HIS 102 Western Civilization II

1. Modernity, Progress & Anxiety:.
The Dreyfus Affair
HIS 102 Western Civilization II
Kara Heitz

2. Modernity
• What does this term mean? What do we think of as
“modern”?
• Late 1800s/early 1900s as both era of:
• Optimism: progress, improvement, spread of the ideals of the
Enlightenment (equality, toleration, rationality)
AND
• Pessimism: anxieties about modern life; failures of Enlightenment ideals
• Case: Anti-Semitism and the Dreyfus Affair

3. Optimism about new technologies, but also pessimism about their effects
on human interactions. Can you think of parallels in contemporary times?

4. “… at heart, [is she] an optimist or a
pessimist? Those seem to be the only
two fashionable religions left to us
nowadays.“
- From Oscar Wilde’s play An Ideal
Husband (1895)

5. The Dreyfus Affair

6. Discussion Questions
“The Story of the Jews” video segment:
• What were some of the stereotypes about Jews in late 1800s
Europe? Where do they come from? What helped cause these
images to circulate?
• Why was the Dreyfus Affair so controversial? Why did it divide the
French people so strongly?
• How does the Dreyfus affair call ideas of the Enlightenment such as
equality and progress into question?
• The Jews are called “a nation without a home”. What does this
mean?
Excerpts from Theodor Herzl’s “The Jewish State” (1896):
• What is Herzl’s reaction to anti-Semitism in Europe in the late 1800s?
• How does Herzl justify the creation of a Jewish state in Palestine?
• What are the contemporary effects of his idea?

7. Antisemitism in late 1800s France

8. French political cartoon from
the newspaper le Figaro
(Feb. 14, 1898)
Title: “A family dinner”
Caption for top picture:
“Above all, let us not discuss
the Dreyfus Affair!”
Caption for bottom picture:
“They have discussed it”
Drawing of “a family
dinner” in French
newspaper le Figaro,
Feb. 14, 1898.
Top caption:
“Above all, let us not
discuss the Dreyfus
Affair.”
Bottom caption:
“They have discussed it.”

9. "A Second Degradation“,
cover of U.S. magazine
Harper’s Weekly,
Sept. 23 1899
A French military officer
divests the French Republic
of her founding principles
of liberty, equality, and
fraternity.

10. “Will she be rescued?”
from British
magazine Puck,
Jan. 18, 1899

11. Emile Zola

12. Nations and States
• What is a “nation”? What defines people who share a “nationality”?
• Common heritage, ethnicity, religion, language, ties to a certain land
OR
• Common culture, ideals, values
• What makes someone French? German? British? American?
• More limited “tribal” definition versus more expansive “cultural” definition
• What is a state?
• Autonomous and sovereign political unit
• Should all nations have their own state? Should a state only be comprised of one nation?
• What about minority groups? Are they part of the “nation”?
• How is “minority “defined? How is “the majority” is defined?
• Zionism, the Jewish state, and the “nation”
• Jews in late 19th century Europe v. Palestinians in 21st century Israel