The Dreyfus Affair and Emile Zola's J'Accuse

The news, especially lately with the death of Osama Bin Laden, is littered by conspiracy theories from various sources, some with evidence, others with some barmy – un educated - American telling us what they ‘think they saw’. From today’s lecture I learned that conspiracy theories haven’t just appeared in the last few years. Even back in the 19^th Century, they made something of an impact. The great farce that was the Dreyfus Affair, which I’m ashamed to say I’d never heard of until today’s lecture, is a prime example of this. Whilst listening to Brian tell the tale of this disgraceful miscarriage of justice, I truly remember thinking “How can the French Government AND Army let this happen? More to the point, how could they be behind such a thing?” 

Alfred Dreyfus was at epicentre of possibly the biggest miscarriage of justice in French and European history. When important French documents were found in a waste paper bin in the German Embassy, the French Army knew they had a traitor amongst them; someone in the Army was giving away classified information to their German opponents.  To solve this case the French army looked for someone to blame. This is where Dreyfus comes into the equation. Although he was a hard working officer for the French Army because of his Jewish faith he was chosen to have the blame pinned on him. Alfred Dreyfus, once convicted, was to suffer some of the worst punishment any human being could endure, let alone an innocent man should ever go through.  He was sent to Devil’s Island, a deserted piece of land in which they’d built a roofless cell for him to rot in. In his time in the almost hellish prison, he was chained whilst he slept, fed appalling amounts off mineral-less food and was prevented the freedom to talk causing him to lose the ability of speech. To top it off for Dreyfus before being sent to what could have been his death, he was publicly humiliated. When he was charged, the French Army leaders took his medals away from him and broke his sword in front of the rest of military staff. This is possibly the most degrading thing for a soldier to endure. The sentencing of Dreyfus caused France to almost separate into two sides; the side to prove the innocence of Dreyfus, and the side against his freedom, the Dreyfusards and the anti-Dreyfusards.

Germany at this time, had just won the war. This, along with the problems amongst the French Army (the reason Dreyfus was wrongly accused and sent to Devil’s Island), would make France a very miserable place for a very long time. Germany wanted Alsace Lorraine, a place on the border almost in which was originally German owned but became French territory. During this time, the rich people of Paris fled to other places, leaving the poor people to survive and pick up the pieces of broken Paris. The poor people were being robbed of everything, forced to eat street animals such as rodents to survive. When the rich returned to France, the poverty stricken population were to take another pounding. The rich expected their tenants to pay rent for the time they’d been away and the up and coming month.  This led to the people starting a group called The Paris Commune. They did this as a way to find a new order of running things the way they wanted them to be run. This ‘council’ reminded me of the Bohemians from the musical We Will Rock You in that they were trying to rebel against the higher authority to stand up for what they believe in and do what’s best for the country. This Commune allowed the workers to take over and run the city. Socialists majorly made up the group and wanted to separate the state from the church in order to achieve things like making nurseries and abolish working at night. This didn’t sit well with the French Army and they targeted the working class when they went on a giant killing spree. They shot majority of the population but most of their victims were women, mainly because they were either a feminist or suspected of being a feminist, and even children. This is a fine example of how ruthless and cruel the state can be if they want to be. 

At the end of this fighting period in Paris, another officer in the French Army, Lt. Col. Georges Picquart, accused Ferdinand Walsin Esterhazy, another member of the French army, based on finding letters with the same handwriting of that on the important documents found in the German Embassy. Esterhazy was later taken to court based on this evidence.  He was then acquitted; regardless of the fact he was guilty. He was acquitted because the court in which he was put in front of were of French Army status and if he was found guilty the whole French Army, especially the top officers that were responsible for covering up this scandal and sending Dreyfus to that god-forsaken-island, would have to also be punished causing an even greater humiliation than they put upon Dreyfus. To achieve this, a member of the council forged documents to ensure his safety and Lt. Picquart was sent to serve in Africa to ensure his silence.

This is where Émile Zola, a French writer comes into the Dreyfus affair. Shortly after the hearing with Esterhazy, Zola wrote an article that would flip the case on its head and hugely impact journalism today. Zola was utterly infuriated by this miscarriage of justice and so wrote the famous article that is J’Accuse. J’Accuse, meaning I accuse, was aimed at the high officials that sent Dreyfus to Devil’s Island without finding true evidence against him accusing them of obstruction of justice and anti-Semitism. This article risked his entire career as he found out after the article succeeded on the front page of the Paris Daily L’Aurore.  Zola was brought to trial for criminal libel in 1898, and was convicted, sentenced and removed from the Legion of Honor (a legion established by Napoleon for those who show “excellent civil or military conduct delivered, upon official investigation”). To avoid going to prison however, Zola fled to England and returned to France in 1899. Because of all the chaos that J’Accuse had caused Dreyfus was ordered back to France for a re-trial. This re-trial was one of the biggest and most circulated of media events. Many countries had representative reporters to get coverage of the trial. It was so intense that Dreyfus’s solicitor was shot in the back during the trial; the culprit was un-obtained as the police refused to help Dreyfus’ supporters.  During this media circus Dreyfus was found guilty again with “extenuating circumstances” meaning there is no evidence to prove that he did or didn't do it. Eventually Dreyfus was pardoned but this left his followers in turmoil as they then questioned why they followed him in the first place as he accepted the pardon and fight even further for the truth to be found. This wasn't the end however, the far right part of France were to become even more racist than and just as cruel as the Nazis. They wanted to be as extreme as the Nazis were with the Jewish, Dreyfus was just the start. And just to add salt to the wound, later in the Second World War Dreyfus’ granddaughter died in Auschwitz.

The Dreyfus affair was a key example of how powerful the media can be and how the media is a voice for the people. One opinionated letter changed history. I don’t think one voice could be that powerful or influential today but i do believe the media educate and sway the minds of the public more than higher authority, like the government, do. Newspapers today were responsible for the MPs expenses exposé which changed the entire public opinions on our government. If the media didn’t do that, this country would be in more of a mess than they are now. The media may be cruel sometimes but it does what is needed, just like Zola did. He spoke up for what he believed in.