»THE DUTY OF A SOKOL IS TO YET AGAIN STEP INTO THE NATIONAL FRONT LINE« (SOKOL MOVEMENT IN SLOVENIA - 150TH ANNIVERSARY OF JUŽNI SOKOL)

In Middle Europe, gymnastics have roots in the 19th century and since are witnessing the social inovation and institutionalisation of physical activity and exercises to modern exercising systems named by antique original gymnastics. Gymnastics (various exercising systems such as Ling’s, Jahn’s, Nachtegal’s and Tyrš’s or sokolism) as physical education soon became a significant political, health-eugenic and military instrument in the shaping of national identities and characters in 19 th century. Among middleeuropean Slavs the gymnastic pioneer was Sokol (Falcon) in Prague in 1862 but at the very same year there was also intention to organise gymnastic society in Ljubljana, Slovenia, indepentendly of Prague's events. Because of the contradictions of authorities first Sokol society on the territory of present-day Slovenia was organised in 1863 and became the central Sokol society among Slovenes. In the years before the WW I. Sokol societies spread around Slovenia and united in Union. With the establishing of Yugoslav state after WW I. Slovene Sokols joined with Serbians and Croatians into Yugoslav Sokol. In the paper we descript Sokols story by focusing on some cruical moments in Sokols history.