Alfred Dreyfus was a French artillery officer of Jewish descent whose trial and conviction on charges of treason in 1894 became one of the most notable cases of antisemitism in modern history. The case, known as the Dreyfus Affair, deeply divided French society between those who supported Dreyfus (Dreyfusards) and those who supported his conviction (anti-Dreyfusards).
Alfred Dreyfus was born on October 9, 1859, in Mulhouse, Alsace, to a wealthy Jewish family. After the Franco-Prussian War, when Alsace was annexed by Germany, his family chose to retain their French citizenship. He studied at the École Polytechnique and was later commissioned as an officer in the French army.
In 1894, a French cleaning woman at the German Embassy in Paris found a torn-up letter in the wastepaper basket that appeared to be a communication from a French officer to the German military attaché. This document, later known as the Bordereau, was identified by French military intelligence as having been written by Dreyfus. He was arrested on October 15, 1894, and despite a lack of direct evidence linking him to the document, was court-martialed. During the trial, which was held behind closed doors, Dreyfus was found guilty of treason by a unanimous verdict on December 22, 1894, and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil's Island.
On January 5, 1895, in front of a large crowd, Dreyfus was publicly stripped of his rank in a ceremony known as the degradation. He was then transported to Devil's Island, where he was subjected to harsh conditions. Meanwhile, doubts about the evidence and the fairness of the trial began to emerge.
The affair escalated when evidence emerged pointing to another French officer, Ferdinand Walsin Esterhazy, as the real traitor. This evidence included handwriting experts who could not confirm that the bordereau was written by Dreyfus, and the discovery of additional documents implicating Esterhazy. Despite this, Esterhazy was acquitted in a military court in 1898, leading to public outcry and the involvement of prominent figures like Émile Zola, who published his famous open letter "J'Accuse…!" in January 1898, accusing the military of a cover-up and antisemitism.
In 1899, the French government offered Dreyfus a pardon, which he accepted, hoping to continue his fight for complete exoneration. However, this was not a declaration of innocence. A new trial was held in 1899, where he was again found guilty, but with "extenuating circumstances", and sentenced to 10 years in prison. His sentence was reduced, and he was eventually released.
It was not until 1906 that the Supreme Court of Appeals overturned the original verdict, exonerating Dreyfus completely. He was reinstated in the army with the rank of Major, and in 1908, he was awarded the Légion d'Honneur.
Dreyfus served in World War I and retired from the military in 1918 with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. He died on July 12, 1935, in Paris.
The Dreyfus Affair had profound effects on French society, politics, and the military. It highlighted issues of antisemitism, justice, nationalism, and the separation of church and state. It also influenced the development of the Zionist movement and impacted the career of many prominent figures in French politics and culture.