What was the verdict of the Dreyfus case?
Jules Guérin and those who fled and holed up in Fort Chabrol were assaulted by the police. On 9 September 1899 the court rendered its verdict: Dreyfus was convicted of treason, but "with extenuating circumstances" (by five votes to two) and sentenced to ten years' imprisonment and a further degradation.
What was the Dreyfus affair?
What was the Dreyfus affair? A scandal that rocked France in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the Dreyfus affair involved a Jewish artillery captain in the French army, Alfred Dreyfus (1859-1935), who was falsely convicted of passing military secrets to the Germans.
Was Brisson involved in the Dreyfus case?
Despite his apparently entirely involuntary role in the revision of the 1894 trial, Brisson remained convinced that Dreyfus was guilty and made a statement disparaging and offensive to Dreyfus at the Rennes trial. Drawing by Caran d'Ache in Le Figaro on 14 February 1898. The anti-revisionists did not consider themselves beaten.
Was Dreyfus the real spy?
Confirmation bias (the strong tendency to believe what supports are existing beliefs), as well as the fact that Dreyfus and the real author of the bordereau both were taught the same slanted, very cursive style of writing, led them to believe that Dreyfus was the spy.
What is Dreyfus known for?
Alfred Dreyfus, (born October 9, 1859, Mulhouse, France—died July 12, 1935, Paris), French army officer whose trial for treason began a 12-year controversy, known as the Dreyfus Affair, that deeply marked the political and social history of the French Third Republic.
Who was Alfred Dreyfus and what was he accused of in 1894?
The controversy centred on the question of the guilt or innocence of army captain Alfred Dreyfus, who had been convicted of treason for allegedly selling military secrets to the Germans in December 1894. At first the public supported the conviction; it was willing to believe in the guilt of Dreyfus, who was Jewish.
Who was Alfred Dreyfus and what events did he go through?
Alfred Dreyfus (1859-1935) was a French Jewish military officer who was wrongfully tried and convicted of treason against France in 1894. The trial and ensuing events are referred to as the “Dreyfus Affair.”
What was Alfred Dreyfus the scapegoat for?
The case is presented of a French army officer, Captain Alfred Dreyfus, whose wrongful conviction for treason created an international sensation and tore French society apart. The author outlines the general features of the scapegoating dynamic and applies them to the Dreyfus case.
What evidence did picquart discover that proved Dreyfus innocent?
Picquart discovered that the evidence used against Dreyfus was in fact a forgery (the fake bulletin had been written by Henry, not Dreyfus), and Dreyfusards became more convinced than ever of Dreyfus's innocence. The forgery discovered in 1898 led to the retrial.
Which answer best describes how the Dreyfus?
Which answer best describes how the Dreyfuss Affair divided French society? It pitted Royalists and the church against liberals and republicans. Liberal men were concerned that women would vote conservatively.
What effect did the Dreyfus case have on France?
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.
How did Dreyfus react to the degradation?
Throughout his trial Dreyfus claimed his innocence, and in the degradation ceremony he cried out: “I swear that I am innocent. I remain worthy of serving in the army.
Why was Dreyfus sent to Devil's Island?
It was a matter of life or death, for Dreyfus feared that he would not survive the notorious penal colony on Devil's Island, where he had been sent after a military court convicted him of betraying his country. Those who believed that he was innocent and had called for his exoneration were deeply disappointed.
What ultimately happened to Alfred Dreyfus?
On 5 January 1895, Dreyfus was summarily convicted in a secret court martial, publicly stripped of his army rank, and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil's Island in French Guiana.
Who wrote J accuse?
Émile ZolaJ'Accuse…! / AuthorÉmile Édouard Charles Antoine Zola was a French novelist, journalist, playwright, the best-known practitioner of the literary school of naturalism, and an important contributor to the development of theatrical naturalism. Wikipedia
Is Julia Louis Dreyfus related to Alfred Dreyfus?
She is also a great-great-granddaughter of Léopold Louis-Dreyfus, who in 1851 founded the Louis Dreyfus Group, a French commodities and shipping conglomerate, which members of her family still control; and is distantly related to Alfred Dreyfus of the infamous Dreyfus affair.
What was Alfred Dreyfus accused of?
After a closed trial, he was found guilty of treason and sentenced to life imprisonment. He was deported to Devil's Island. At that time, the opinion of the French political class was unanimously unfavourable towards Dreyfus.
What year was Dreyfus Affair?
1994 (in French) The Dreyfus Affair, French film in two episodes by Yves Boisset – Produced by France 2 – Colour. 1994 (in French) Rage and Outrage, by George Whyte, French film – Produced by ARTE – Colour. 1995 (in English) Dreyfus in Opera and Ballet, German and English film by arte – Produced by WDR – Colour.
When did Dreyfus declare there is no Dreyfus affair?
Jules Méline declared in the opening session of the National Assembly on 7 December 1897, "There is no Dreyfus affair. There is not now and there can be no Dreyfus affair.".
What was the significance of the affair in France?
The Affair brought the confrontation between two sides of France to life. However, according to most historians, this opposition served the republican order. There was indeed a strengthening of parliamentary democracy and a failure of monarchist and reactionary forces.
Who led the Dreyfusard movement?
The Dreyfusard movement, led by Bernard Lazare, Mathieu Dreyfus, Joseph Reinach and Auguste Scheurer-Kestner gained momentum. Émile Zola, informed in mid-November 1897 by Scheurer-Kestner with documents, was convinced of the innocence of Dreyfus and undertook to engage himself officially.
Where is the statue of Dreyfus?
Hernu claimed that this was because the École Militaire is not open to the public, but it was widely believed that this was done to avoid provoking the army. It was instead installed at Boulevard Raspail, No. 116–118 at the exit of the Notre-Dame-des-Champs metro station, where it can be found today. A replica is located at the entrance of Paris's Museum of Jewish Art and History , housing the Fond Dreyfus, more than three thousand historical documents donated by the grandchildren of Captain Dreyfus.
What was the significance of the Panama scandal?
The Supreme Court considered the affair in the context of press campaigns against the Criminal Division, the magistrates being constantly dragged through the mud in nationalist newspapers from the Panama scandals. On 26 September 1898, after a Cabinet vote, the Minister of Justice appealed to the Supreme Court. On 29 October 1898, after the submission of the report from the recorder Alphonse Bard, the Criminal Chamber of the Court stated that "the application is admissible and will proceed with a supplementary investigation".
Who was the leader of the cabinet in the Dreyfus case?
In response to continuing disorders and demonstrations, a cabinet headed by the Radical René Waldeck-Rousseau was set up in June 1899 with the express purpose of defending the republic and with the hope of settling the judicial side of the Dreyfus case as soon as possible.
What did the Dreyfusards want?
They wanted to republicanize the army and put it under parliamentary control. From 1898 to 1899 the Dreyfusard cause gained in strength.
What was Esterhazy accused of?
The accusations against Esterhazy resulted in a court-martial that acquitted him of treason (January 1898). To protest against the verdict, the novelist Émile Zola wrote a letter titled “ J’accuse ,” published in Clemenceau’s newspaper L’Aurore.
When was Dreyfus pardoned?
When a new court-martial, held at Rennes, found Dreyfus guilty in September 1899, the president of the republic, in order to resolve the issue, pardoned him. In July 1906 a civilian court of appeals (the Cour d’Appel) set aside the judgment of the Rennes court and rehabilitated Dreyfus.
What was Émile Zola's trial?
Newspaper depiction of Émile Zola in court during his trial for defamation of the French military, 1898. The 1890s also saw the Third Republic’s greatest political and moral crisis—the Dreyfus Affair. In 1894 Captain Alfred Dreyfus, a career...
What happened to Dreyfus in 1894?
In 1894, French intelligence discovered that someone within the French army had sold military secrets to the Germans. The finger was pointed at Dreyfus, and documents supposedly revealed that he was the guilty party. His trial was excessively rapid, and it became apparent that his Jewish background made him a scapegoat for the military. In 1895, Dreyfus was sentenced to life imprisonment and sent to Devil's Island, a prison on French Guiana.
Who wrote on Dreyfus' trial?
A few notables were the journalist Joseph Reinach, who wrote on behalf of Dreyfus and later wrote a history of the trial. Another was Auguste Scheurer-Kestner, a French politician, who hailed from the same region as Dreyfus. The literary critic Bernard Lazare was another, who took up his pen and wrote on behalf of Dreyfus. The most powerful though, was Emile Zola.
Why was Dreyfus blacklisted?
Captain Alfred Dreyfus was blacklisted by his own military and government due to an undercurrent of anti-Semitism in French society that exposed itself during his trial. He was accused of espionage with forged documents, and even when it became clear he was innocent, his supporters had to fight a long public relations battle to get his conviction overturned.
Was Dreyfus in jail?
Despite all the evidence mounted against Esterhazy, he was cleared of all charges, and Dreyfus still languished in prison. Outraged, in January 1898, the French novelist Emile Zola wrote an editorial piece in the journal L'Aurore titled 'Letter to the President of the Republic' with the inflammatory phrase 'J'accuse' meaning 'I accuse' in French headlining the article. This was a particularly high profile journal, given it was owned by Georges Clemenceau, a future prime minister of France. Zola frankly argued that the military had conspired with the courts to prosecute Dreyfus. Zola was prosecuted, found guilty of libel and sentenced to jail, but he slipped away and took refuge in England.
Who supported the reopening of the case?
Anyone following these events could tell that something was shady, and French opinion divided into two factions: the Dreyfusards, who supported reopening the case and demanded a fair hearing for Dreyfus, and the anti-Dreyfusards, who wanted the verdict to stand.
Was Dreyfus innocent?
While Dreyfus floundered on Devil's Island, new evidence emerged that Dreyfus was innocent. In 1896, Lieutenant Colonel Georges Picquart uncovered evidence that Major Ferdinand Walsin Esterhazy, not Dreyfus, was the guilty party in the espionage affair. One hard line of evidence was that Esterhazy's handwriting was found on the same documents that had originally pointed to Dreyfus.
What is the Jewish firewood case?
It concerns a series of disputes over Jewish citizens using communal firewood in 1848. After violent antisemitic attacks, the Jewish citizens of the village were forced to give up their right to the wood. This lawsuit, asking for compensation for Jewish citizens four years later, was dismissed. This case shows that despite the new freedom and ideas in the ‘Age of Reform’, antisemitism was still present.
What is the Rothschild cartoon?
This image is a antisemitic cartoon of the Rothschild family. The Rothschilds were a famous Jewish banking family. The financial success of the five Rothschild brothers who set up banks across Europe fed many conspiracy theories. Their critics often claimed they financially and politically controlled Europe. This added to the negative stereotype of Jews.
When was the Dreyfus case reversed?
In 1906 , the Court of Cassation unanimously reversed Dreyfus’s conviction. It also voted not to remand the case for a new court-martial. Dreyfus was declared innocent and the incident was closed. By then, most of the public energy on the Dreyfus Affair had been spent, and the decision was greeted with relative calm.
When did the Dreyfus trial start?
The Dreyfus court-martial opened on December 19, 1894. The prosecution moved almost immediately to close the sessions to the public. Dreyfus’s defense attorney, Edgar Demange, objected strenuously to the move. Well aware of the bias against his client within the War Ministry, Demange’s trial strategy largely depended on making the public aware of the preposterously weak evidence of his client’s guilt. The presiding judge ordered the proceedings closed, most likely sealing Dreyfus’s fate.
What was Dreyfus' score?
He would have finished third, but for the fact that one of the generals who would later be a member of Dreyfus’s jury, who had Dreyfus as a student, gave him a 19/20 score for technical knowledge, but 0/20 for personality.
What was the key piece of evidence used to convict Dreyfus?
Page of the bordereau, the key piece of evidence used to convict Dreyfus. The document pieced together that September day in Paris, called “the bordereau,” would launch a criminal process that would divide and convulse France for decades. The events set in motion would become known as “the Dreyfus Affair,” after the Jewish artillery captain who ...
How many windows were there in Dreyfus' hut?
Dreyfus was taken to a small stone hut. Its two windows were grated. In an ante-room a guard was always on duty, replaced by another every two hours. Dreyfus was allowed, during the day, to walk—accompanied by an armed guard—in a treeless space of about one-half acre.
What did Henry and a colleague reveal about the French military?
Henry and a colleague reconstituted the document, which revealed a number of French military secrets. French intelligence had suspected someone in the war ministry had been leaking secrets to the Germans—and now here was a damning document written by the hand of the traitor.
Who was the minister of war and a longstanding fan of graphology?
General Auguste Mercier , the minister of war and a longstanding fan of graphology, compared the bordereau and the sample of Dreyfus’s writing over the weekend and reached the same conclusion. Dreyfus was their traitor.
Overview
Origins of the case and the trial of 1894
The origin of the Dreyfus Affair, although fully clarified since the 1960s, has aroused much controversy for nearly a century. The intentions remain unclear. Many eminent historians express different hypotheses about the affair but all arrive at the same conclusion: Dreyfus was innocent of any crime or offence.
The staff of the Military Intelligence Service (SR) worked around the clock to s…
Summary
At the end of 1894 French army captain Alfred Dreyfus, a graduate of the École Polytechnique, a Jew of Alsatian origin, was accused of handing secret documents to the Imperial German military. After a closed trial, he was found guilty of treason and sentenced to life imprisonment. He was deported to Devil's Island. At that time, the opinion of the French political class was unanimously …
Contexts
In 1894, the Third Republic was twenty-four years old. Although the 16 May Crisis in 1877 had crippled the political influence of both the Bourbon and Orléanist royalists, its ministries continued to be short-lived as the country lurched from crisis to crisis: three immediately preceding the Dreyfus Affair were the near-coup of Georges Boulanger in 1889, the Panama scandal in 1892, and the anarc…
Truth on the march (1895–1897)
Mathieu Dreyfus, the elder brother of Alfred, was convinced of his innocence. He was the chief architect of the rehabilitation of his brother and spent his time, energy and fortune to gather an increasingly powerful movement for a retrial in December 1894, despite the difficulties of the task:
After the degradation emptiness was around us. It seemed to us that we were …
J'Accuse ...! 1898
On 13 January 1898 Émile Zola touched off a new dimension in the Dreyfus Affair, which became known simply as The Affair. The first great Dreyfusard intellectual, Zola was at the height of his glory: the twenty volumes of the Rougon-Macquart epic were being distributed in dozens of countries. He was a leader in the literary world and was fully conscious of it. To General Pellieux, h…
The trial in Rennes 1899
Alfred Dreyfus was in no way aware of what was happening thousands of kilometres from him. Neither was he aware of the schemes hatched to guarantee that he could never return, or the commitment of countless men and women to his cause. The prison administration filtered information deemed confidential. At the end of 1898, he learned with astonishment the actual size …
Rehabilitation, 1900–1906
Preferring to avoid a third trial the government decided to pardon Dreyfus by a decree signed by President Émile Loubet on 19 September 1899 after much hesitation. Dreyfus was not found innocent. The rehabilitation process was not completed until six years later, when passions had cooled. Many books appeared during this period. In addition to the memoires of Alfred Dreyfus, Rei…
Dreyfus on Trial
- In 1894, French intelligence discovered that someone within the French army had sold military secrets to the Germans. The finger was pointed at Dreyfus, and documents supposedly revealed that he was the guilty party. His trial was excessively rapid, and it became apparent that his Jewish background made him a scapegoat for the military. In 1895, Dr...
French Public Opinion
- Anyone following these events could tell that something was shady, and French opinion divided into two factions: the Dreyfusards, who supported reopening the case and demanded a fair hearing for Dreyfus, and the anti-Dreyfusards, who wanted the verdict to stand. One supporter of Dreyfus was Theodor Herzl, considered the founder of modern political Zionism. After watching …
New Evidence Emerges
- While Dreyfus floundered on Devil's Island, new evidence emerged that Dreyfus was innocent. In 1896, Lieutenant Colonel Georges Picquart uncovered evidence that Major Ferdinand Walsin Esterhazy, not Dreyfus, was the guilty party in the espionage affair. One hard line of evidence was that Esterhazy's handwriting was found on the same documents that had originally pointed to Dr…
Forged Documents
- More harrowing events transpired, and the whole episode took on a soap-opera atmosphere. In fear of prosecution, Esterhazy fled the country. Also, Major Hubert-Joseph Henry, who had previously submitted documents that linked Dreyfus to espionage, publicly admitted that they were forgeries created to strengthen the army's case against Dreyfus. Henry was now jailed to a…
French Intellectuals
- The shadiness of these events became harder to ignore, especially as more high-profile French intellectuals and statesmen got involved. A few notables were the journalist Joseph Reinach, who wrote on behalf of Dreyfus and later wrote a history of the trial. Another was Auguste Scheurer-Kestner, a French politician, who hailed from the same region as Dreyfus. The literary critic Bern…
Emile Zola and J'accuse
- Despite all the evidence mounted against Esterhazy, he was cleared of all charges, and Dreyfus still languished in prison. Outraged, in January 1898, the French novelist Emile Zola wrote an editorial piece in the journal L'Aurore titled 'Letter to the President of the Republic' with the inflammatory phrase'J'accuse'meaning 'I accuse' in French headlining the article. This was a part…