Alfred Dreyfus (9 October 1859 – 12 July 1935) was a French Army officer best known for his central role in the Dreyfus affair. In 1894, Dreyfus fell victim to a judicial conspiracy that eventually sparked a major political crisis in the French Third Republic when he was wrongfully accused and convicted of being a German spy due to antisemitism. Dreyfus was arrested, cashiered from the French army and imprisoned on Devil's Island in French Guiana. Eventually, evidence emerged showing that Dreyfus was innocent and the true culprit was fellow officer Ferdinand Walsin Esterhazy.
Gradual revelations indicated that the internal investigation conducted by the French army was biased; Dreyfus was an ideal scapegoat due to being a Jew, and military authorities were aware of his innocence but chose to cover up the affair and leave him imprisoned rather than lose face. A political scandal subsequently erupted, shaking French political life and highlighting antisemitism in the French army and government. After numerous judicial and political developments, the publication of Émile Zola's manifesto J'Accuse...! in 1898 brought new momentum to Dreyfus' cause. Zola accused French military and political leadership of covering up the affair. Dreyfus was eventually exonerated, rehabilitated and reinstated in the French army, although at a lower rank than his seniority would have warranted.
"Anti-Dreyfusards" and antisemites in France, however, viewed even his incomplete rehabilitation unfavorably, and while attending the transfer of Zola's remains to the Panthéon, Dreyfus was the target of an unsuccessful assassination attempt by an antisemitic militarist who was later acquitted at trial. Dreyfus later fought in World War I, notably at the battles of Verdun and the Aisne, before retiring and leading a quiet life. He died in 1935 in Paris and was buried in the Montparnasse Cemetery. Dreyfus' life and the antisemitic persecutions he endured left a significant mark on French political consciousness, while Esterhazy remained unpunished until his death. Among Dreyfus’s defenders were writers such as Zola, Charles Péguy, and Anatole France, politicians such as Georges Clemenceau and Jean Jaurès, filmmakers such as Georges Méliès, and the founders of the Human Rights League (LDH) Francis de Pressensé and Pierre Quillard.
Early life, family, and education
Born in Mulhouse, Alsace on 9 October 1859, to Raphaël and Jeannette Dreyfus (née Libmann), Alfred Dreyfus was the youngest of nine children (seven of whom survived to adulthood). Three days after the wedding, Dreyfus learned that he had been admitted to the École Supérieure de Guerre or War College. Two years later, he graduated ninth in his class with honourable mention and was immediately designated as a trainee in the French Army's General Staff headquarters, where he would be the only Jewish officer. His father Raphaël died on 13 December 1893.
At the War College examination in 1892, his friends had expected him to do well. However, one of the members of the panel, General Bonnefond, felt that "Jews were not desired" on the staff, and gave Dreyfus poor marks for cote d'amour (French slang: attraction; translatable as likability). Bonnefond's assessment lowered Dreyfus' overall grade; he did the same to another Jewish candidate, Lieutenant Picard. Learning of this injustice, the two officers lodged a protest with the director of the school, General Lebelin de Dionne, who expressed his regret for what had occurred, but said he was powerless to take any steps in the matter. The protest would later count against Dreyfus. The French army of the period was relatively open to entry and advancement by talent, with an estimated 300 Jewish officers, of whom ten were generals. However, within the Fourth Bureau of the General Staff, General Bonnefond's prejudices appear to have been shared by some of Dreyfus's superiors. The personal assessments he received during 1893/94 acknowledged his high intelligence, but were critical of aspects of his personality. The bordereau described a minor French military secret, and had obviously been written by a spy in the French military.
In 1894, this made the French Army's counter-intelligence section, led by Lieutenant Colonel Jean Sandherr, aware that information regarding new artillery parts was being passed to Maximilian von Schwartzkoppen, the German military attaché in Paris, by a highly placed spy most likely on the General Staff. Suspicion quickly fell upon Dreyfus, who was arrested for treason on 15 October 1894.
On 22 December 1894, Dreyfus was summarily convicted in a closed court martial and sentenced to life imprisonment which was to be served on Devil's Island in French Guiana. Following French military custom of the time, on 5 January 1895 Dreyfus was formally degraded (cashiered) by having the rank insignia, buttons and braid cut from his uniform and his sword broken, all in the courtyard of the École Militaire before silent ranks of soldiers, while a large crowd of onlookers shouted abuse from behind railings. Dreyfus cried out: "I swear that I am innocent. I remain worthy of serving in the Army. Long live France! Long live the Army!" reporting his confession and writing a leader column accusing the French military of antisemitism and calling for a retrial for Dreyfus.
In France there was a passionate campaign by Dreyfus' supporters, including leading artists and intellectuals such as Émile Zola, following which he was given a second trial in 1899, but again declared guilty of treason despite the evidence of his innocence.
However, due to public opinion, Dreyfus was offered and accepted a pardon by President Émile Loubet in 1899 and released from prison; this was a compromise that saved face for the military's mistake. Had Dreyfus refused the pardon, he would have been returned to Devil's Island, a fate he could no longer emotionally cope with; so officially Dreyfus remained a traitor to France, and pointedly remarked upon his release: