Alfred Dreyfus and The Affair The Dreyfus case underscored and
intensified bitter divisions within French politics and society.
The fact that it followed other scandals the Boulanger affair,
the Wilson case, and the bribery of government officials and
journalists that was associated with the financing of the Panama
Canal suggested that the young French Republic was in danger of
collapse. The controversy involved critical institutions and
issues, including monarchists and republicans, the political
parties, the Catholic Church, the army, and strong anti-Semitic
sentiment. Alfred Dreyfus, an obscure captain in the French
army, came from a Jewish family that had left its native Alsace
for Paris when Germany annexed that province in 1871. In 1894
papers discovered in a wastebasket in the office of a German
military attaché made it appear that a French military officer
was providing secret information to the German government.
Dreyfus came under suspicion, probably because he was a Jew and
also because he had acce