Emile Zola and The Dreyfus Affair

Emile Zola was a French journalist whose article J'Accuse was of major importance in France at the end of the 19th Century, regarding the prosecution of an alleged army spy Alfred Dreyfus. His piece of work concerning this affair is a shining example to journalists regarding their power to shine light upon injustice.

Before explaining the affair itself, allow me to summarize the context of the time;

 A number of years of tension between the French Empire and Prussia along with the other Germany states, culminated in the Franco-Prussian War in July 1870. The Battle of Sedan in Septmember 1870 was a comprehensive victory for Prussia and led to the eventual surrender of the French in May 1871.

After winning the war Prussia led a siege on Paris, forcing the provisional French government of the time to sign a humiliating treaty in Versailles, later known as the Treaty of Frankfurt. This forced France to pay huge war reparations and give up the Alsace-Lorraine territory to the soon to be unified Germany. To further add to the embarrassment Prussia would hold victory celebrations in Paris.

After Prussia had left France, the ordinary working class, fed up with the weak provisional government and sick of the high rent imposed upon them by their wealthy landlords led to a revolt in Paris - eventually leading to the establishment of the Paris Commune on March 18th 1871. The commune set up was based on socialist values; allowing workers to run businesses, the separation of church and state, the abolishment of night work and was also feminist sympathetic.

This 'communista' scared the French army and royalists - as well as much of Europe as it echoed many of Karl Marx's work and highlighted the 'spectre haunting Europe - the spectre of Communism'.
As a result of this the French Army decided to tear apart the commune. They flooded Paris and ruthlessly destroyed many working class areas - killing between 20-30,000 including women and children - although some suggest the death toll was actually higher! The Commune was effectively obsolete as of May 28th 1871.

It was short lived, but had a massive effective on European politics.

Now back to Zola and The Dreyfus Affair:

Following the humiliation of the Franco-Prussian War and Paris Commune France was in a 'hangover' state, with national identity at a low. Revenge against Germany became an obsession and they tried to build up respect again by creating an overseas Empire. particularly in Africa.

There was also a need to blame someone for the previous failures. There were many rumours of traitors in the army and much of the blame was laid on the Jews. This was furthered still when a business scandal at the Panama Canal showed certain Jewish businessmen had been taking bribes - Anti Semitism in France was flamed.  

When important documents were discovered in the German embassy the France Army needed to find a scapegoat. Alfred Dreyfus was an intelligent and highly capable French Army captain, but as a Jew (in addition to hailing from the Alsace-Lorraine region) he fitted the bill for scapegoat perfectly.

The Army held a secret Court Marshall, finding him guilty of treason (despite bringing forward no evidence), stripping Dreyfus of his medals and exiling him to 'Devils Island' where he suffered all manner of neglect and cruelties.

An officer later looking into the case actually found evidence that a different man named Esterhazy was actually the guilty culprit - as his handwriting matched that found in the German Embassy, however despite the overwhelming evidence Esterhazy was acquitted in order for the Army to save face.

The trial was attended by French writer Emile Zola. On January 13th 1898 Zola published an open letter to the French President entitled 'J'Accuse' (I accuse).

Zola begins by paying his respects to the President - although he insinuates that history will remember who was in charge overall when re-visiting the Dreyfus Affair, which he describes as a stain on any French achievements. Zola describes the decision to acquit Esterhazy as a 'great blow to all truth' and effectively uses emotive writing throughout the piece to stress the importance of justice.

Zola dares to openly criticise those responsible for the cover up in the letter - stating that it is his 'duty to speak'. I think that this is something all journalists could learn from, we are effectively the eyes and ears of the public and as such I feel that there should be a large degree of honesty in our work - though this is clearly not always to case.

Zola sarcastically lists Dreyfus' ''crimes'' of being too ambitious, bright, calm and nervous. He uses this juxtaposition at the end to highlight the ridiculousness of the charges and to stress the unfairness of it all. Zola highlights the guilt of the officers who covered it up - ''they close mouths by disturbing hearts, by perverting spirits''. Zola considers this the greatest crime, showing that he was a keen believer in freedom of speech.

Zola outs those concerned with the wrongful framing of Dreyfus as anti Semites and adds that ''when society does this it falls into decay''. This shows signs of the desire for equality that the Paris Commune had potentially opened the doors for previously.

Zola criticises the media coverage of the trial. They, like him, must surely have seen the evidence and realised Dreyfus' innocence and yet chose to ignore this. He blames them for misleading the public and effectively fuelling bigotry. Zola emphasizes this by saying ''it is a crime to poison the small and humble, to exasperate passions of intolerance, a crime to exploit patriotism for hatred'' and adds ''if not cured France's liberal human rights will die''. This highlights the affect that the media can have in influencing the minds of the public - Zola is bluntly critical of the French media for promoting hatred of Dreyfus and Jewish citizens through their writing and by saying that France's liberal rights will die if this continues he is recalling the French revolution and its original cries for freedom.

Perhaps the most important part and J'Accuse is the conclusion. Zola clearly states the list of people who he blames for the wrong-doing in the Dreyfus Affair and gives his reasons why. The format of the text is laid out clearly in a list form so that Zola's accusations are blatent for all to see. Also Zola does not list Esterhazy in his accusations perhaps showing his obvious guilt by saying it isn't even worth exposing. He could also be highlighting the injustice committed by the state, showing that this was the worst crime.
Zola admits that he is aware of the trouble he may get in for doing so and acknowledges that he is potentially being libellous and guilty of slander. This is incredibly brave journalism, putting himself in the firing line in order to report truthfully and Zola's passion is clearly something to aspire to - he's something of a Saint or Superhero of journalism. The fact that this article led to him being convicted of libel and sentenced to prison before he managed to flee to London only enhances this reputation.

Zola saw his article as a catalyst for truth. His bravery could be seen to have been rewarded in that Dreyfus was awarded a secondary trial and despite being found guilty again this time there was massive outcry against the decision and he was eventually exonerated in 1906 after being pardoned four years earlier - although he was now a broken man.

When Zola died he was taken to the Pantheon to be buried, with Dreyfus present at the ceremony (where there was an assassination attempt of him!). I think that Zola deserved the accolade of being buried there as his work for justice and free speech in spite of a hostile situation is a noble cause and something that all journalists and writers should aspire to. Hero.