Alfred Dreyfus

8 Pages 1893 Words

school to boarding school, all the time suffering from the same instability as the first one. Alfred decided to prepare for his baccalaureate on his own, and after passing the exam at the Faculte de Grenoble, he chose to prepare for the Ecole Polytechnique and his entrance into the French Army. According to his son Pierre, Alfred chose to become an officer because it would have
Fulfilled a “childhood pledge”. And no doubt his Alsatian origin, an attachment to the land and community of his native region, a hatred for the invader, and a thirst for revenge all played their roles. But there were other, more personal reason, concerning his character and ethics… The Army may have seemed to him one vast family, with its crystalline certainties, guaranteeing an organized destiny over a predetermined course. Above all, the values, which the Army seemed to embody – homeland, honor, order, and hierarchy – were already his own (Bredin 13).
Alfred attended the Ecole Polytechnique and graduated in 1880, ranked 128 out of 235 and was appointed a sublieutenant in the school of instruction at Fontainebleu. Alfred was now a French soldier.
On October 1, 1882, Alfred was named lieutenant of the Thirty-first Artillery Regiment. Over the next few years, Alfred excelled in his Army activities and was given superb reports by his superiors. During this time, Alfred met Lucie Hadamard, whom he would marry on A...