The Dreyfus Affair in France: A Historical and Legal Aspect

The paper elucidates the relationship between the political, legal and social foundations of the Dreyfus affair (France, 1894–1906), when the captain of the French army, Alfred Dreyfus, was accused of spying for Germany on falsified documents with a number of procedural violations for the sake of one goal — to sentence a Jew serving in the general staff of the French army. This event must be viewed in an inextricable connection with the historical context: in French society after the defeat in the Franco-Prussian war of 1870–1871, in the context of the formation of new economic relations at the turn of the century, the influx of immigrants began to intensify chauvinistic, nationalist and anti-Semitic sentiments. Despite the obvious fabrication of the case, military judges deliberately wanted to accuse Dreyfus, who, in their opinion, as a Jew, could not belong to the military elite of France, consisting of aristocrats and monarchists. After widespread publicity and discussion by supporters of the verdict and defenders of Dreyfus, which included the press and intellectuals of France, the case moved from the sphere of jurisprudence to the political sphere. After the publication of the famous writer Emile Zola, «I Blame», denouncing the French generals, the arrest and imprisonment of Dreyfus split the country into dreyfusars and anti-dreyfusars. In order to preserve the authority of the French army, trials are initiated against Zola and Major Picard, who established that the author of the note is another military man, Ferdinand Esterhazy. After admitting to forgery of evidence and the suicide of Colonel Henri, the court at the review of the case in Rennes found Drefus guilty «with mitigating circumstances» and changed the sentence to 10 years in prison. Captain Drefus later agreed to a pardon by the President of the Republic, despite the fact that his supporters sought a complete acquittal. The final rehabilitation of Dreyfus occurred only in 1906. The Dreyfus Affair significantly influenced the political and legal life of France and the strengthening of the republican system.