After the Polish Sokół held its first rally in Lviv in 1892 when a parade of members in uniforms marched through the city and the Czech Sokol movement visited, Ukrainians also became more active. In 1894, after lengthy bureaucratic procedures and the charter approval, the first rally of the Ukrainian Sokil (Falcon) took place in the premises of the Besida Society. The organization was growing. A women's division was opened in 1902; by 1914 the movement had 974 branches in Galicia.
On 9-10 September 1911, the Ukrainian Sokil, similarly to regular Polish rallies, held its first rally in Lviv, timed to the 50th anniversary of Taras Shevchenko's death. In contrast to the second rally in 1914, when the role of the clergy was minimized, in 1911 another Ukrainian military organization led by Kyrylo Tryliovsky, the radical Sich, virtually ignored the event. For the Sich members, the 1911 action seemed too "clerical" and not "radical" enough. Therefore, out of 610 local Sich branches, only 10 attended the 1911 meeting.
-
- Іван Боберський / Ivan Boberskyi
-
- Лонгин Цегельський / Lonhyn Tsehelskyi
The organizing committee, which included the head of the Sokil Ivan Boberskyi, his deputies Lonhyn Tsehelskyi and Mykhailo Voloshyn, and clerk Omelian Huzar, had a lot to do to prepare for the rally. They had to buy uniforms, conduct training sessions for the participants, and inform them of the program of events and even the lyrics of the marching songs. To do this, "district rallies" were held in the province, with festivals (charity events held mainly in the summer in open space) to raise money for the provincial rally. In Lviv, this district rally— actually, a rehearsal — was held on 2 July 1911 with the participation of the Sokils from Lviv, Vynnyky, Bibrka, Mykolaiv, and the village of Mshana.
On Saturday, 9 September, a meeting was held at the Philharmonic, which was located in the Skarbek Theatre, and on Sunday, a parade and demonstrations were held. In principle, this program was similar to the one usually used by the Polish Sokół.
The course of the event
The Skarbek Theatre, where the Philharmonic Orchestra used to perform
The meeting at the Philharmonic was actually a series of speeches with a musical program and the reading of congratulatory telegrams. Ivan Boberskyi spoke about the gymnastic movement in general. A representative of the Czech Sokol, František Mašek, spoke second, as "foreign guests" were an obligatory attribute and evidence of the rally's prestige. "Ukrainian women from Kyiv" handed over a "red scarf" to Lviv's Sokil, and in this connection Lonhyn Tsehelskyi delivered a speech about the situation of the Ukrainian movement in the Russian Empire. There was a "representative of the Ukrainians of Brazil", Klym Hutkovskyi, who attracted attention with his colourful "Cossack captain" outfit. Then there were other speakers who did not avoid the topic of "Polish chauvinism on the part of the City Council"; there were even calls "Long live free and independent Ukraine!"
On Sunday, at 7 a.m., participants began to gather at the Stryiska checkpoint. There were a lot of them, as eight irregular trains with the "Ukrainian Sokils" had arrived in Lviv the day before. At 9 a.m., a field service began on a section of the former bicycle route that the society had bought. This was followed by speeches and the consecration of the flag of the "Sokil Father," and at noon a march started to the city center, actually, to the Prosvita building on the Rynok Square. The march itself was also in the usual "Sokil style" as groups of participants were "diluted" by six orchestras along the entire length of the column.
At 4 p.m., the organization members demonstrated gymnastic exercises at their stadium. In the evening, there was a party in the restaurant in the Jesuit Garden.
Interpretation of the event in the various media
The most interesting thing is the interpretation of the event by different national press.
The Ukrainian newspaper Dilo listed the towns from which the delegates came (Przemyśl, Rohatyn, Sambir, Stanislaviv, Stryi, Ternopil, Chortkiv), and indicated the exact number of participants in the march (7896 people, of whom 864 were in uniforms, 4253 movement members from rural branches, 856 male students, 329 female students, 48 firefighters, 192 bandsmen, 100 horsemen). It was reported that despite the bad weather and mud underfoot, the sports exercises demonstrated by the "Sokil-Sich youth" were "spectacular and rhythmic", meaning that neither the weather nor the actual boycott by the Sich spoiled the event.
The Sokil newspaper Visti z Zaporozha provided even more details:
"The road was paved by 17 riders led by Comrade Domanyk. They were followed by firefighters from Vyhnanka, the railway orchestra, the flag of the Sokil Father, the presidium of the Sokil Father, representatives of the Czechs, Brazilian Ukrainians, the Sich from Chernivtsi, Vienna and Hrad, and heads of district branches. The leader I. Dyhdalevych led an entire army on horseback with his supporter. There were 586 male Sokils in uniforms, 282 female Sokils in uniforms, and the Sich of the Main Sich Committee was led by the osaul I. Prybyla, who was on horseback. The campaign was attended by students of Ruthenian gymnasiums and Ruthenian schools. There were 7896 people in the march (8 musicians). Kadetska, Kopernyka, Trybunalska streets, Rynok Square in front of the Prosvita building, Halystka, Akademichna, St. Mykolaya, and Zyblikevycha streets formed the route."
A completely different picture emerges when reading the Polish press. The Kurjer Lwowski newspaper wrote that "Lviv experienced a Ukrainian day" when "10,000 Ruthenians" arrived in the city for the first Sokil rally, which was not about sports and gymnastics, but about "demonstrating their numerical strength, organization, and claim to Lviv." The Polish public perceived the Ukrainian campaign "calmly and coldly, like the march of a foreign army columns." According to the Polish newspaper, the Ukrainian Sokils were met with several flags on the houses, which was supposed to be a contrast to the meetings of the Polish Sokółs.
No epithets were spared to describe the participants themselves. The "mass of the Ruthenian peasantry" allegedly marched without uniforms, just with colored ribbons, flags, and wooden hatchets. The grey and blue Sokil uniforms were few and far between, with barely one in ten participants wearing them. Against their background, the newspaper reported, even the few members of the Sich society, wearing their black uniforms with red decorations, looked more impressive.
The government-run Gazeta Lwowska briefly described the number of participants (approximately 5,000, mostly peasants) and the course of the event (march to the Rynok Square, exercises at the stadium, a dinner party at the Jesuit Garden restaurant). It also noted that no one violated the law and order.
* * *
Thus, the march of the gymnasts was perceived by everyone as what it actually was: a military parade of a separate national group. Attitudes ranged from pride to poorly concealed hostility. For the Ukrainians, it was also one of the few ways to express themselves in public space outside the buildings of their national societies. This caused rejection by the Poles, who considered the city "their own."
