Patriotism

Which side stood for “France”? Who were the true defenders of the country—who was loyal and who disloyal? Patriotism took on complicated forms during the era of the Dreyfus Affair.

An 1889 election poster, well before the Dreyfus Affair, suggests a link between nationalism and antisemitism: a French Gaul, symbol of the ethnic origin of the “French,” tramples on the Talmud, a fundamental text of Judaism, while the female figure Marianne, symbol of the French republic, rises in the background. The debate over Dreyfus’s guilt or innocence was frequently waged by invoking patriotic questions: Dreyfusards sought to defend the republic and its values, while anti-Dreyfusards accusing them of undermining the state and even of aiding the enemies of France, particularly Germany.

The nationalist, monarchist, conservative, and antisemitic organization Action Française was formed in 1899 as a direct response to Dreyfusard sentiment. It played an active part in promoting the reputations of military figures like General Mercier who, it claimed, had been working to save the French nation.

Despite his atrocious treatment, Dreyfus himself remained a patriot: insistently faithful to his country and loyal to the army throughout and after his imprisonment. He accepted his pardon only under the condition that he could still fight to prove his innocence. Dreyfus was eventually reintegrated into the French army in 1906, and fought alongside his son for the French in World War I.