Dreyfus affair

Alfred Dreyfus in an army uniform, wearing a mustache. The Dreyfus Affair was a political scandal which divided France for many years during the late 19th century . It centered on the 1894 treason conviction of Alfred Dreyfus , a Jewish artillery officer in the French army. Dreyfus was, in fact, innocent: the conviction rested on false documents, and when high-ranking officers realised this they attempted to cover up the mistakes. The writer Émile Zola exposed the affair to the general public in the literary newspaper L'Aurore (The Dawn) in a famous open letter to the Président de la République Félix Faure , titled J'accuse! (I Accuse!) on January 13 , 1898 . In the words of historian Barbara W. Tuchman , it was "one of the great commotions of history". The Dreyfus Affair split France between the dreyfusards (those supporting Alfred Dreyfus) and the antidreyfusards (those against him). The quarrel was especially violent since it involved many issues then highly controversial in a heated political climate. To some extent, these divisions followed those between a right wing often supporting a return to monarchy and clericalism—the involvement of the Roman Catholic Church in public policy—and a left wing supporting the republic , often with violent anti-clerical feelings. The virulence of the passions aroused by the case was due to anti-Semitism in France. This may have been due partly to the failure of the Union Générale —a Roman Catholic banking establishment which aimed at superseding Jewish finance—in 1885; it also may have been partly due to the publication of Edouard Drumont 's book La France Juive in 1886 . However, the affair could not have had that much importance if France had been solidly or even mostly antisemitic. Indeed, Alfred Dreyfus had been admitted to France's highest schools, had been made an army officer, and had been given access to military secrets. It is doubtful that any of the above would have been possible in a solidly antisemitic country such as Czarist Russia . The controversy that ensued was made possible by a large share of the population not being antisemites and willing to fight for an innocent. The Dreyfus Affair bitterly divided the whole French society. Here, caricaturist Caran d'Ache depicts a fictional family dinner. At the top, somebody remarks "...Above all! let's not speak of the Dreyfus Affair!". At the bottom, the family is fighting and the caption reads "...They spoke of it..." The case itself was more immediately the outcome of the continuous attack upon the presence of the Jews as officers in the French army, spearheaded by Drumont and others in the journal "La Libre Parole" (founded with the help of Jesuits in 1892 ). The articles of the "Libre Parole," which denounced French Jewish officers as being future traitors, led a Jewish captain of dragoons, Crémieu-Foa, to declare that he resented as a personal insult the slanderous assault made upon the body of Jewish officers. He fought a duel , first with Drumont, then with Lamase, under whose name the articles had appeared. It had been agreed that the report of the proceedings should not be made public. The brother of Crémieu-Foa, following the advice of Captain Esterhazy , one of the Jewish captain's seconds, communicated the information to the journal "Matin." The Marquis de Morès, who had been chief second of Lamase and was a well-known anti-Semite and famous duellist, held Captain Mayer, chief second of Crémieu-Foa, responsible for the breach of confidentiality. Though innocent of the matter, Mayer accepted a challenge from the marquis. The duel was fought on June 23 , the Jewish captain being mortally wounded at the first attack; he died a few days after the duel. Owing to the sensation that was caused by this event, the "Libre Parole" thought it wise to stop the campaign against the Jewish officers until further orders.

The bordereau (memorandum) which sparked the Dreyfus affair. Alfred Dreyfus, who was wrongly convicted of spying for Germany. The Dreyfus affair ( ) was a political scandal that divided France in the 1890s and the early 1900s. It involved the conviction for treason in November 1894 of Captain Alfred Dreyfus , a young French artillery officer of Alsatian Jewish descent . Sentenced to life imprisonment for allegedly having communicated French military secrets to the German Embassy in Paris, Dreyfus was sent to the penal colony at Devil's Island in French Guiana and placed in solitary confinement . Two years later, in 1896, evidence came to light identifying a French Army major named Ferdinand Walsin Esterhazy as the real culprit. However, high-ranking military officials suppressed this new evidence and Esterhazy was unanimously acquitted after the second day of his trial in military court. Instead of being exonerated, Alfred Dreyfus was further accused by the Army on the basis of false documents fabricated by a French counter-intelligence officer, Hubert-Joseph Henry , seeking to re-confirm Dreyfus's conviction. These fabrications were uncritically accepted by Henry's superiors. Word of the military court's framing of Alfred Dreyfus and of an attendant cover-up began to spread largely due to J'accuse , a vehement public open letter in a Paris newspaper by writer Émile Zola , in January 1898. The case had to be re-opened and Alfred Dreyfus was brought back from Guiana in 1899 to be tried again. The intense political and judicial scandal that ensued divided French society between those who supported Dreyfus (the Dreyfusards ) and those who condemned him (the anti-Dreyfusards), such as Edouard Drumont (the director and publisher of the antisemitic newspaper La Libre Parole ) and Hubert-Joseph Henry . Eventually, all the accusations against Alfred Dreyfus were demonstrated to be baseless . Dreyfus was exonerated and reinstated as a major in the French Army in 1906. He later served during the whole of World War I , ending his service with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. The term post-dates the start of the affair.

Sociopolitical controversy in the French Third Republic For the film series, see The Dreyfus Affair (film series) . Alfred Dreyfus The Dreyfus Affair ( , ) was a political scandal that divided the Third French Republic from 1894 until its resolution in 1906. "L'Affaire", as it is known in French, has come to symbolise modern injustice in the Francophone world, and it remains one of the most notable examples of a complex miscarriage of justice and antisemitism . The role played by the press and public opinion proved influential in the conflict. The scandal began in December 1894 when Captain Alfred Dreyfus was convicted of treason . Dreyfus was a 35-year-old Alsatian French artillery officer of Jewish descent . He was sentenced to life imprisonment for allegedly communicating French military secrets to the German Embassy in Paris, and was imprisoned in Devil's Island in French Guiana , where he spent nearly five years. In 1896, evidence came to light—primarily through an investigation instigated by Georges Picquart , head of counter-espionage which identified the real culprit as a French Army major named Ferdinand Walsin Esterhazy . When high-ranking military officials suppressed the new evidence, a military court unanimously acquitted Esterhazy after a trial lasting only two days. The Army laid additional charges against Dreyfus, based on forged documents. Subsequently, Émile Zola 's open letter J'Accuse…! , stoked a growing movement of support for Dreyfus, putting pressure on the government to reopen the case. In 1899, Dreyfus was returned to France for another trial. The intense political and judicial scandal that ensued divided French society between those who supported Dreyfus (now called "Dreyfusards"), such as Sarah Bernhardt , Anatole France , Henri Poincaré and Georges Clemenceau , and those who condemned him (the anti-Dreyfusards), such as Édouard Drumont , the director and publisher of the antisemitic newspaper La Libre Parole . The new trial resulted in another conviction and a 10-year sentence, but Dreyfus was pardoned and released. In 1906, Dreyfus was exonerated and reinstated as a major in the French Army . He served during the whole of World War I , ending his service with the rank of lieutenant-colonel. He died in 1935. The affair from 1894 to 1906 divided France into pro-republican, anticlerical, Dreyfusards and pro-Army, mostly Catholic "anti-Dreyfusards". It embittered French politics and encouraged radicalisation. An Empire Divided: Religion, Republicanism, and the making of French Colonialism, 1880-1914 .

1894–1906 political scandal in France For the film series, see The Dreyfus Affair (film series) . Alfred Dreyfus The Dreyfus affair ( , ) was a political scandal that divided the Third French Republic from 1894 until its resolution in 1906. L'Affaire Dreyfus has come to symbolise modern injustice in the Francophone world; it remains one of the most notable examples of a complex miscarriage of justice and antisemitism . The role played by the press and public opinion proved to be influential in the conflict. The scandal began in December 1894 when Captain Alfred Dreyfus was convicted of treason. Dreyfus was a 35-year-old Alsatian French artillery officer of Jewish descent . He was baselessly convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for communicating French military secrets to the German Embassy in Paris. He was sent overseas to the penal colony on Devil's Island in French Guiana , where he spent nearly five years imprisoned in very harsh conditions. In 1896, evidence came to light—primarily through an investigation made by Lieutenant Colonel Georges Picquart , head of counter-espionage—which identified the real culprit as a French Army Major named Ferdinand Walsin Esterhazy . When high-ranking military officials suppressed the new evidence, a military court unanimously acquitted Esterhazy after a trial lasting only two days. The Army laid additional charges against Dreyfus, based on forged documents. Subsequently, writer Émile Zola 's open letter J'Accuse...! in the newspaper L'Aurore stoked a growing movement of political support for Dreyfus, putting pressure on the government to reopen the case. In 1899, Dreyfus was returned to France for another trial. The intense political and judicial scandal that ensued divided French society between those who supported Dreyfus (now called "Dreyfusards", such as Sarah Bernhardt , Anatole France , Charles Péguy , Henri Poincaré and Georges Clemenceau ) and those who condemned him (the anti-Dreyfusards, such as Édouard Drumont , the director and publisher of the antisemitic newspaper La Libre Parole ). The new trial resulted in another conviction and a 10-year sentence, but Dreyfus was pardoned and released. In 1906, Dreyfus was exonerated . After being reinstated as a major in the French Army, he served during the whole of World War I , ending his service with the rank of lieutenant colonel. He died in 1935. The affair from 1894 to 1906 divided France into pro-republican, anticlerical Dreyfusards and pro-Army, mostly Catholic "anti-Dreyfusards". It embittered French politics and encouraged radicalisation. An Empire Divided: Religion, Republicanism, and the making of French Colonialism, 1880–1914 .

1894–1906 political scandal in France For the film series, see The Dreyfus Affair (film series) . Dreyfus in 1894, the year he was prosecuted The Dreyfus affair ( French : affaire Dreyfus , pronounced [afɛːʁ dʁɛfys] ) was a political scandal that divided the Third French Republic from 1894 until its resolution in 1906. The scandal began in December 1894 when Captain Alfred Dreyfus , a 35-year-old Alsatian French artillery officer of Jewish descent , was wrongfully convicted of treason for communicating French military secrets to the German Embassy in Paris. He was sentenced to life imprisonment and sent overseas to the penal colony on Devil's Island in French Guiana , where he spent the following five years imprisoned in very harsh conditions. In 1896, evidence came to light—primarily through the investigations of Lieutenant Colonel Georges Picquart , head of counter-espionage—which identified the real culprit as a French Army major named Ferdinand Walsin Esterhazy . High-ranking military officials suppressed the new evidence, and a military court unanimously acquitted Esterhazy after a trial lasting only two days. The Army laid additional charges against Dreyfus, based on forged documents. Subsequently, writer Émile Zola 's open letter " J'Accuse...! In 1899, Dreyfus was returned to France for another trial. The intense political and judicial scandal that ensued divided French society between those who supported Dreyfus, the "Dreyfusards" such as Sarah Bernhardt , Anatole France , Charles Péguy , Henri Poincaré , Georges Méliès , and Georges Clemenceau ; and those who condemned him, the "anti-Dreyfusards" such as Édouard Drumont , the director and publisher of the antisemitic newspaper La Libre Parole . The new trial resulted in another conviction and a 10-year sentence, but Dreyfus was pardoned and released. In 1906, Dreyfus was exonerated . After being reinstated as a major in the French Army, he served during the whole of World War I , ending his service with the rank of lieutenant colonel. He died in 1935. The Dreyfus affair came to symbolise modern injustice in the Francophone world; it remains one of the most notable examples of a miscarriage of justice and of antisemitism . The affair divided France into pro-republican, anticlerical Dreyfusards and pro-army, mostly Catholic anti-Dreyfusards, embittering French politics and encouraging radicalisation. The press played a crucial role in exposing information and in shaping and expressing public opinion on both sides of the conflict. An Empire Divided: Religion, Republicanism, and the making of French Colonialism, 1880–1914 .