Almost everyone came across a term such as "ultra." The meaning of the word is interpreted as "excessive", "over." However, it should be noted that this term has become both the name of various organizations and the designation of the French political group at the beginning of the 19th century. About what is "ultra", about the different meanings of this word can be found in the article.
In dictionary
Trying to understand what “ultra” is, first of all it is necessary to turn to an explanatory dictionary. It says that it is:
- Excessively, over the norm.
- The name of the operation of British scientists to crack the cryptographic code of the Enigma machine.
- The colloquial designation of a political group in France supporting a monarchy.
- The name of the network of mobile phone stores in Russia.
- Designation of radical fans of football and hockey teams.
- Name of the Russian radio station.
- The name of the CIA project related to the manipulation of consciousness.
- The film is about radical football fans.
- Russian book publishing house.
- Depeche Mode album released in 1997.
As follows from the above, the word “ultra” has a lot of meanings, some of which will be considered in more detail.
Military operation
Studying what “ultra” is, it is worth learning about the secret project of the British intelligence service during World War II. The troops of Nazi Germany made steady progress in the Atlantic, destroying British merchant ships and warships. British intelligence began to intercept secret communications exchanged between the captains of German submarines and ships with coastal command. However, they could not decrypt, and, therefore, read these messages.
The British created a special group of scientists who were engaged in hacking enemy messages. It didn’t work out right away, but after some time the code of the Enigma encryption machine, with the help of which messages were transmitted, was nevertheless hacked.
After that, the term “Ultra” began to be used not only for a group of scientists involved in hacking, but also for all messages that had top-secret meaning. It should be noted that the work of this group made a significant contribution to the struggle of the British Navy with fascist submarines and ships.
Political group
Also studying what “ultra” means, we should mention the political group that existed in France from 1814 to 1830. They were the extreme right (reactionary) wing of the monarchists. The ultra-royalists wanted a complete restoration of the monarchy, as well as feudal obligations. Cancellation of suffrage and return of previously sold national property.
It is an interesting fact that after the so-called restoration of the Bourbon monarchy, the vast majority of the aristocracy surrounding the king behaved as if there was no revolution. They were firmly convinced that everything would return to normal, and again they would have great power and wealth. In fact, it was precisely for this that the ultra-royalists in the parliament stood up.
Fans
Worth mentioning is sports. In October 1950, the first radical group of fans of the Hajduka football club (Split) appeared in Croatia. After 16 years in Italy, the Ultras group of the Milan team is being formed. These two countries are considered the birthplace of radical football fans.
As a rule, the ultras group as a structure is not officially registered anywhere. It can consist of from 10 to several thousand people, among which there is always a skeleton, which is the most radical fans. They are distinguished by extreme aggressiveness at their football team matches, as well as intolerance towards fans of other clubs.
There is also the leading part of the group, which is engaged in supporting their beloved team, creating promotional attributes with its logos. She distributes tickets for matches, organizes special shows and trips to the club’s guest meetings. The ultra-community exists through membership fees, and in some cases through sponsorship.
In conclusion of the consideration of the question of what is “ultra”, it should be noted that European groups of well-known teams to one degree or another are in financial relations with representatives of clubs. The latter, in turn, consult with their leaders on a variety of issues that are related to the behavior of fans during the matches. In other words, initially ordinary fans over time become a real force and influence various events related to their favorite team.