Dreyfus affair: Alfred Dreyfus arrested and convicted of treason

Background. The Dreyfus affair was a political scandal that divided the Third French Republic from 1894 until 1906. In 1894, the French Army's counter-intelligence section, led by Lieutenant Colonel Jean Sandherr, became aware that information regarding new artillery parts was being passed to Maximilian von Schwartzkoppen, the German military attaché in Paris, by a highly placed spy most likely on the General Staff. Suspicion fell upon Captain Alfred Dreyfus, a 35-year-old Alsatian French artillery officer of Jewish descent, who was wrongfully accused of being a German spy due to antisemitism.

Arrest and Investigation. On 13 October 1894, General Mercier summoned Captain Dreyfus for a general inspection in civilian clothes without any tangible evidence. On the morning of 15 October 1894, Dreyfus underwent this ordeal but admitted nothing. His brother, Mathieu Dreyfus, became aware of the arrest after being called urgently to Paris on 1 November 1894. Dreyfus was referred to the first Military Court with this dossier on 4 December 1894.

Trial and Conviction. The trial opened on 19 December 1894 at one o'clock, and a closed court was immediately pronounced. Newspapers pressed for secrecy: L'Éclair argued on 13 December 1894 that "the closed court is necessary to avoid a casus belli," while Judet in Le Petit Journal called it "our impregnable refuge against Germany" and La Croix demanded "the most absolute closed court." On 22 December 1894, Dreyfus was summarily convicted in a closed court martial and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil's Island in French Guiana.