The origin of the Sokol idea and movement is related to the second half of the 19th century. At that time, most of the Slavic peoples were enslaved, their national consciousness was awakening. The Czechs, who were exposed to great pressure and Germanization, founded Soko in 1862 as a Slavic gymnastics organization. Unlike them, the Serbs already had their own state and gymnastic knightly societies were created in a free state under the auspices of Serbian rulers. The first gymnastics troupe was created in 1857 under the leadership of Steve Todorović, who was raising Prince Mihailo's illegitimate son Velimir. In addition to him, several other children from Belgrade families practiced in the company. Prince Mihailo Obrenović, who lived in Europe for a long time, knew the importance of gymnastics and sports,so he bought exercise equipment and gave a plot of land for exercise on the site of the current Academy of Sciences. During the reign of King Milan, the first Belgrade Society for Gymnastics and Wrestling was founded in 1882, which changed its name to Soko in 1891. Since the foundation of this society, the patron was the heir to the throne, later King Aleksandar Obrenović. After the May coup 1903, Crown Prince Đorđe Karađorđević became the patron of Sokol. When he abdicated, his brother King Alexander did not officially receive patronage, but he considered himself a Sokol and had a decisive influence on the strengthening of the organization and the profiling of the Sokol ideology. In 1929, he decided that his minor son, the Crown Prince Petar, would become the head of the Sokol (Sokol elder) of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. The seniority of the Crown Princ and later of King Peter gave the Sokol movement a certain amount of exclusivity. The Sokol movement grew rapidly, the number of members grew, Sokol house were built, and Sokol Slets were organized. The official uniform of the young Crown Prince was the Sokol uniform, and he even wore it to his father's funeral. His brothers Tomislav and Andrej were also members of Sokol. After the death of King Alexander, Regent Prince Pavle enrolled his sons in Soko. The Serbian rulers correctly understood the importance of exercise and sports and used their authority to strengthen the Sokol idea and movement. Thanks to them, the Serbian and Yugoslav Sokol movement was largely supported by the state and was able to strengthen and develop indiscriminately.