Editing Dreyfus affair (section)

=== Conduct of the trial ===
[[File:Alfred Dreyfus Rennes Trial opening session 1899-08-07.jpg|thumb|280px|Alfred Dreyfus (standing, right of centre) at the opening session of his trial in Rennes, photographed by [[Valerian Griboedov]]]]

Alfred Dreyfus was in no way aware of what was happening thousands of kilometres from him. Neither was he aware of the schemes hatched to guarantee that he could never return, or the commitment of countless men and women to his cause. The prison administration filtered information deemed confidential. At the end of 1898, he learned with astonishment the actual size of the affair, about which he knew nothing: the accusation by his brother against Esterhazy, the acquittal of the traitor, Henry's confession and suicide, and the reading of the record of investigations of the Supreme Court, which he received two months after its publication.<ref>Duclert, ''Biography of Alfred Dreyfus'', p. 543. {{in lang|fr}}</ref> On 5 June 1899, Alfred Dreyfus was notified of the decision of the Supreme Court on the judgment of 1894. On 9 June 1899, he left [[Devil's Island]], heading to France, but locked in a cabin as if guilty, even though he no longer was. He disembarked on 30 June 1899 in [[Quiberon Bay|Port Haliguen]] on the Quiberon peninsula in the greatest secrecy, "a clandestine and nocturnal return".<ref>Jean Jaurès, in ''L'Humanité'' 4 July 1899. {{in lang|fr}}</ref> After five years of imprisonment, he was on his native soil, but he was immediately locked up from 1 July 1899 in the military prison in [[Rennes]]. He was remanded on 7 August 1899 before the military court of the Breton capital.

General Mercier, champion of the anti-Dreyfusards, intervened constantly in the press to confirm the accuracy of the first judgement: Dreyfus was surely guilty. Immediately, however, dissent emerged in the defence of Dreyfus. His two lawyers actually had opposing strategies. Demange wanted to stand on the defensive and just get the acquittal of Dreyfus. Labori, a brilliant lawyer who was just 35 years old, wanted to take the offensive, to aim higher and defeat and publicly humiliate the General Staff. Mathieu Dreyfus imagined a complementarity between the two lawyers. The conduct of the trial revealed the disunity that served the prosecution with a defence so impaired.

[[File:Dreyfus-rennes2.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Alfred Dreyfus's trial at the Rennes Court Martial]]

The trial opened on 7 August 1899 in an atmosphere of extreme tension. Rennes was in a state of siege.<ref>Mathieu Dreyfus [http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k24254t ''The Affair&nbsp;...''], p. 206 et seq. {{in lang|fr}}</ref> The judges of the court-martial were under pressure. Esterházy, who admitted authorship of the bordereau, was in exile in England. He and du Paty were both excused. On the appearance of Dreyfus, emotions ran high. His physical appearance disturbed his supporters and some of his opponents.<ref group="Note">[[Maurice Barrès]] made a poignant description of Dreyfus.</ref> Despite his deteriorated physical condition, he had a complete mastery of the files acquired in only a few weeks.<ref>Duclert, ''Biography of Alfred Dreyfus'', p. 562. {{in lang|fr}}</ref> All the General Staff testified against Dreyfus without providing any proof. They stubbornly considered null and void the confessions of Henry and Esterhazy. The trial even tended to go out of control to the extent that the decisions of the Supreme Court were not taken into account. They discussed in particular the bordereau, which was the proof of guilt of Esterhazy. Nevertheless Mercier was booed at the end of the hearing. The nationalist press and the anti-Dreyfusards could only speculate on his silence about the "conclusive evidence" (the pseudo-note annotated by [[Wilhelm II, German Emperor|Emperor Wilhelm II]], which nobody will ever see in evidence) that he had not ceased to report before the trial.
[[File:Demange Labori.jpg|thumb|upright|Dreyfus's defense in [[Rennes]]: [[Edgar Demange]] and [[Fernand Labori]]]]
On 14 August 1899, Labori was on his way to court when he was shot in the back by an extremist who escaped and was never found. The lawyer was missing from discussions for over a week at the decisive moment of the examination of witnesses. On 22 August 1899, his condition had improved and he returned. Incidents between the two lawyers for Dreyfus multiplied. Labori reproached Demange about his excessive caution. The government, in the face of the military hardening stance, still had two ways to influence events: call for testimony from Germany or abandon the charge.<ref>Supreme Court, ''Justice From the Dreyfus Affair'', Joly, p. 231. {{in lang|fr}}</ref> These negotiations in the background, however, had no result. The German Embassy sent a polite refusal to the government. The Minister of War, General [[Gaston de Galliffet]], sent respectful word to Major Louis Carrière, the government commissioner. He asked him to act in the spirit of the revised judgment of the Supreme Court. The officer pretended not to understand the allusion and helped the nationalist lawyer Auffray to make the indictment against Dreyfus. The defence needed to make a decision because the outcome of the case looked bad, despite evidence of the absence of charges against the accused. On behalf of the president of the council, [[Pierre Waldeck-Rousseau]], aided by Zola and Jaurès, Labori was convinced to give up his argument so as not to offend the military. They decided to risk conciliation in exchange for the acquittal that seemed to be promised by the government.<ref>Duclert, ''The Dreyfus Affair'', p. 60. {{in lang|fr}}</ref> Mr. Demange, alone and without illusions, continued the defence of Dreyfus in an atmosphere of civil war. In Paris, the antisemitic and nationalist agitators of Auteuil were arrested. [[Jules Guérin]] and those who fled and holed up in Fort Chabrol were assaulted by the police.