Baku sport societies in the Russian Empire (1900–1914)

The article attempts to identify the main stages of the Baku sport societies’ development from their origin to the outbreak of the First World War. From the very beginning, their activities were based on the Sokol ideology and the Sokol complex of physical exercises. This, in its turn, predetermined participation of a significant number of Czech specialists and members of the Czech diaspora, who lived in the Baku province, in their work. The author concludes that all attempts of Sokol activists to spread the Panslavic ideas among compatriots and residents of Baku were met with strong resistance and reluctance because the locals did not want to see Sokol as an ideological landmark of the Czech community in Russia.