The Lesson 4. Mock Trial

Dreyfus Affair - Lesson Plans Lesson 4 – Mock Trial Student copy of Biographies and Chronology The year is 1899. The place is , . On trial is , an officer in the French army. The charge: treason. Convicted of passing secrets to in 1894, Dreyfus has spent five years in prison on Devil’s Island off the coast of , a French colony in South America. Now his case is on appeal. The prosecution must convince the jury that Dreyfus is guilty of treason. The defense must convince the jury that Dreyfus is innocent of treason. The jury must decide which side is right. Dreyfus’s case divided the people of France in 1899, but today historians know what happened without any doubt. The objective of the prosecution and defense is not to present the case without bias, it is to persuade the jury. The objective of the jury is to correctly determine the truth with only materials that would have been available to the real jury in 1899. The jury will vote before and after hearing arguments. Keep in mind when reading newspaper articles and listening to the lawyers presenting their cases that they are not trying to present the truth plainly; everything you read and hear is motivated by a desire to change your opinion.

Biographies 1. Émile Zola (1840-1902) was a famous French novelist. He published “J’Accuse!” part of a series of articles about the Dreyfus Affair, on January 13, 1898 in L’Aurore, a French newspaper. 2. Félix Faure (1841-1899) was president of France from 1895 to 1899. 3. Alfred Dreyfus (1859-1935) was a Jewish French artillery officer. He was arrested on charges of treason on October 15, 1894. On January 5, 1895, he was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil’s Island off the coast of French Guiana. 4. Marie Charles Ferdinand Walsin Esterhazy (1847-1923) was an officer in the French Army. He was acquitted of treason on January 11, 1898. 5. Armand du Paty de Clam (1853-1916) and (1854-1914) were French army officers. 6. Raoul de Boisdeffre (1839-1913), Charles-Arthur Gonse (1838-1917), and Jean-Baptiste Billot (1828-1907) were French generals. 7. Edme-Etienne Belhomme, Pierre Varinard, and Emile Couard were French handwriting experts. 8. (1857-1930) was a French industrialist and the brother of Alfred Dreyfus. He was heavily involved in his brother’s defense. 9. Philippe Delaroche-Vernet (1878-1935) was a French politician. 10. Maximilian Von Schwartzkoppen (1850-1917) was a German military officer. He was stationed at the German embassy in , France from 1891 to 1897. 11. Marie Bastian (1854-?) was a cleaner at the German embassy in Paris who was secretly employed by France as a spy from 1889-1899. Her later life, and the date of her death are unknown. 12. Ferdinand Dominique Forzinetti (1839-1909) was the governor of the military prison where Dreyfus was first imprisoned before being sent to Devil’s Island.

From the Lorraine Beitler Collection of the Dreyfus Affair Kislak Center For Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, University of Pennsylvania Page 1

The Dreyfus Affair Lesson 4. Mock Trial

Chronology • May 10, 1871 - France loses the Franco-Prussian War, and Germany takes - Lorraine (where Dreyfus was born) from France. The loss is deeply traumatic for France. • September 26, 1894 - Marie Bastian discovers a torn memo, a short note, [bordereau in French, pronounced: border-oh] in Maximilian Von Schwartzkoppen’s wastebasket that lists military secrets a French officer is selling to Germany. The French government calls this method of receiving documents “the normal route” as a code name for Bastian’s activities. • October 15, 1894 - Based on the content of the bordereau, the military suspects its author is an artillery officer rotating through bureaus for training. Alfred Dreyfus meets this description, and his handwriting is highly similar to that of the bordereau. Armand du Paty dictates a letter to Dreyfus to obtain a handwriting sample. Dreyfus is then arrested and charged with treason. • October 13-29, 1894 - Alfred Gobert reports on October 13 that someone other than Dreyfus could have written the bordereau. presents his conclusion on October 20 that Dreyfus wrote the bordereau but forged his own handwriting to evade detection or to make it seem like he had been framed. Other handwriting experts are divided over whether Dreyfus had, could have, or could not have written the bordereau. • December 22, 1894 - A military court convicts Dreyfus of treason and sentences him to life imprisonment on Devil’s Island. The court martial lasts from December 19-December22. On December 21, unknown to the French government and contrary to French law, Du Paty gives an envelope containing secret evidence against Dreyfus, called the Secret Dossier, to the judges. • March 1895 - Georges Picquart claims to discover a letter through the “normal route,” called “the little blue,” addressed to Esterhazy. In December 1897, the French army internally concludes that Picquart has forged it. On January 13, 1898, he is arrested. • October 1897 - Paul Esterhazy, Ferdinand Esterhazy’s cousin dies unexpectedly. Ferdinand swindles Christian, Paul’s 20-year-old son and only heir, out of his inheritance. • November 16, 1897 - Mathieu Dreyfus publicly accuses Ferdinand Esterhazy of writing the bordereau, though Esterhazy was not an artillery officer. On November 7, Jacques de Castro, a stockbroker, after seeing the handwriting of the bordereau (the document was widely published) had told Matthieu that the handwriting is that of Esterhazy, one of his clients. • January 11, 1898 - A military court unanimously clear Esterhazy of treason. The crowd outside shouts, “Death to the !” • January 13, 1898 - Émile Zola publishes “J’accuse!” [“I accuse!”] in L’Aurore, a French newspaper. On February 23, he is convicted of libel, and he flees by night to London. • Mid-January-mid-February 1898 - A wave of antisemitic riots break out throughout France and French Algeria. • August 30-31, 1898 - Hubert-Joseph Henry is accused of, and confesses to, forging documents in the Secret Dossier to incriminate Dreyfus, but insists no one else had knowledge of this. He kills himself in prison. • September 1, 1898 – Ferdinand Esterhazy flees to London. Christian Esterhazy is attempting to recover his money. • June 5, 1899 - Zola returns to Paris. On June 9, he appeals the verdict against him. The government decides not to imprison him. • August 7-September 9, 1899 - Dreyfus is retried by a court martial in Rennes, France.

From the Lorraine Beitler Collection of the Dreyfus Affair Kislak Center For Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, University of Pennsylvania Page 2