Dan Snow's History Hit

The Dreyfus Affair: The Spy Scandal that Shook France

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Apr 27, 2025
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ANECDOTE

Dreyfus' Wrongful Conviction

  • Alfred Dreyfus, a Jewish artillery officer, was wrongfully convicted of espionage based on flimsy evidence and antisemitic bias.
  • He was exiled to Devil's Island, suffered severe mental health issues, yet remained patriotic throughout.
INSIGHT

Anti-Semitism and Division in France

  • Anti-Semitism and conspiracy theories fueled the Dreyfus Affair, reflecting deep societal divisions in France.
  • The Republican elite and conservative Catholics clashed, each blaming the other and minorities for France's ills post-1870 defeat.
INSIGHT

Universalism Versus Nationalism

  • The Dreyfus Affair symbolizes the clash between universalism and nationalist identity in France.
  • It exposed polarized camps that mistook complex social struggles for a simple dichotomy of good versus evil.
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