Editing Dreyfus affair (section)

=== Social ===
[[File:Amnistie populaire - Musée des Horreurs 35.jpg|thumb|''No. 35 Amnistie populaire'' of the ''Musée des Horreurs'' depicts the hanged corpse of an antisemitic caricature of Alfred Dreyfus.<ref name=":2" />]]
The social context was marked by the rise of nationalism and antisemitism. The growth of antisemitism, virulent since the publication of ''Jewish France'' by [[Édouard Drumont]] in 1886 (150,000 copies in the first year), went hand in hand with the rise of [[clericalism]]. Tensions were high in all strata of society, fueled by an influential press, which was virtually free to write and disseminate any information even if offensive or defamatory. Legal risks were limited if the target was a private person.

Antisemitism did not spare the military, which practised hidden discrimination with the "cote d'amour" (a subjective assessment of personal acceptability) system of irrational grading, encountered by Dreyfus in his application to the Bourges School.<ref>Bach, ''The Army of Dreyfus'', p. 534. {{in lang|fr}}</ref> However, while prejudices of this nature undoubtedly existed within the confines of the General Staff, the French Army as a whole was relatively open to individual talent. At the time of the Dreyfus affair there were an estimated 300 Jewish officers in the army (about 3 per cent of the total), of whom ten were generals.<ref>{{cite book|first=Piers Paul|last=Reid|page=83|title=The Dreyfus Affair|isbn=978-1-4088-3057-4|date=February 2013|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing Plc }}</ref>

The popularity of the duel using sword or small pistol, sometimes causing death, bore witness to the tensions of the period. When a series of press articles in ''[[La Libre Parole]]''<ref>''The Jews in the army''</ref> accused Jewish officers of "betraying their birth", the officers challenged the editors. Captain Crémieu-Foa, a Jewish Alsatian graduated from the Ecole Polytechnique, fought unsuccessfully against Drumont<ref name=":0">Frederick Viey [https://web.archive.org/web/20120713022621/http://www.judaicultures.info/histoire-6/Dans-la-Modernite-du-XIXo-s-a-nos/article/l-antisemitisme-dans-l-armee-l ''Anti-Semitism in the Army: The Coblentz Affair at Fontainebleau''.] {{in lang|fr}}</ref> and against M. de Lamase, who was the author of the articles. Captain Mayer, another Jewish officer, was killed by the [[Marquis de Morès]], a friend of Drumont, in another duel.

Hatred of Jews was now public and violent, driven by a firebrand (Drumont) who demonized the Jewish presence in France. Jews in metropolitan France in 1895 numbered about 80,000 (40,000 in Paris alone), who were highly integrated into society; an additional 45,000 Jews lived in [[Algeria]]. The launch of ''La Libre Parole'' with a circulation estimated at 200,000 copies in 1892,<ref>Miquel, ''The Third Republic'', p. 391. {{in lang|fr}}</ref> allowed Drumont to expand his audience to a popular readership already enticed by the [[Georges Ernest Boulanger|boulangiste]] adventure in the past. The antisemitism circulated by ''La Libre Parole'', as well as by ''L'Éclair'', ''[[Le Petit Journal (newspaper)|Le Petit Journal]]'', ''La Patrie'', ''L'Intransigeant'' and ''[[La Croix (newspaper)|La Croix]]'', drew on antisemitic roots in certain Catholic circles.<ref>Duclert, ''The Dreyfus Affair'', p. 8. {{in lang|fr}}</ref>

Publications remarking on the Dreyfus affair often reinforced antisemitic sentiments, language and imagery. The ''{{ill|Musée des Horreurs|fr|Musée des horreurs}}'' was a collection of anti-Dreyfus posters illustrated by Victor Lenepveu during the Dreyfus affair. Lenepveu caricatured "prominent Jews, Dreyfus supporters, and Republican statesman".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Musée des Horreurs / Digital Collections / Duke Digital Repository |url=https://repository.duke.edu/dc/museedeshorreurs |access-date=2022-12-05 |website=Duke Digital Collections |language=en}}</ref> ''No. 35 Amnistie populaire'' depicts the corpse of Dreyfus himself as it dangles from a noose. Large noses, money, and Lenepveu's general tendency to illustrate subjects with bodies of animals likely contributed to the dissemination of antisemitism in French popular culture.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=No. 35 Amnistie populaire / Musée des Horreurs / Duke Digital Repository |url=https://repository.duke.edu/dc/museedeshorreurs/mdhps01001039 |access-date=2022-12-05 |website=Duke Digital Collections |language=en}}</ref>