1880s: Slets, Union, and The French
In 1882, the first slet was held. Slet came from the Czech word for "a flocking of birds" (Czech plural: slety). The same word is, of course, available in other Slavic populated regions. It meant a mass gymnastics (1572 Sokols) festival that became a grand tradition within the Sokol movement that spread across the Central Europe together with other Slavic movements such as the political Pan-Slavism. This first one and the following Slets included an elaborate welcoming ceremony at the train station, mass demonstrations, gymnastics competitions, speeches, and theatrical events, open to members of all Sokols.
In 1887 the Habsburg authorities finally allowed, after over twenty years worth of proposals, the formation of a union of Sokol clubs – Czech Sokol Community (Česká obec sokolská, ČOS). The union centralized all the Sokols in the Czech lands and sent missionary Sokol trainers to the rest of the Slavic world to found Sokol institutions in Kraków, Ljubljana, Zagreb, and even Russian Empire (mostly the Ukrainian lands).
In 1889, though officially forbidden by the authorities, members of the Prague Sokol went to the World's Fair in Paris. There they won several medals and established strong connections with the French gymnasts and French public. The Sokols have been credited with establishing the beginning of the strong French sympathy for the Czechs and their subsequent political alliances on this trip.
Read more about this topic: Sokol
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