Last week’s column dealt with the origins of the divide in French society and politics that still persists today. This week’s deals with the long-drawn-out national crisis which crystallised that divide and still reverberates to this day: ‘the Dreyfus Affair’.

In 1894, Captain Alfred Dreyfus, an artillery officer, was accused of passing information about a secret new 75mm artillery piece to Germany, France’s arch-enemy since the 1870-71 war when the victorious new German empire annexed Alsace and Lorraine.

Dreyfus was tried and convicted of treason. He was publicly cashiered on the parade ground, his badges of rank ripped off and his ceremonial sword snapped in two. He was transported to the dreadful penal colony called Devil’s Island off French Guiana.

Dreyfus seemed to fit the bill of a German spy. He was from Alsace, ‘stolen’ by Germany, a German speaker – as were many of the Alsace population – a loner who didn’t mix with other officers. All true, but he was innocent.

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Dreyfus was also a Jew which swiftly became a factor in the controversy which arose when his supporters campaigned for his release or a retrial.

Within two years, the real culprit, Major Ferdinand Esterhazy, was uncovered by........

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