History 541 (S97) Class Projects
Prof. Jeremy Popkin, University of Kentucky
email: popkin@uky.edu
The Dreyfus Affair/May 1968
The controversy ignited by the conviction of Captain Alfred Dreyfus and the nationwide
student and worker strike of May 1968 were two of the most spectacular and revealing
episodes in modern French memory. Both brought to the surface many of the major
divisions within the French community that explain the course of the country's
history.
The purpose of our "simulations" of these two historical episodes will be to deepen our
understanding of the issues involved. Each class member will be assigned a role in one of these
debates, either as a historical personage involved in these events, or as a historical 'type' whose
reactions to the debate would typify those of an important group at the time, or as a newsperson
broadcasting reports of the trial on ACNN (Anachronistic Cable News Network). Each class
member will research his or her role and be prepared to perform "in character" during the re-enactment. In addition, each class member will prepare a written essay (approx. 750-1000 wds,
or 3-4 typed double-spaced pages) explaining and justifying the way in which he/she has
portrayed that character.
You will have to do some research in the library to obtain the necessary background
on your "character." On the individual assignment sheets I have prepared for each
character, you will find some possible sources of information. You should be prepared
to look for additional sources on your own. You should attach a bibliography of
sources consulted to your essay.
Our simulation of the Dreyfus Affair will be held in class, on 10 Mar. 1997. Essays from
students participating in this simulation are due at the beginning of class, Friday, 14 Mar. The
simulation of May 1968 will be held on Wed., 23 Apr., and papers will be due Fri., Apr. 25.
How to Prepare for this Assignment
(1) Read the brief sections on the Dreyfus Affair and May 68 in the Popkin textbook
(Dreyfus Affair, pp. 203-206; May 68, pp. 326-29). Decide which one interests
you most.
(2) Look over the list of roles available for the simulation you would like to
participate in on the accompanying sheets. Try to choose at least 3 that you would
be willing to do.
(3) The class period of Fri., 7 Feb., will be devoted to distributing roles and
starting preparations for the project. This should include forming subgroups that
will take responsibility for planning parts of the simulation.
(4) To research your role, you will have to use the library. See the hints on
sources on the sheets devoted to the two simulations.
(5) Each group should meet together and work out a plan for its part in the
re-enactment. The plan should call for some real interaction between your characters,
not just for a series of set speeches. Be creative, and have some fun with your
characters! But try to do this while being true to the position they would have
taken in these events.
Dreyfus Affair
Roles
--Alfred Dreyfus: French Army captain of Jewish descent, convicted of treason
and sentenced to life imprisonment in 1894. He maintained his innocence and
was ultimately vindicated 12 years later.
--Edouard Drumont: leading French anti-semitic journalist. He led campaign
against Dreyfus throughout the 'Affair'.
--Bernard Lazare: Jewish intellectual who took up Dreyfus' cause at a time when
the evidence against him still seemed overwhelming.
--Captain Henry: Army officer who was determined to see the sentence against Dreyfus
upheld. When the case began to unravel, he forged additional documents pointing
to Dreyfus' guilt. Committed suicide when his actions were discovered.
--Colonel Picquart: assigned to reinvestigate the case, he bucked the Army high
command to argue that Dreyfus was innocent.
--General Mercier: not personally involved in preparing the case against Dreyfus,
he nevertheless argued that the verdict had to be maintained in order to uphold
respect for the Army.
--Emile Zola: a famous novelist, his newspaper article, "J'Accuse," denouncing
the injustice committed to Dreyfus, led to his arrest and trial for attacking
the Army, and eventually led to the reopening of the case.
--'Gyp': a celebrated woman newspaper cartoonist, she was heavily involved in
the campaign against Dreyfus.
--Theodore Herzl: a Viennese journalist assigned to cover the Dreyfus trial, he
became convinced as that anti-semitism was too powerful to be eliminated and that
Jews would only be safe if they had an independent country of their own (Zionism).
--Chief Rabbi: most leaders of the Jewish community were cautious about coming
to Dreyfus' defense or about supporting positions like Herzl's that seemed unpatriotic.
--Jules Guesde: most prominent French Socialist leader, he argued that Dreyfus'
fate didn't matter to French workers.
--Jean Jaurès: also an important Socialist, he embraced Dreyfus' cause,
arguing that workers had to oppose all forms of injustice.
--Catholic nun, reader of La Croix: the Catholic Church strongly opposed
review of Dreyfus' sentence. The Catholic newspaper La Croix was one of
the most vehement anti-Dreyfus publications.
--roles for 2 or 3 ACCN journalists. 'Journalists' play a crucial role in the
project. They keep the simulation moving and establish connections between the
other characters. Journalists need to be familiar with backgrounds of all the
characters and have questions for them prepared.
May 1968
Roles
Actual people
--Charles de Gaulle: Had been called on to take power in 1958 and establish
France's 5th Republic. Occupied the powerful office of president. Credited with
drastically modernizing the country, he was also seen as imperious and out of
touch with ordinary citizens.
--Danny Cohn-Bendit: German-Jewish student at University of Nanterre, he became
the symbol of the student protest movement that exploded in May 1968.
--Georges Pompidou: Prime minister, in charge of day-to-day conduct of the government.
He and de Gaulle became seriously divided about how to handle the crisis.
--Georges Seguy: Head of the Communist trade union organization (CGT). Despite
having spent a lifetime calling for the overthrow of the capitalist system, he
opposed the 1968 strike movement.
--François Mitterrand: bestknown leader of the leftwing political opposition,
he put himself forward as a possible leader of a new government if de Gaulle resigned.
--Madame Lucie: an elderly concierge, she had little sympathy for strikers
who let the garbage pile up outside her building.
'Types'
--young woman student protester: women played an important part in the May 1968
demonstrations. The modern French feminist movement really began in the aftermath
of these protests.
--American student: the French movement was greatly influenced by campus protests
against the Vietnam war in the U.S. In turn, American student radicals took an
intense interest in the spectacular events in France.
--worker in Renault auto factory: the Renault factory was a center of worker protest
in the Paris region, but workers were cautious about accepting support from students.
--journalist at the French national broadcasting system (O.R.T.F.): French tv
journalists staged their own strike, protesting government controls on news reports.
--a university professor: the student movement called for a complete restructuring
of academic institutions. This posed dilemmas for the faculty, sympathetic to
some reforms but fearful that the students would completely disrupt the universities.
--a "Situationist": the small Situationist group's radical critique of the absurdity
of modern life heavily influenced the forms of the student protest
--an organizer of the conservative counter-demonstration of 30 May 1968 in Paris:
after nearly a month of student and striker marches in the streets, this enormous
counter-demonstration showed that the tide of public opinion had turned against
the protesters.
--roles for 2 or 3 journalists