Котов В. В. Ян Гус, гуситы и «соколы»: инструментализация событий XV века чешскими националистами и отзвуки их акций в Российской империи (1862–1916) [Электронный ресурс] // Vox medii aevi. 2019. Vol. 2(5). С. 102–126. URL: https://voxmediiaevi.com/2019-2-kotov
DOI: 10.24411/2587-6619-2019-00015
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Viktor Kotov
Independent Researcher
vikvikkot@gmail.com
https://inslav.academia.edu/VictorKotov
Jan Hus, the Hussites, and the Sokols: the Instrumentalisation of the Fifteenth-Century Events by Czech Nationalists and the Repercussions of these Actions in the Russian Empire (1862–1916)
The paper examines the construction of the image of Jan Hus and the Hussites by Czech nationalists in the 19th century as an effective tool of spreading the Czech identity and strengthening the commitment to it. The Sokol (Czech for a “falcon”) movement played a signifcant part in the construction of these images of Jan Hus and the Hussites. Like the German “Turnvereins”, which had served as a model for the Sokols, the movement combined nationalism with gymnastics and gradually spread throughout the so-called Czech lands (a part of the Habsburg Monarchy) and beyond. The main reason for the Sokols’ special interest in “God’s warriors” was their military potential. The Sokols’ image of Hus and the Hussites did not considerably differ from the one formed in the mainstream of Czech nationalism and included the notion of “the Other” (Germans and “Clericals”) and the egalitarianism. The Sokols used a wide range of practices to reconstruct the 15th-century events, including, for example, building of bonfres on the day of Hus’s execution and theatrical performances. In the Russian Empire, the Sokols took part in the events which employed the Czech nationalistic image of Hus and the Hussites as well as the Russian one. The latter implied the idea of Slavic reciprocity and the connection to the Orthodox Christianity.
Key words: Czech anti-clericalism; Czech nationalism; Czech-Russian relations; Hussites; Jan Hus; Slavic reciprocity; Sokol movement.