He was the son of a
wealthy manufacturer in Mulhouse, France, who moved to Paris out of
French patriotism when Alsace came under German rule following the
Franco-Prussian war of 1870-1871. Dreyfus entered the army as an
engineer and overcame anti-Jewish prejudice to become a captain on
the general staff, its only Jewish member. In 1894 it was discovered
that intelligence was being leaked from the French army to the
Germans and Dreyfus was convicted on the basis of documents that
later proved forged. The "Affair" had enormous repercussions, headed
by the Catholic, royalist and anti-Semitic press. Dreyfus was
publicly degraded to cries of "death to the Jews". He was
transported in chains to a prison on Devil's Island off the coast of
South America. The "Affair" however, continued to divide France with
a number of courageous liberals, convinced of his innocence, working
for his release. Gradually the forgeries were exposed and in 1898
Dreyfus was brought back for a retrial. Despite the obvious
evidence, he was sentenced to ten years imprisonment but was
immediately pardoned by the liberal President of France. Only in
1906 was Dreyfus exonerated by the court of appeal and reinstated in
the army, serving in WW1 with the rank of lieutenant-colonel.
Bibliography:
DREYFUS, Alfred. Cinq annees de ma vie,
1894-1899. Pp. 360. Paris: E. Fasquelle, 1901
DREYFUS, Alfred. Five years of my life.
Pp. xiv, 310. New York: McClure, Phillips & co., 1901.
DREYFUS, Pierre. Dreyfus: his life and
letters. (Translated from the French by Dr. Betty Morgan). Pp.
378. London: Hutchinson, [1937].
JAURES, Jean. Les preuves: affaire
Dreyfus. (Preface de Jean-Denis Bredin; introduction historique
de Madeleine Reberioux; notes de Vincent Duclert). Pp. 323. Paris:
La Decouverte, c1998.
CLEMENCEAU, Georges. L'affaire Dreyfus:
l'iniquite (Introduction de Michel Drouin). Pp. 586. Paris:
Memoire du livre, 2001.
ZOLA, Emile. Lettre a la jeunesse;
Lettre a la France. Pp. 64. Paris: Stock, c1998.
DERFLER, Leslie. The Dreyfus affair.
Pp. xxii, 167. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2002.
BOUSSEL, Patrice. L'affaire Dreyfus et
la presse. Pp. 271. Paris: A. Colin, [1960].
SCHECHTER, Betty. The Dreyfus affair.
Pp. 264. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, [c1965].
JOHNSON, Douglas W. J. France and the
Dreyfus affair. Pp. 242. London: Blandford, 1966.
Links:
Alfred Dreyfus and “The Affair” Jewish Virtual Library
Alfred Dreyfus
Alfred Dreyfus - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dreyfusgate
Mulhouse
