DREYFUS, ALFRED

Dreyfus, Alfred: translation

(1859-1935)

   A French Jew and artillery captain attached to the general staff of the French army. In 1894, he was accused of selling military secrets to Germany and placed on trial for espionage and treason. He was tried by a military court and sentenced to life in prison on Devil's Island. His sentence was contested by a minority group consisting mainly of intellectuals, called "Drey-fusards," who claimed the evidence against Dreyfus was based on forged documents. Among other developments, the trial led author Emile Zola to write his famous "J'accuse" in 1898. Public opinion became so aroused that the military was forced to reopen the case. Dreyfus was again found guilty, but the sentence was reduced to 10 years in prison. Dissatisfaction with the verdict persisted, and in 1906, Dreyfus was exonerated. The sharp controversy that the case triggered caused a wave of anti-Semitic demonstrations and riots throughout France. The Dreyfus trial was considered an important indicator of growing anti-Jewish sentiment in Europe and helped to awaken Jewish nationalistic feeling. Theodor Herzl covered the first Dreyfus trial as a newspaper correspondent and later said that the case convinced him that assimilation was not the solution to the problem of anti-Semitism. See also DER JUDENSTAAT; JEWISH QUESTION; ZIONISM.

Dreyfus, Alfred: translation

(1859-1935)

   French soldier. He was born in Alsace. He became a captain on the general staff of the French army in 1892. In 1894 he was accused of treason, found guilty, and sentenced to life imprisonment. He protested his innocence and was eventually exonerated, but the case plunged France into a state of virulent anti-Semitism for a decade. The so-called Dreyfus Affair deeply influenced Theodor Herzl and contributed to the development of Zionism. Dreyfus' The Letters of Captain Dreyfus to His Wife and Five Years of My Life depict his ordeal.