The Dreyfus Affair in Spain: Zola and the Rise of the Intellectual in Spain

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The Dreyfus Affair in Spain: Zola and the Rise of the Intellectual in Spain THE DREYFUS AFFAIR IN SPAIN: ZOLA AND THE RISE OF THE INTELLECTUAL IN SPAIN _______________ A Thesis Presented to The Faculty of the Department of History University of Houston _______________ In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree of Masters of Arts _______________ By Bethany Joy B. Hood May, 2017 i THE DREYFUS AFFAIR IN SPAIN: ZOLA AND THE RISE OF THE INTELLECTUAL IN SPAIN _______________ An Abstract of a Thesis Presented to The Faculty of the Department of History University of Houston _______________ In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree of Masters of Arts _______________ By Bethany Joy B. Hood May, 2017 iii ABSTRACT This thesis briefly examines the influence of the Dreyfus Affair in Spain, specifically examining how Émile Zola and the development of the French intellectual directly influenced the creation of a Spanish intellectual movement at the end of the nineteenth century. By examining primary sources like Spanish newspapers and letters written to and from Zola, it seeks to add to the historiographical discussion of the Dreyfus Affair by tracing the role of Zola in Spanish conversations surrounding the Affair. Emboldened by Zola, Spanish intellectuals then used the Dreyfus Affair as a platform to promote their own ideological visions of Spain. Specifically, Spanish intellectuals sought Spanish social and political reform in an corrupt, established two-party political system, publically denouncing the failures of the ruling Spanish regime. It also compares both French and Spanish public sentiment surrounding the Affair, primarily examining urban middle class intellectuals residing in Barcelona, Madrid, Cádiz, and Paris. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction 1 Chapter 1. The Dreyfus Affair in France 4 Summary of the Dreyfus Affair 4 Jews in France 16 Impact of French Newspapers 24 List of Leading French Newspapers 28 The Third Republic Versus Conservative French Institutions 29 Development of the Intellectual in France 31 Chapter 2. The Dreyfus Affair in Spain 38 Jews in Spain 40 Impact of Spanish Newspapers 47 List of Leading Spanish Newspapers 48 Spanish Government 58 Chapter 3. Émile Zola and the Development of the Spanish Intellectual 70 The Birth of the Spanish Intellectual 71 Spanish Eyes on Zola 76 Spanish Intellectuals Take Action 82 Conclusion 92 Bibliography 94 v INTRODUCTION The Dreyfus Affair exists as a defining, watershed moment in nineteenth-century France, often considered one of the most egregious perversions of justice the world has ever seen. This scandal, in which French Jewish military officer Alfred Dreyfus was wrongfully accused and convicted of high treason, quickly emerged as an international phenomenon that shook Europe and the United States. Continued fascination with the trial, conviction, and eventual exoneration of Alfred Dreyfus has resulted in more than one thousand publications on the Affair, which have examined numerous cultural, political, and social issues such as gender, religion, and race. Moreover, the era’s incessant obsession with the Affair exceeded interest in Alfred Dreyfus himself; it signified larger social and political debates, particularly the fight between conservatives and progressives battling for the heart and soul of fin de siècle Europe. Progressives and the increasingly relevant intellectuals typically emerged as Dreyfusards (supporters of Dreyfus), challenging traditional dogma and political entities in hopes of advancing towards a more modern and liberal society. On the other hand, conservatives, including the Catholic Church, military, and monarchists, almost always sided with the anti-Dreyfusards and voiced their opposition to Dreyfus as a means of defending their waning relevance and power. They used this movement to promote conversations regarding a new French nationalism, resulting in the development of the extreme right in France. The Dreyfus Affair forced both of these groups to define “Truth and Justice,” and prodded entire nations to consider what values they wanted as indicative of their homelands. These issues exceeded French borders, gaining attention in the rest of Europe and the United States. The Dreyfus Affair was so significant that historians have extensively 1 examined the impact of the Affair in Russia, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy, Great Britain, and the United States. However, regardless of the vast and continually expanding historiography of the Dreyfus Affair, there still remain major gaps. Despite being referenced as the “Scandal of the [nineteenth] Century” and “The Scandal That Tore France in Two,”1 minimal research has been produced concerning the affect of the Dreyfus Affair on Spain. Of the limited inquiry that has been completed, publications scarcely exist in the English language. This is a significant void in the historiography of the Dreyfus Affair, especially because of the significant and direct influence of French intellectual Émile Zola on the late nineteenth-century social and political developments in Spanish society. This thesis will fill a small part of that historiographical void, and examine the far- reaching influence of Zola and the Dreyfus Affair on Spain’s political evolution. Specifically, it argues that Zola and the “development of the Intellectual” provided a platform at the end of the nineteenth century on which Spaniards seeking Spanish social and political reform could promote new political ideologies in an established two-party political system, publicly denouncing the failures of a corrupt ruling Spanish regime. The term “Intellectual” referred in fin de siècle Europe to an individual who was “prepared to intervene in the public sphere of politics” and “create public discourse” as a means to defend justice or represent the dispossessed and unrepresented members of society.2 “It was therefore the action of 1. Each of these labels was used as the title of two of the leading books on the Affair. The first refers to Ruth Harris’s book Dreyfus: Politics, Emotion, and the Scandal of the Century. The second stems from Piers Paul Read’s The Dreyfus Affair: The Scandal That Tore France in Two. 2. This definition is modified from Jeremy Jennings and Anthony Kemp-Welch’s definitions of an intellectual found on pages 2 and 7 of their book Intellectuals in Politics: From the Dreyfus Affair to Salman Rushdie. 2 intervening in politics by intellectuals that was constitutive of the definition of the noun.”3 Additionally, this thesis will focus primarily on the major intellectual and political hubs of nineteenth-century Spain such as Madrid, Barcelona, and Cádiz. 3. Jeremy Jennings and Kemp-Welch, eds., Intellectuals in Politics: From the Dreyfus Affair to Salman Rushdie (London: Routledge, 1997), 7. 3 CHAPTER 1 THE DREYFUS AFFAIR IN FRANCE Summary of the Dreyfus Affair The sequence of events leading to the Dreyfus Affair began in August 1894, when, while disguised as a cleaning lady in the German Embassy, French spy Mademoiselle Marie- Caudron Bastian discovered a tattered note in the trashcan of German military officer Maximilian von Schwartzkoppen. The message indicated that a French military officer had been selling the Germans military secrets. This note, which later became famously known as the bordereau, contained information regarding French military tactics and training details. Although there was no signature indicating the author, the writer stated that he was “off on manoeuvres,” suggesting that the traitor was a high ranking military officer.1 Evidence of treason was especially heinous following France’s devastating loss to the German Empire in the Franco-Prussian War in 1871, and leading military officials immediately ordered an investigation. The chief investigators narrowed their suspects to 220 officers from various branches of the military. Upon further inquiry, investigators soon determined that the conspirator had to be an artillery officer on the General Staff of the French Army. With virtually no leads in the investigation, newly appointed Commandant Albert d’Aboville suggested that the traitor might be an intern who had performed poorly on his evaluations. D’Aboville, along with Colonel Pierre-Élie Fabre, examined samples of the potential conspirators’ handwriting and deduced that it most closely resembled the script of Army officer Captain Alfred Dreyfus, who had been on military exercises at the same time 1. Piers Paul Read, The Dreyfus Affair: The Scandal That Tore France in Two (New York: Bloomsbury Press, 2012), 60. 4 that the bordereau was written. In addition to having handwriting similar as to that of the bordereau, there were several other factors against Dreyfus. He spoke German, was a Jew, and had grown up in Alsace-Lorraine, which had been annexed by Prussia after France’s loss in the Franco-Prussian War. Ironically, despite begrudgingly giving this territory to the Prussians and maintaining France’s claim to the region, France was suspicious of the citizens of Alsace- Lorraine. Although citizens of Alsace-Lorraine were previously considered Frenchmen, there was an element of ambiguity surrounding the identities of people from this area as they spoke a German dialect. Were they French? Or were they German? Some leaders in turn questioned the loyalty of many from the region, inciting discussions about nationalism and allegiance to the Third Republic. Having gathered this information about Dreyfus, Commandant D’ Aboville and Colonel Fabre quickly enlisted the opinion of Major Ferdinand du Paty de Clam who served part time as an amateur graphologist.
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