NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Dreyfuss affair

The Dreyfus Affair was a political scandal which divided France during the 1890s and early 1900s. It involved the wrongful conviction of Jewish military officer Alfred Dreyfus for treason. Captain Alfred Dreyfus. ... The Dreyfus Affair began when a bordereau (detailed memorandum) disclosing French military secrets was found in the possession of the Germans. ... Alfred Dreyfus was put on trial accused of espionage, found guilty and sentenced to life in prison on Devils Island. ... While Alfred Dreyfus was serving his sentence on Devils Island back in France a number of people began to question his guilt. ... After Major Georges Picquarts exile to Tunisia others took up the cause of the Alfred Dreyfus. ... The scandal over falsely accused Alfred Dreyfus grew into a public scandal of unprecedented scale. ... // Trial of Esterhazy for forgery On the same day as this arrest the examining magistrate Bertulus, disregarding the threats and entreaties of which he had been the object, on his own initiative (as an official note put it) sent Major Esterhazy and his mistress, Marguerite Pays, to prison, accused of... A political scandal is a scandal in which politicians engage in various illegal or unethical practices. ... The 1890s were sometimes referred to as the Mauve Decade, because William Henry Perkins aniline dye allowed the widespread use of that colour in fashion, and also as the Gay Nineties, under the then-current usage of the word gay which referred simply to merriment and frivolity, with no... // Events and Trends Technology First flight by the Wright brothers, December 17, 1903. ... Jews (Hebrew: ×™×”×•×“×™×, Yehudim) are followers of Judaism or, more generally, members of the Jewish people (also known as the Jewish nation, or the Children of Israel), an ethno-religious group descended from the ancient Israelites and converts who joined their religion. ... Alfred Dreyfus in an army uniform. ... Treason also commonly refers to a book by Ann Coulter In law, treason is the crime of disloyalty to ones nation or state. ...

1 Background
2 Politics
3 La Libre Parole
4 Conviction and pardon
5 Aftermath
6 Discussion of Theodor Herzl
7 Films
8 See also
9 External links
10 Further reading

Background

Captain Alfred Dreyfus in military uniform and wearing a mustache.

Captain Alfred Dreyfus was the highest-ranking Jewish artillery officer in the French army. He was charged with passing military secrets to the German Embassy in Paris, and in 1894 he was convicted of treason and sent to prison on Devil's Island. The conviction was based on documents which were found in the waste-paper basket of the German miltiary attaché, Major Max von Schwartzkoppen, and which initially appeared to the French military authorities to implicate Dreyfus. Fearing that the sometimes anti-semitic press would learn of the affair and accuse the French army of covering up for a Jewish officer, the French military command pushed for an early trial and acquittal. By the time they realised that they had very little evidence against Dreyfus (and that what they had was not at all conclusive), it was already politically impossible to withdraw the prosecution without provoking a political scandal that would have brought down the French government. The subsequent court martial was notable for numerous errors of procedure (most notably, the defence was unaware of a secret dossier which the prosecution provided to the military judges). A photograph of Alfred Dreyfus This work is copyrighted. ... A photograph of Alfred Dreyfus This work is copyrighted. ... Devils Island (French ÃŽle du Diable) is the smallest island of the three Iles du Salut located off the coast of French Guiana, with an area of 14 hectares. ...

The writer Émile Zola is often thought to have exposed the affair to the general public in a famous open letter to President Félix Faure to which the French statesman and journalist Georges Clemenceau appended the eye-catching title "J'accuse!" (I Accuse!); it was published 13 January 1898 in the newspaper L'Aurore (The Dawn). In the words of historian Barbara Tuchman, it was "one of the great commotions of history". Zola in fact came on the scene very late in the day. The real credit for exposing the flaws behind Dreyfus' conviction belongs to Dreyfus' brother Mathieu who fought a lonely campaign for several years, the journalist Lazard, a whistle-blower in the intelligence service Colonel Picquardt and the politician Scheurer-Kestner who brought the injustice to the attention of the French political class. Ã‰mile Zola Ã‰mile Zola (April 2, 1840 â€“ September 29, 1902) was an influential French novelist, the most important example of the literary school of naturalism, and a major figure in the political liberalization of France. ... Georges Clemenceau (September 28, 1841 â€“ November 24, 1929) was a French doctor, journalist and statesman. ... Barbara Wertheim Tuchman (January 30, 1912 â€“ February 6, 1989) was an American historian and author. ...

Politics

The Dreyfus Affair bitterly divided the whole of 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 caption reads "...They spoke of it..."

The Dreyfus Affair split France into Dreyfusards and anti-Dreyfusards. The sometimes-violent quarrel involved controversial issues in a heated political climate. To some extent, the division was between right-wing anti-Dreyfusards supportive of a return to monarchy and clericalism (the involvement of the Roman Catholic Church in public policy) and left-wing Dreyfusards supportive of the Republic and angry with the Church. However, some right-wingers supported Dreyfus for his courage and some left-wingers opposed him for his bourgeois background. Drawing a family supper from Caran dAche in le Figaro on February 14, 1898. ... Caran dAches most famous cartoon. ... A controversy is a contentious dispute, a disagreement over which parties are actively arguing. ... In politics, right-wing, the political right, or simply the right, are terms which refer, with no particular precision, to the segment of the political spectrum in opposition to left-wing politics. ... A monarchy, (from the Greek monos, one, and archein, to rule) is a form of government that has a monarch as Head of State. ... In politics, left-wing, political left, leftism, or simply the left, are terms which refer (with no particular precision) to the segment of the political spectrum typically associated with any of several strains of socialism, social democracy, or liberalism (especially in the American sense of the word), or with opposition... In a broad definition, a republic is a state whose political organization rests on the principle that the citizens or electorate constitute the ultimate root of legitimacy and sovereignty. ...

The virulence of the passions aroused by the case was to a large extent due to anti-Semitism, which often related to Catholic, reactionary, and anti-Republican feelings. Anger was further aroused by the 1885 failure of the Union Generale, a Roman Catholic banking establishment which aimed at superseding Jewish finance. And the 1886 publication of Edouard Drumont's book La France Juive (Jewish France) also increased hostility. The Eternal Jew: 1937 German poster. ... Reactionary (or reactionist) is a political epithet typically applied to conservatism. ... The Roman Catholic Church, most often spoken of simply as the Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with over one billion members. ... Ã‰douard Drumont (1844-1917) was a French antisemite and proto-fascist. ...

La Libre Parole

The immediate impact of the case itself was continuous social attacks on Jewish officers in the French army, spearheaded by Drumont and others in the journal "La Libre Parole" ("Free Speech"). Founded in 1892 (allegedly with Jesuit involvement), the journal denounced French Jewish officers as being future traitors which led a Jewish captain of dragoons, Crémieu-Foa, to declare the slanderous assault made upon the body of Jewish officers, a personal insult. It has been suggested that Brothers of the Society of Jesus be merged into this article or section. ...

Crémieu-Foa fought duels, 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. (Drumont was slightly hurt in the first duel, and all bullets went wide in the second duel.) 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." (A second is a witness supportive of one of the participants in a duel.) A duel or duel of honour is a formalised type of armed combat in which two individuals participate. ... Ferdinand Walsin Esterhazy (December 16, 1847â€“May 21, 1923 ) was French traitor, who served as a spy for Germany. ...

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 23 June 1892, the Jewish captain being mortally wounded at the first attack and dying a few days later. Owing to the sensation caused by this event, the "Libre Parole" thought it wise to stop the campaign against Jewish officers until further orders. June 23 is the 174th day of the year (175th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 191 days remaining. ... 1892 (MDCCCXCII) was a leap year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ...

Conviction and pardon

The dishonourable discharge of Dreyfus.

L'Aurore's front page on 13 January 1898 features Emile Zola's open letter to the French President Félix Faure regarding the Dreyfus Affair.

Alfred Dreyfus was put on trial in 1894 and was accused of espionage, found guilty and sentenced to life in prison on Devil's Island. In September of 1899, he accepted a pardon from the president of France (which brought his immediate release, but implied a tacit admission of guilt), but it was not until 1906 that Dreyfus was exonerated of the charges and readmitted into the army. He was also made a knight in the Legion of Honour. Dreyfus served behind the lines of the Western Front during the Great War. Image File history File links DÃ©gradation dAlfred Dreyfus Licence : Source : http://cti. ... Image File history File links DÃ©gradation dAlfred Dreyfus Licence : Source : http://cti. ... Image File history File links Jaccuse. ... Image File history File links Jaccuse. ... January 13 is the 13th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1898 (MDCCCXCVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Monday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... French statesman FÃ©lix Faure FranÃ§ois FÃ©lix Faure (30 January 1841â€“16 February 1899) was President of France from 1895 to his death in 1899. ... Alfred Dreyfus in an army uniform. ... Devils Island (French ÃŽle du Diable) is the smallest island of the three Iles du Salut located off the coast of French Guiana, with an area of 14 hectares. ... Knights badge of the Legion of Honour The LÃ©gion dhonneur (Legion of Honor (AmE) or Legion of Honour (ComE)) is an Order of Chivalry first established by NapolÃ©on Bonaparte, First Consul of the French Republic, on May 19, 1802. ... Ypres, 1917, in the vicinity of the Battle of Passchendaele. ...

Aftermath

The factions in the Dreyfus affair remained in place for decades afterwards. The far right remained a potent force, as did the moderate liberals. The liberal victory played an important role in pushing the far right to the fringes of French politics. It also prompted legislation such as a 1905 enactment separating church and state. The coalition of partisan anti-Dreyfusards remained together, but turned to other causes. Groups like Maurras' Action Française that were created during the affair endured for decades. The right-wing Vichy regime was composed mostly of old anti-Dreyfusards or their descendants. It is now universally agreed that Dreyfus was innocent, but his statues and monuments are occasionally vandalised by far-right activists. The Action FranÃ§aise is a French Monarchist movement and periodical founded by Maurice Pujo and Henri Vaugeois and whose principal ideologist was Charles Maurras. ... Vichy France (French: now called Régime de Vichy or Vichy; called itself at the time État Français, or French State) was the French state of 1940-1944 which was a puppet government under Nazi influence, as opposed to the Free French Forces, based first in London and later in Algiers. ...

Discussion of Theodor Herzl

A Jewish-Austrian journalist named Theodor Herzl was assigned to report on the trial and its aftermath. Soon afterward, Herzl wrote The Jewish State (1896) and founded the World Zionist Organisation, which called for the creation of a Jewish State. For many years it was believed that the anti-Semitism and injustice revealed in supposedly enlightened France by the conviction of Dreyfus had a radicalizing effect on Herzl, showing him that Jews could never hope for fair treatment in European society, thus orienting him toward Zionism. Herzl himself promoted this view, which, in the past few decades, however, has been rejected by historians who have closely examined the chronology of events. They have shown that Herzl, like most contemporary observers, including Jews, initially believed Dreyfus's guilt. While eventually convinced of Dreyfus's innocence and indeed upset by French anti-Semitism beyond l'Affaire, Herzl seems to have been much more influenced by developments in his home city of Vienna, including the rise to power of the anti-Semitic Mayor Karl Lueger. It was this, rather than the Dreyfus Affair, which provided the chief stimulus for his support for a Jewish homeland, and which did so at a time (1895) when the pro-Dreyfus campaign had not really begun. Theodor Herzl, in his middle age. ... Karl Lueger (IPA ) (October 24, 1844-March 10, 1910) was an Austrian politician and mayor of Vienna, known for his anti-semitism and racist policies. ...

Films

"L'Affaire Dreyfus", Georges Méliès, Stumm, France, 1899
"Trial of Captain Dreyfus", Stumm, USA, 1899
"Dreyfus", Richard Oswald, Germany, 1930
"The Dreyfus Case", F.W. Kraemer, Milton Rosmer, USA, 1931
"The Life of Emile Zola", USA, 1937
"I Accuse!", José Ferrer, England, 1958
"Die Affäre Dreyfus", Yves Boisset, 1995

An American television film of 1991, "Prisoner of Honor", focuses on the efforts of a Colonel Piquart to justify the sentence of Alfred Dreyfus. (Colonel Piquart was played by American actor Richard Dreyfuss, who claims to be a descendant of Alfred Dreyfus). The Life of Emile Zola is a 1937 movie giving a biography of the famous French author Émile Zola. ... Dreyfuss as he appeared in the mid-1970s Richard Stephan Dreyfuss (born October 29, 1947) is an Oscar winning American actor. ...

Some believe this event to be the firestarter for WWI.

External links

Text of J'accuse! (in French)
Text of J'accuse! (in English and French)
America's Dreyfus Affair by David Martin
Complete Digital Bibliography on CD-ROM
Greatest Newspaper Article of all Time (Journalistic retrospective of Zola's "J'accuse!")
Prisoner of Honor at The Internet Movie Database
JewishEncyclopedia.com - Andre Cremieu-Foa

The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) [1] is an online database of information about actors, movies, television shows, television stars and video games. ...

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