Explanation: The Dreyfus Affair was an incident in France in the 1890s wherein a French Army officer, Alfred Dreyfus, was accused (falsely) of spying for Germany. While the evidence was spotty to begin with, and the German embassy, and later the German Emperor himself, actually reached out to the French government to tell them that Dreyfus wasn’t the spy (bad tradecraft, but I guess that weird aristocratic 19th century sense of honor does have an occasional upside), Dreyfus was nonetheless convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment. Dreyfus continued to profess his innocence throughout, stating at his degradation ceremony dishonorably discharging him, “I swear that I am innocent. I remain worthy of serving in the Army. Long live France! Long live the Army!”
His life imprisonment, furthermore, was on “Devil’s Island” in French Guiyana, which was renowned for its poor conditions and rampant disease. As NoneOfUrBusiness mentioned below, it was arguably as much a death sentence as a ‘life’ sentence.
Despite this, it took years for the movement to re-examine his case to gain steam, and France was heavily split along ‘Dreyfusard’ (who advocated for a retrial) and ‘Anti-Dreyfusard’ (who supported the unjust conviction) lines, showcasing a disturbing popularity of anti-semitism (including some, uh, very explicitly antisemitic groups) common in Europe at the time. Dreyfus would eventually be pardoned (mandating that he accept guilt by accepting the pardon - exhausted by nearly a decade of imprisonment, he reluctantly accepted), and continue serving in the French military, including through WW1, but both his health and his career were ruined by his imprisonment.
It also had a huge cultural impact with Zola’s J’accuse letter.
I recently watched a movie on this, An Officer and a Spy. It’s a pretty good movie. Although, I personally couldn’t understand why he decided to rejoin the army after such a huge debacle on their side. The movie didn’t explore this point at all.
I could say something like “Some men believe in fighting for the soul of institutions they’re a part of, even at great personal cost”, but the more likely answer is “Nationalism is a helluva drug”, especially in that pre-WW1 period.
You know, ordinarily this would be a pretty tragic story, but somehow I can’t bring myself to sympathise with a late 19th century French army officer. I wonder why.
Edit: False alarm I guess. Now that’s a tragic story.
It’s not like he was a member of the colonial forces. He was a member of an ethnic minority whose family was uprooted by the annexation of Alsace-Lorraine by Germany.
You know what, fair enough. Speaking of which, you should mention that he was sent to Devil’s Island in the explanation. Just “life imprisonment” really undersells the brutality of the thing; if I’m understanding this right exile to French Guiana was closer to a death sentence than conventional imprisonment.
Added! I only knew that Devil’s Island was noted for its harsh conditions, so I linked the wiki page for further reading on it.
Unfortunately, a lot of ordinary people end up in service to abominable polities… because on a large enough scale, most polities end up abominable. Being able to see the big picture at all makes us… more aware than most people in history.
… sometimes I feel like it makes us more aware than most people of the present as well. But maybe that’s just bitterness talking, and these damn Spring allergies.
Explanation: The Dreyfus Affair was an incident in France in the 1890s wherein a French Army officer, Alfred Dreyfus, was accused (falsely) of spying for Germany. While the evidence was spotty to begin with, and the German embassy, and later the German Emperor himself, actually reached out to the French government to tell them that Dreyfus wasn’t the spy (bad tradecraft, but I guess that weird aristocratic 19th century sense of honor does have an occasional upside), Dreyfus was nonetheless convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment. Dreyfus continued to profess his innocence throughout, stating at his degradation ceremony dishonorably discharging him, “I swear that I am innocent. I remain worthy of serving in the Army. Long live France! Long live the Army!”
His life imprisonment, furthermore, was on “Devil’s Island” in French Guiyana, which was renowned for its poor conditions and rampant disease. As NoneOfUrBusiness mentioned below, it was arguably as much a death sentence as a ‘life’ sentence.
Despite this, it took years for the movement to re-examine his case to gain steam, and France was heavily split along ‘Dreyfusard’ (who advocated for a retrial) and ‘Anti-Dreyfusard’ (who supported the unjust conviction) lines, showcasing a disturbing popularity of anti-semitism (including some, uh, very explicitly antisemitic groups) common in Europe at the time. Dreyfus would eventually be pardoned (mandating that he accept guilt by accepting the pardon - exhausted by nearly a decade of imprisonment, he reluctantly accepted), and continue serving in the French military, including through WW1, but both his health and his career were ruined by his imprisonment.
It also had a huge cultural impact with Zola’s J’accuse letter.
I recently watched a movie on this, An Officer and a Spy. It’s a pretty good movie. Although, I personally couldn’t understand why he decided to rejoin the army after such a huge debacle on their side. The movie didn’t explore this point at all.
I could say something like “Some men believe in fighting for the soul of institutions they’re a part of, even at great personal cost”, but the more likely answer is “Nationalism is a helluva drug”, especially in that pre-WW1 period.
Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori
You know, ordinarily this would be a pretty tragic story, but somehow I can’t bring myself to sympathise with a late 19th century French army officer. I wonder why.
Edit: False alarm I guess. Now that’s a tragic story.
It’s not like he was a member of the colonial forces. He was a member of an ethnic minority whose family was uprooted by the annexation of Alsace-Lorraine by Germany.
You know what, fair enough. Speaking of which, you should mention that he was sent to Devil’s Island in the explanation. Just “life imprisonment” really undersells the brutality of the thing; if I’m understanding this right exile to French Guiana was closer to a death sentence than conventional imprisonment.
Added! I only knew that Devil’s Island was noted for its harsh conditions, so I linked the wiki page for further reading on it.
Unfortunately, a lot of ordinary people end up in service to abominable polities… because on a large enough scale, most polities end up abominable. Being able to see the big picture at all makes us… more aware than most people in history.
… sometimes I feel like it makes us more aware than most people of the present as well. But maybe that’s just bitterness talking, and these damn Spring allergies.
Are you noticing something about (((Dreyfuss))) which makes you believe he deserved punishment? /s