Czech feminists is lacking, but these statistics seem to support a pattern similar to that in Germany, where schoolteachers were the “mainstay of the feminist movement.” Evans, Richard J., The Feminist Movement in Germany, 1894–1933 (London, 1976), xGoogle Scholar.

44 According to 1910 statistics on male and female Sokol members in gymnastic teams, 55.8 percent of the men listed their occupation as “worker” but only 29.1 percent of the women did. On the other hand, 59.7 percent of female gymnasts were listed as “without occupation” or “other,” indicating bourgeois origins or membership in the free professions, and only 3.8 percent of male gymnasts fell into this category. These percentages only refer to Sokol members enrolled in the club's training program; see note 70 of this essay. The percentages are given in Vaníček, “Výstava,” 80–81. In general, women's sports at that time were an upper-and middle-class diversion; Pfister and Langenfeld, “Die Leibesiibüngen,” 513.

45 “Sokolice,” Sokol (1893): 285–86Google Scholar.

46 This writer went on to comment that Sokol leaders should be role models for the membership, and not “people who talk about manliness, but are under the foot of their wives in their home life”; “O našich chybach, nedostatcích a úkolech” (Concerning our mistakes, short-comings, and duties), Sokol (1895): 321Google Scholar.

47 Podráský, R., “O účastenstvi žen v Sokolských jednotách” (Concerning the participation of women in Sokol clubs), Sokol (1895): 378Google Scholar. In a similar vein, another writer argued that allowing women into the Sokol would enable them to learn their national duties from Sokol men; “O dámských odborech sokolských” (Concerning women's Sokol sections), Sokol (1896): 46–47Google Scholar.

48 “Valný sjezd,” Sokol (1895): 327Google Scholar. This prohibition was clarified by the Č.O.S. leadership to exclude women and children dressed in national costumes from Sokol parades; “Pokyny předsednictva Č.O.S.” (Instructions from the Č.O.S. Board of Directors), Věstnik sokolský (1898): 285Google Scholar. The fact that this prohibition had to be repeated in the ensuing years indicates that it was often violated.

49 “At the time of the resolution, Scheiner, a lawyer by profession, was editor of Sokol and had published the first collection of Tyrš;s works as well as the first history of the Sokol movement. In 1906, he became Č.O.S. president, a post he held until his death in 1932. His article appeared as Scheiner, J., “K resoluci” (About the resolution), Sokol (1895): 339–41, 356–57, and 371–72Google Scholar.

50 “VII poslání předsednictva České obce sokolské” (Seventh directive of the board of directors of the Č.O.S.), 12 1897, Sokol (1898): 20Google Scholar. The membership rules stated that the candidate must be male, at least eighteen years of age, and of good character. The individual clubs had the final say on accepting a candidate.

51 Quoted in Kostková, “K počátkům tělovýchovného hnutí žen,” 654. The policy of the Prague Ladies' Gymnastic Club about půblic displays is described in Působeni tělocvićného spolku, 3. The Schauturnen of German girls who trained in Tumverein clubs in the 1840s and 1850s had also been controversial. Neuendorff, Geschichte der Leibesübungen, 3:541; Pfister and Langenfeld, “Die Leibesübungen,” 492, 495.

52 “Věstník ženských odborů” (Bulletin of the women's sections), Věstnik sokolský (1904): 221Google Scholar. In 1896, 9 new women's sections were created; in 1897, 16; in 1898, 13; and in 1899, 3, for a total of 41 new sections in four years. Kostková, “K počátkúm tělovýchovného hnutí žen,” 653–54.

53 Ibid., 654.

54 , Patroklos [pseud.], “Několik myšlenek o tělocviku v našich ženskych odborech” (Some thoughts about the training in our women's sections), Sokol (1900): 265Google Scholar.

55 Ibid., 266–67.

56 The mass display was so well received that it was repeated the next day. “Cvičení žen” (Women's exercising), IV Slet všesokolský pořádaný v Praze Svazem Českoslovanskeho Sokolstva v dnech 28–29 června a 1 čenience 1901, ed. Scheiner, Josef (Prague, 1903), 94–96Google Scholar; and Kalik, Alois, “Čtvrtý slet všesokolský” (The fourth all-Sokol Slet), Sokol (1901): 190Google Scholar. German women first performed at a Turnfest in 1894.

57 A lifelong bachelor who worked in the postal service, Vaníček once confided in an 1885 letter that “for me, love of country and of humanity comes first, sexual love follows far behind.” Quoted in Karel Vaníček, sokolský písmák (K.V., Sokol scribe) (Prague, 1931), 202Google Scholar. His opinions on women are explained in ibid., 201–11. Examples of his writings on women are in Vaníček, , Sokolské epištoly: “Žena statečná” (Brave woman, first published 1902), 175–78; “O ženitbě” (About marriage, first published 1902), 182–86; “Závist” (Envy, first published 1914), 219–23; and “Inteligence” (The intelligentsia), 209–13Google Scholar.

58 Karel Vaníček, ”S vámi zvítěžime!” (We will win with you!), Sokol (1902): 145–47. Similar concerns about male trainers leading girls' exercising sessions in German schools helped open careers to female physical education teachers in the 1880s; Pfister and Langenfeld, “Die Leibesiibüngen,” 503–4

59 Exulant [pseud.], “S vámi zvítěžime!” Sokol (1902): 228

60 “Schůze předsednictva” (Meeting of the board of directors), 12 4, 1907, Vestnik sokolsky (1907): 764Google Scholar.

61 Šnepp, F. K., “Ženská otázka sokolská” (The women's question in the Sokol), Sokol (1902): 274–75Google Scholar. Šnepp, who later became a pioneer of Sokol gymnastics in Russia, also chided women for joining Sokol clubs for pleasure or personal fulfillment, without comprehending the serious national purpose of club work.

62 Očenášek, A., “Cvičení žen” (Women's exercising), Páty slet všesokolský pořádaný v Praze Českou obcisokolskou, ed. Scheiner, Josef (Prague, 1907), 219–20Google Scholar. Their performance was praised in Karel Vaniček, “Zkouška ohněm” (Trial by fire), Pátý slet všesokolský, 221–22. Also at this Slet, a Moravian women's delegation performed folk dances, twelve female members of the American Sokol marched and exercised with American and Czech flags, and a Slovene Sokol women's group performed. “Moravské tance” (Moravian dance), Pátý slet všesokolský, 210–14; “Veřejné cvičení” (Public exercising), ibid., 268–70; and “Patý slet všesokolský v Praze” (Fifth all-Sokol Slet in Prague), Sokol (1907): 218, 225.

63 Although gymnastic pioneers like Jahn and Pestalozzi mentioned girls' gymnastics in their writings, the first significant work on the subject was Kalisthenie oder Übungen der Schönheit und Kraft für Mädchen, published in 1829 by a Swiss educator named Peter Heinrich Clias, who had worked as a tutor to upper-class English girls, and who coined the term “calisthenics” from the Greek terms for beauty and strength. Background on the evolution of girls' gymnastics is given in Pfister and Langenfeld, “Die Leibesubungen,” 491–97; and Neuendorff, Geschichte der Leibesübungen, 2:376, 3:28, 221

64 Hanušová's system of girls' exercising is explained in Wachtlová, Dilo K.H., 25–48

65 An overview of the development of Sokol gymnastics for women is Provazníková, Marie, “Ženský tělocvik sokolský za Tyrše a dnes” (Women's Sokol training under Tyrš and today), Památník IX. sletu ušesokolského (Prague, 1933), 24–27Google Scholar. Some contemporary discussions on the problems of women's training are Roudná, Eliška, “Žena v Sokole” (The woman in the Sokol), Sokol (1906): 5–7Google Scholar; and Šnepp, F. K., “K tělocviku ženských odborů” (Concerning gymnastics in the women's sections), Sokol (1906): 27–30Google Scholar. Women in the Turnverein faced a similar dilemma about gymnastic training. Neuendorff, Geschichte der Leibesübungen, 4:515; Pfister and Langenfeld, “Die Leibesübungen,” 499, 510–11.

66 Sůva, Bohuslav, “Ženským odborům na uváženou” (For women's sections to consider), Věstník sokolský (1907): 278–79, 317–18Google Scholar. The demand for a náčelnice was officially supported by representatives of the women's sections during the 1912 Slet; “Schůze zástupkyň ženských odborů sokolských jednot Č.O.S.” (A meeting of representatives of the women's sections of Sokol clubs of the Č.O.S.), Věstník sokolský (1912): 563–64.

67 The American Sokol leader, Josef Čermák, author of a book on women's gymnastics, demonstrated techniques of rhythmic gymnastics at the 1912 Slet. A. Očenášek, “29. června” (June 29), Památník sletu 1912, 266; Provazníková, “Ženský tělocvik,” 25–26; and Macháček, Fridolin, ”The Sokol Movement: Its Contribution to Gymnastics,” The Slavonic and East European Review 17 (1938–39): 81Google Scholar. See also “Prostná žen” (Women's mass gymnastics), Pamáltník sletu 1912, 196–97; and “Cvičení žen župy středočeské 16. června 1912” (Exercising of women of the Central Bohemian District on June 16, 1912), ibid., 135–38.

68 In 1913 and 1914, Augustin Očenášek, a member of the Č.O.S. trainers' group who had studied the rhythmic gymnastics of Dalcroze and Demeny, worked with the composer Karel Pospíšil to develop rhythmic gymnastics for Sokol women's training. Provazníková, “Ženský tělocvik,” 26. The work of Dalcroze, Demeny, and other pioneers of rhythmic gymnastics and modern dance is discussed in Helmut Günter, “Gymnastik-und Tanzbestrebungen vom Ende des 19. Jahrhunderts bis zum Ersten Weltkrieg,” Ceschichte der Leibesübung, ed. H. Ueberhorst, 3/1:569–93

69 This demand was first raised publicly by Anuša Mařiková, Secretary of the Prague Ladies' Gymnastic Club, in a post-Slet article in the club paper. Maříková had refused to work on the Slet because women were denied equal billing with men. Maříková, Anuša, “Žena v Sokolstvu” (The woman in the Sokol movement), Sokol (1907): 194–95, 244Google Scholar. The editors of the paper noted that they disagreed with her point of view and asserted that she “was overly caught up in the leading trends of the modern women's movement.”

70 In 1905, there were 6,799 women in the Sokol, and by 1910, their total had reached 14,585. Statistika České obce sokolské za rok 1905 (Statistics of the Czech Sokol Union for the year 1905), comp. Rudolf Bilek et al. (Prague, 1906), 50; “Ze statistiky České obce sokolské za rok 1910” (From the statistics of the Czech Sokol Union for the year 1910), Sokol (1911): 254. There were three categories of Sokol membership. “Active members” made up just over 50 percent of the male membership at this time and were the only category of members permitted to participate in the club's gymnastic training. “Founding members” and “contributing members” paid dues or gave a contribution, but could not train with the club. In 1910, male gymnasts in training made up 23 percent of the total (active and passive) male membership, and female gymnasts in training comprised 48 percent of total female membership. Because of their regular participation in club activities, gymnasts in training were the most influential sector of the membership among both sexes. “Ze statistiky 1910,” Sokol (1911): 254; Vaníček, “Výstava,” 74–75; and Václav Kukaň, “Memento: Překvapující zjevy ve statistice Č.O.S. za rok 1910” (Memento: Surprising phenomena in the statistics of the Č.O.S. in 1910), Sokol (1911): 252.

71 Míla Koutníková, “Žena v Sokole” (Woman in the Sokol), Věstník sokolský (1913): 507. This system reflected the practices of an earlier era. It was standard procedure and, in many cases, legally required, for Czech women's organizations in the mid-nineteenth century to have a kurátor, a man who attended all club meetings, had a consultative voice, and represented the organization before the authorities. In addition, clubs at this time had their financial accounts monitored by men, since women were considered incapable of managing such matters. Volet-Jeanneret, La femme bourgeoise, 112, 137.

72 These different projects are set forth in two articles: Markéta Wachtlová, “Sokolstvo na sjezdu žen českoslovanských” (The Sokol movement at the meeting of Czechoslav women), Véstník sokolský (1908): 396–97; and Anuša Maříková, “Sokolstvo na sjezdu žen českoslovanských,” Věstník sokolský (1908): 558–59. Antifeminist prejudice in the Turnverein prompted German women gymnasts to organize themselves in separate women's clubs, about half of which joined the Deutsche Turnerschaft, the central union of Turnverein clubs; Pfister and Langenfeld, “Die Leibesübungen,” 511.

73 The Diet was dissolved by the Habsburg government because of national disturbances before she could assume her seat. Evans, The Feminists, 98; David, “Czech Feminists,” 37–38; and Horská, “K ekonomické aktivitě žen,” 737–40

74 Boxer, Marilyn J. and Quataert, Jean H., “Overview, 1890 to Present,” in Connecting Spheres: Women in the Western World, 1500 to the Present, ed. Boxer, Marilyn J. and Quataert, Jean H., foreword by Joan W. Scott (New York and Oxford, 1987), 199Google Scholar; and David, “Czech Feminists,” 31.

75 “Různé zprávy” (News items), Věstnik sokolský (1909): 700. The D.T.J. founded its first women's section in November 1908. “Do nového ročniku” (Into the new volume), Věstník sokolský (1909): 12–13; Šnepp, “Ženská otázka,” 274–76; “Žena v jednotě sokolské” (The woman in the Sokol club), Sokol (1908): 131–32; and Koutníková, “Žena ve Sokole,” 508. Sokol policy was also criticized in the D.T.J. club paper. Rezlerovā, B., “Sokolstvo pro nerovnoprávnost žen?” (Sokol for women's inequality?), Tělocvičný ruch (1914): 99–100Google Scholar; and “Sud'te sami!” (Judge for yourself!), Tělocvičný ruch (1913): 355Google Scholar.

76 This debate is recorded in “Jednání o zásadách pro řád ženských odború” (Discussion of the principles of the by-laws of women's sections), Věstník sokolský (1910): 607–10.

77 Ibid., 609.

78 Ibid., 608.

79 Ibid., 609.

80 Ibid., 610.

81 The vote was taken three times, and the final resolution passed by only 57 votes. “V. valný sjezd Č.O.S.” (Fifth Congress of the Č.O.S.), Věstník sokolský (1910): 284–85, 587.

82 “Zásadní ustanovení pro upravení poměru ženských odborů v jednotě, župách a Č.O.S.” (Basic regulation to improve the condition of the women's sections in the club, districts, and Č.O.S.), Věstník sokolský (1911): 198. The district náčelnice held a seat on the district board of directors, but ultimately came under the authority of the district náčelník. In similar fashion, the Č.O.S. women's commission fell under the authority of the Č.O.S. náčelnik.

83 “Schůze zástupkyň ženských odborů,” 562–66. Náčelnice of Sokol districts voted in 1913 to support proportional representation as well; “II. schůze župních náčelnic” (Second meeting of female district gymnastic directors), Přiloha k věstniku sokolskemu (1913): 1–6. To strengthen the women's position, the Prague Ladies' Gymnastic Club, the largest independent club in the movement, officially changed its constitution in 1912 to become the women's section of the Prague Sokol, prompting several members to resign; letter of resignation from Anna Slavíková et al., February 26, 1912, Státní ústřední archiv, Prague Sokol Collection, box 107

84 In 1912, total adult membership in the Sokol was 119, 183, of which 20,598 were women. The D.T.J. had 19,903 members, of which 3,037 were women, in 1914. The German Turnverein movement had 1,413,558 men and 75,392 women in 1914, and the Arbeiterturnverein had approximately 200,000 men and 20,000 women. “Překvapující číslice,” Tělocvičný ruch (1914): 162; Neuendorff, Geschichte der Leibesübungen, 4:515, 521, 523; and Wolfgang Eichel et al., Die Körperkultur in Deutschland von 1789 bis 1917 (Berlin, 1965), 243. See also “Stav německého turnérstva 1. ledna 1909” (The state of the German Tumverein as of January 1, 1909), Sokol (1910): 47.

85 Stará, M., “K naši ženské otázce” (Concerning our women's question), Sokol (1913): 247Google Scholar.

86 In 1912, Eliška Roudná, the first chairperson of the Č.O.S. women's commission, became the first woman to sit on the Č.O.S. Board of Directors, where she held an advisory vote pending a constitutional change at the upcoming Č.O.S. Congress in 1915. Also in 1912, a second woman entered the central leadership of the Sokol as an alternate district representative to the Č.O.S. Executive Council. The Č.O.S. Board of Directors, however, strongly protested even this meager female representation. Jandásek and Pelikán, Stručné dějiny Sokolsiva, 66.

87 “Jednání o zásadách,” 610. The Č.O.S. president, Josef Scheiner, expressed similar sentiments at the 1910 Congress, when he declared: “Tyrš's slogan, Military Vigilance! is itself an argument against women's participation” (ibid., 610).

88 On the paramilitary tendencies of the Polish Sokol, see Matusik, Przemyslaw, “Der polnische ‘Sokol’ zur Zeit der Teilungen und in der II. Polnischen Republik,” in Die slawische Sokolbewegung: Beitráge zur Geschichte von Sport und Nationalismus in Osteuropa, ed. Blecking, Diethelm (Dortmund, 1991), 122–25Google Scholar. For Bulgarian developments, see Losan Mitev, “Die Entwicklung der Turngesellschaften ‘Sokol’ und ‘Junak’ in Bulgarien bis zum Jahr 1914,” in ibid., 181.

89 Correspondence and questionnaires on the issue of women's rights sent into the Č.O.S. from local clubs and districts are in Státní ústřední archiv, ČO.S. Collection, box 51.

90 Scheiner had close ties to the Young Czech party and supported its foreign policy initiatives. Under his leadership, the Sokol became an important element in the Neo-Slav movement (a drive for Slavic cultural cooperation sponsored by the Young Czechs) and reinforced efforts to maintain Czech ties with French government circles by demonstrative gymnastic expeditions to France

91 Muller, V., “K naší ženské otázce” (Concerning our women's question), Sokol (1913): 308Google Scholar.

92 This decision, and the background to it, are examined in DrHeller, , “O postavení žen v Sokole” (Concerning the position of women in the Sokol), Věstník sokolský (1914): 120–26, 191–93Google Scholar. It was criticized in the journal of the Workers' Gymnastic Movement; Rezlerová, B., “Sokolstvo a ženská otázka” (The Sokol movement and the women's question), Tělocvičný ruch (1914): 147Google Scholar.