Dreyfus Affair
The Dreyfus affair was a political scandal which divided France for many years during the late 19th century. It centered on the 1894 treason conviction of Alfred Dreyfus, a Jewish officer in the French army. Dreyfus was, in fact, innocent: the conviction rested on false documents, and when high-ranking officers realized this they attempted to cover up the mistakes. The writer Émile Zola exposed the affair to the general public in the literary newspaper L'Aurore (The Dawn) in a famous open letter to the Président de la République Félix Faure, titled J'accuse! (I Accuse!) on January 13, 1898.
The Dreyfus Affair split France between the Dreyfusards (those supporting Alfred Dreyfus) and the Antidreyfusards (those against him). The quarrel was especially violent since it involved many issues then highly controversial in a heated political climate.
Dreyfus was pardoned in 1899, readmitted into the army, and made a knight in the Legion of Honour.
Read more about this topic: Racial Antisemitism
Famous quotes containing the words dreyfus and/or affair:
““I am innocent, Long live France! I am innocent,” Dreyfus kept repeating, over and over, while they reviled him. All he needed was a crown of thorns.”
—Norman Reilly Raine (1895–1971)
“What a day-to-day affair life is.”
—Jules Laforgue (1860–1887)