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The Dreyfus Affair was a 12-year controversy that deeply marked the political and social history of the French Third Republic. Alfred Dreyfus was accused of selling military secrets to Germany in 1894, and he was sentenced to life imprisonment on the Devil's Island. The legal proceedings were based on insufficient evidence, but public opinion and the French press welcomed the verdict and the sentence. However, evidence supporting Dreyfus' innocence was found. The Dreyfus Affair attracted widespread public attention, and it split France into two opposing camps: the anti-Dreyfusards (against reopening of the case) and the Dreyfusards (seeking exoneration of Dreyfus). In 1904 a retrial was granted and in July 1906 a civil court cleared Dreyfus and reversed all previous convictions. |