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The Dreyfus case highlighted and intensified bitter divisions within French politics and society. By the end of the 1890's, the republican regime had successfully weathered several storms, only to face its most serious challenge yet when the Dreyfus Affair broke. The fact that the case followed other scandals: The Boulanger affair , the Wilson case, and the bribery of government officials and journalists associated with the financing of the Suez Canal, suggested danger and collapse of the young French Republic (Parry 92). The controversy involved critical institutions and issues, including monarchists and republicans, the political parties, the Catholic Church, the army, and strong anti-Semitic sentiment (Parry 92). France needed to find a way to regain its lost luster. The French Army called on Commander Henry as the leader who would take charge of spying on German diplomats in France. .
According to Professor Stephen Hause's lecture on October 10, 2003, a cleaning lady emptying trash in the office of a German military attaché found suspicious papers in the wastebasket and thought espionage. In the French Intelligence Office arrived a document that alarmed French army that was credited to the German embassy. This anonymous letter became known as The Bordereau . The Bordereau included the following:.
• A note on the hydraulic brake of the 120 cannon and on the manner in which it functioned in maneuvers.
• A note on covering troops.
• A note on change in artillery formations.
• A note on Madagascar .
• Project of Firing Manual for Field Artillery (D. Johnson 14).
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The papers found made it appear that a French military officer was providing secret information to the German government (The Affair). Despite over 80,000 Jews living in France in the 1890's, Dreyfus, the only Jew on the general staff, became under immediate suspicion because of his Jewish heritage.