French army captain Alfred Dreyfus was born in Alsace, France, on October 9th, 1859. In 1894, Dreyfus was falsely accused of treason and providing military secrets to the German Embassy in Paris. His trial and sentence sparked the beginning of the Dreyfus Affair. France became deeply divided between those who believed that Dreyfus was guilty and those who thought he was innocent. In 1898, French writer Emile Zola wrote an open letter to the attention of President Felix Faure denouncing the cover-up of the judicial error and the antisemitism of the General Staff of the military. It wouldn't be until 1906 that Dreyfus would be exonerated.

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