Page:The Czechoslovak Review, vol4, 1920.pdf/130

many foreign teams contesting for the honors as Antwerp will have a few months later, there will be many others besides Czech and Slovak Sokols in the great arena on the Letná. As yet we here in America do not know at the time of writing, what foreign delegations will attend this year. But in 1912 Prague welcomed Sokols of all Slav nations which following the Czech example had created organizations with the same name and the same ideals.
Scene from the Marathon Games at the Sixth Sokol Meet.Unfortunately in none of them had the Sokols attained to the same degree of influence and numerical strength as in Bohemia. The fate of Russia would have been different since its first revolution, if the Sokol idea had been as firmly rooted in the soul of the people, as was the case with the Czech nation. At the sixth all-Sokol meet there were present Serbian, Bulgarian, Croatian, Slovenian, Russian Sokols; Prague was the spiritual center of all those enthusiasts who believed in Slav co-operation and in patriotic ideals. From Prague instructors of gymnastic training went out to all Slav countries to organize Sokol unions and be the pioneers in physical training.

Beside teams from Slav countries there were present at the more recent Prague Sokol games delegations of the French gymnasts. And if France has been during the late war the earliest and most generous supporter of the claims for Czechoslovak independence, the cordial relations and mutual visits between Bohemian Sokols and French gymnasts in the days before the war were the principal means by which France was gained over. France introduced the Sokols into international athletic events and gave them the opportunity to win victories at the international games in Luxembourg, Turin and London. It is easy to imagine, what sort of reception will