dreyfus affair

the Dreyfus affair

series. Investigation and arrest Trial and conviction Picquart's investigations Other investigations Public scandal "J'accuse...!" - Zola Resolution Alfred Dreyfus This box: view • talk • edit

The Dreyfus Affair was a political scandal which divided France from the 1890s to the early 1900s. It involved the conviction for treason in November 1894 of Captain Alfred Dreyfus, a young Alsatian artillery officer of Jewish descent. Sentenced to life imprisonment for allegedly having been a spy for the German Army, 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 on just the second day of his trial. Instead of being exonerated, Dreyfus was further implicated in false documents designed by French counter-intelligence officers to re-confirm Dreyfus's conviction.

Word of the military court's framing of Dreyfus and the attendant cover-up began to spread in January of 1898, largely due to a vehement, public protestation by the writer Emile Zola. The case had to be re-opened, and 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[1]) and those who condemned him (the anti-Dreyfusards, such as Edouard Drumont and Hubert-Joseph Henry, respectively, the director and publisher of the anti-semitic newspaper La Libre Parole.

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. Contents [hide] 1 History 1.1 Anti-Semitism perspective 1.2 Family 1.3 Accusations and arrest 1.4 Judicial errors and obstruction of justice 1.5 Scandal 2 Aftermath 2.1 Dreyfus after imprisonment 2.2 Political ramifications 2.3 Anti-Semitism and birth of Zionism 2.4 Commission of sculpture 2.5 Centennial commemoration 3 Films and theatre 4 See also 5 Notes 6 References 7 Newspaper Articles 8 External links 9 Further reading //

History

Anti-Semitism perspective Antisemitism

History · Timeline · Resources

Manifestations

Anti-globalization related · Arab

Christian · Islamic · Nation of Islam

New · Racial · Religious

Secondary · Academic · Worldwide

Allegations

Deicide · Blood libel