Search

Search in site
Archives Search
Advanced Search

Dreyfus Affair

 Alfred Dreyfus was a Jewish officer in the French army, who was accused of selling military secrets to the Germans. He was put on trial in 1894, even though there was no actual evidence against him. He was sentenced to life imprisonment and went through a degrading ceremony, in which he was deprived of his military rank. The Dreyfus trial caused a storm in France. The writer Emile Zola published an article named “I Accuse” in which he accused the army and the government of the distortion of justice. After repeated discussions Dreyfus was finally cleared in 1906, and his rank was returned. The affair had great influence on Herzl and Nordau, who covered the trial for the newspapers for which they worked.