The Dreyfus Affair was a time of anti-Semitism in France during the 19th century. Alfred Dreyfus was an officer in the French army, he was falsely accused of treason. During this time many Jews felt discouraged about their life in Europe because they never achieved the same status as that of a non-Jew. This was due to people discriminating Jews simply based on their religious beliefs, or this could also be known as religious persecution. This sparked the Zionist movement of relocating all of Jews back to Israel. Anti-Semitism is an act against the Jewish people. There are different ways of expressing Anti-Semitism, some will simply be rude to a Jewish person; while others persecute, murder, exclude, forcibly convert, and physically threaten …show more content…
He was very patriotic and held a high position in the French Army. He was falsely accused of treason and exiled to an island prison (Dreyfus Affair Begins in France). He was the only Jewish officer in his area and his case experienced Anti-Semitism. His case did not receive attention immediately, it took years to uncover the truth behind his conviction (Dreyfus Affair Begins in France). It was discovered years later that people he worked with, a lieutenant of the army and his associates, were actively forging paperwork to have Dreyfus imprisoned. When he was arrested, he was publicly stripped of his military status and sentenced to a life of imprisonment on Devil's Island in French Guiana. The arrest did not follow the regular protocol and this was the platform for the first Anti-Semitic action against Dreyfus. It was later leaked to the press that there was a military cover up of the situation regarding Dreyfus’ imprisonment, this led to newspapers articles drawing attention to his situation and finally the withdrawal of his sentence (Dreyfus Affair Definition). While Alfred spent years exiled the men responsible roamed free acting as part of France’s army defending the nation. When they were found guilty for forging the documents against Alfred, one of the men committed suicide (Berman, Anti-Semitism). The other men were sentenced yet somehow got pardoned early (Dreyfus Affair …show more content…
This notion grew in popularity following Anti-Semitic actions that occurred during the 19th century. It was the poor way the trial of Alfred Dreyfus was handled that sparked this movement. Jewish people began to lose hope of ever being treated as equals and felt their status was lower than that of another person of non-Jewish faith. In hopes of escaping Anti-Semitism, people sought move to one common country for Jews. Theodore Herzl came up with this notion of Zionism as a way to solve the “Jewish Question” by having European countries grant land for the Jews to live on. Herzl believed that this would be a good solution because it satisfied both parties. Jews would no longer have to live in persecution, and those who practice Anti-Semitic acts would no longer have to live with Jews (Berman, Israel Studies). Today, we see some people that believe that Zionism is the right step for Jews. However, there is a great amount of Jewish people that are scattered throughout the globe. This movement was sparked by the Dreyfus affair however it has never been fully successful to this