The Dreyfus Affair 1898
Source: La Revue Blanche, March 1898;
Translated: for marxists.org by Mitchell Abidor;
CopyLeft: Creative Commons (Attribute & ShareAlike) marxists.org 2012.
We hope that M. Emile Zola will do us the honor of accepting our sincere congratulations.
The verdict obtained by the government on Feb 23, 1898[1] means that in France one can no longer protest against outdated theories if they are revived by a group of officers, or against monstrous proceedings when they are the act of a handful of higher military employees.
At the same time as it condemned M. Zola, the court condemned what remains of the generous in French tradition.
M. Zola began a necessary debate. One must now be either resolutely for him or against him, as well as either for or against the liberties under attack.
We applaud M. Zola the accuser. We bow before M. Zola the condemned man.
1. The date on which Zola was found guilty of libel for his famous “J'Accuse!”