Mr. Plow
Practice Squad Player
- Joined
- Apr 28, 2015
- Messages
- 148
- Reaction score
- 386
In the 1890's a French artillery captain named Alfred Dreyfus was arrested by the French military police and accused of spying for Germany.
The evidence: the French government employed a cleaning lady in the German Embassy, and she would simply empty the wastebaskets and hand over the contents to French Intelligence. Handwritten notes were found, detailing secrets of the new French artillery piece, and the handwriting seemed to match that of Captain Dreyfus.
He was subsequently tried in secret. None of the evidence was provided to him or his counsel. He was swiftly convicted, and then publicly humiliated before being carted off to prison. The humiliation involved a formal ceremony, in which Captain Dreyfus was made to stand in front of a large, jeering crowd, while his uniform was stripped off him and his sword broken in half in front of him by the regimental sergeant-major. Pretty heavy stuff.
But, after he was packed off to prison, something funny happened. Those notes kept showing up in the German Embassy's wastebaskets. In the same handwriting.
It became obvious that
a.) Dreyfus was not a spy.
b.) The real spy was still out there.
Armed with this knowledge, what do you think the leadership of the French Army did? They covered it up, of course. They got in touch with the real spy and asked him to kindly stop spying. And Dreyfus stayed in prison. Saving face for the institution became the most important thing.
Now, kids, does this remind you of anything?
The evidence: the French government employed a cleaning lady in the German Embassy, and she would simply empty the wastebaskets and hand over the contents to French Intelligence. Handwritten notes were found, detailing secrets of the new French artillery piece, and the handwriting seemed to match that of Captain Dreyfus.
He was subsequently tried in secret. None of the evidence was provided to him or his counsel. He was swiftly convicted, and then publicly humiliated before being carted off to prison. The humiliation involved a formal ceremony, in which Captain Dreyfus was made to stand in front of a large, jeering crowd, while his uniform was stripped off him and his sword broken in half in front of him by the regimental sergeant-major. Pretty heavy stuff.
But, after he was packed off to prison, something funny happened. Those notes kept showing up in the German Embassy's wastebaskets. In the same handwriting.
It became obvious that
a.) Dreyfus was not a spy.
b.) The real spy was still out there.
Armed with this knowledge, what do you think the leadership of the French Army did? They covered it up, of course. They got in touch with the real spy and asked him to kindly stop spying. And Dreyfus stayed in prison. Saving face for the institution became the most important thing.
Now, kids, does this remind you of anything?
