Dreyfus the Martyr.

On the outside looking in, the Dreyfus Affair seems to be not only incredibly arbitrary, but a direct insult to an entire ethic/religious group. That being said, in one looks deep into the subject, it becomes apparent that this chain of events, however unfortunate, may have been the needed catalyst for the formation of a Jewish state. The Dreyfus Affair occurred in 1894, when Jewish French officer Alfred Dreyfus was wrongly accused of spying/treason (supplying important military information to Germany). Dreyfus was convicted and sent to Devils Island. In 1898, When Emile Zola published his article accusing the French government of wrongfully accusing Dreyfus on the sole basis that he was Jewish (there was no physical evidence that it was Dreyfus and actually more evidence exonerating him). This stirred up a lot of tension in France and across Europe and effectively created a division between the French people. I believe this is important because I feel these events partly inspired sentiment for a Jewish state. It is seen in the actions of a young man covering the trial named Theodore Herzl. Herzl is widely regarded as the father of Zionism. Zionism was the movement, that Herzl was able to really galvanize in the late 19th century, that aimed for the establishment of a Jewish sate (in the land between Jordan, Egypt, Syria, and the Mediterranean Sea, then known as Palestine). Herzl, a Austro-Hungarian Jew, was inspired while a journalist on the Dreyfus trial to really intensify this movement, which would ultimately culminate with the 1948 establishment of a Jewish state in Israel. I found it quite interesting to see just a small part in the much larger history of the Jewish people. Its great to see how a singular event like the Dreyfus Affair could join together an entire people.