The Dreyfus Affair (1894–1906) was a political and judicial scandal that exposed deep fractures within French society at the turn of the twentieth century. Captain Alfred Dreyfus, a Jewish artillery officer in the French Army, was arrested in 1894 and falsely convicted of high treason after being accused of passing military secrets to Germany. The evidence against him was weak, later shown to include forged documents and serious judicial misconduct, yet he was sentenced to life imprisonment and sent to Devil’s Island under brutal conditions.

Dreyfus’s conviction was shaped by long-standing antisemitic and nationalist attitudes that cast Jews as outsiders and questioned their loyalty to the French nation. These prejudices made him a convenient scapegoat at a moment when the army sought to protect its authority and reassure a divided public. When evidence later emerged identifying another officer, Ferdinand Walsin Esterhazy, as the true culprit, military leaders suppressed the truth rather than admit error.

The affair divided France into opposing camps. Dreyfusards demanded justice, due process, and equal rights under the law, while anti-Dreyfusards defended the verdict in the name of national honor, often framing antisemitism as patriotism. Although Dreyfus was eventually exonerated in 1906, the case left lasting scars. Few officials were held accountable, and the prejudices that had fueled the injustice remained embedded in public life.

Today, historians view the Dreyfus Affair as an early warning sign—one that revealed how prejudice could distort democratic institutions and how the failure to confront injustice could have far-reaching consequences.

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