the Dreyfus Affair

            The ninth child of a successful Jewish family, Alfred Dreyfus would grow up comfortable in his home in Alsace. He was born in 1859, rounding out his family and his father’s rags-to-riches story (from peddler to textile manufacturer), and would live a happy ten years before his life’s path would officially begin.

            The Franco-Prussian War, otherwise known as the War of 1870, would break out during the tenth year of Dreyfus’s life. At this time, the Prussian chancellor was Otto von Bismarck, and his goal was to unite all German-speaking people and nations. In order to accomplish this goal, he provoked an attack from the Second Empire of France, thereby drawing the southern German states into an alliance with the northern German states. By doing all this, the German states were able to defeat the French armies and by 1871 Wilhelm I declared a German Empire. Before the Paris Commune could get involved, the Treaty of Frankfurt was signed, wherein the new German Empire was given the territory of Alsace-Lorraine. This annexation prompted Dreyfus’s father to move the family to Europe, uprooting their happy, carefree lives. It was this loss to Germany that would change Dreyfus’s life, because he would now grow with a passion for his nationality that he would feed through a military career.

Alfred Dreyfus circa 1890

            From 1877 all the way up until 1894 when this “affair” began, Dreyfus excelled in his military schooling, earning promotions and receiving honors left and right There was but one snafu wherein a higher ranking officer commented upon Dreyfus’s Jewish background, giving him a low score on his personality test due to implications that a person of Jewish origin would not be welcome in this specific sect of the army. The same officer committed the same offense against another Jewish official, and there was a minor investigation done on the matter, but not much was done given that the person in question possessed so much power. This tiny docking of points on an exam would foreshadow the entire “affair” that Dreyfus was in store for.

J'Accuse...! by Émile Zola, found in L'Aurore on 3 January 1898

            Now the issue itself began in 1894 when the French army’s Counter-Intelligence group found out that there was a rat amongst the General Staff, one that was feeding military secrets to Germany. It was October 15 when Dreyfus was formally arrested for treason, but the term “affair” would not be applied to the case until Émile Zola’s 1898 article J’accuse…! Less than a year later in 1895, Dreyfus would be secretly convicted, although publicly stripped of his titles and honors. This was all followed by the sentence of life in prison, and Dreyfus was sent to Devil’s Island where he was expected to spend the rest of his life.

            After acquiring a new Chief of Military Intelligence, evidence surfaced that suggested Dreyfus’s innocence another Major’s guilt (Ferdinand Esterhazy). This Chief was transferred to Tunisia for voicing these concerns, and reports of this cover-up by the French army were leaked to the press. Despite all this, Esterhazy was found not guilty.  This new information on the Dreyfus Affair as it would come to be known would spark yet another debate within the political sphere of France; not only would the issue of anti-Semitism within society and the military be exposed, but also a discussion in regards to whether or not France could be considered a Catholic nation or a republic founded on the basis of equality which would undermine the impact of religion on politics. Because of all this heat, and because of supporters like Zola pushing for a retrial, Dreyfus was given a second chance in 1896 where he was again convicted as guilty of treason. Although in 1899 Dreyfus was given back his freedom because of the public’s insistent opinion that he was innocent. He lived under house arrest until 1906 when he was officially exonerated and given back his post in the army, even earning the rank of Major and then a Knight of the Legion of Honor. He would go on to serve during World War I.

Alfred Dreyfus circa 1934

            Dreyfus passed away on 12 July 1935 and was buried in the Cimetière du Montparnasse. If a visit here is not enough, a statue of Dreyfus can be found at the exit of the Notre-Dame-des-Champs metrostation, and also at the entrance to the Museum of Jewish Art and History.

            So what were the consequences of this political scandal, which took place right in the middle of Le Belle Époque? Politically speaking, the two sides of France (Nationalists and Republicans) who had been at odds with each other were finally given a battlefield on which to debate. Socially speaking, anti-Semitism had always been prominent and prevalent throughout all of Europe, but with new ideas (some of which we have discussed in class ***the Mule***), racism was becoming less justifiable; and yet there was a sharp spike in anti-Semitism during these years. Many politicians would take advantage of this trend in order to forward themselves. In addition, we see that the press is now affecting French society more strongly, not just informing but also shaping opinions of newsreaders. We are also of course given a new method of analysis; a name was given to people (dreyfusist) who believed that in order to fully understand and appreciate all angles within any political or legal issue, it would be necessary to examine not just the pertinent evidence, but also one must question society and politics. This would be a blatant suggestion that sometimes the government and its methods (in the case of the Dreyfus Affair one questioned France) would have to be questioned.

All of the above are ideas that had been posed by intellectuals all throughout the world, but the Dreyfus Affair would be an example that these thinkers could turn to when in need of an explanation. The Dreyfus Affair, although detrimental to the trust built between the army, the government, and the people of France, would allow for thinkers to widen their funnels so that any and all information could be received, and only then could a proper analysis of any event or idea take place. It was with all of this in mind, the political debates, the anti-Semitic trends, the strength of the press, and the dreyfusist theories, that France would enter the twentieth century.