The narrative of an extraordinary imbrolio in late 19th century France. A competent military intelligence officer is accused, falsely, of espionage and stripped of his rank and military career and sent to Devil's Island (French Guiana). Essentially the various tribunals he appeals to are bigoted, short-sighted, and impervious to the facts. When the courts will not deal with the evidence at hand particularly and the massive intervention by novelist Emile Zola and his outraged friends; the President of France has to personally intervene and by decree order the rehabilitation of Captain Dreyfus in an unprecedented situation. Dreyfus is of wealthy Jewish stock and originally from a French province won by enemy Germany in the Franco-Prussian War and all of this fuels massive anti-Jewish public and press denunciations which in kind receive highly spirited counter accusations. France was in turmoil and a national crisis gripped not only France but became the subject of world wide indignation and controversy. After restoration to duty Dreyfus becomes, eventually, a Lieutenant Colonel in the artillery and fights in World War I and retires quietly and without further difficulty.
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