January 13, 1898 was the day after Ferdinand Walsin-Esterhazy was found not guilty of treason for a military memorandum sent to Germany containing French secrets. This date also comes nearly two years after Alfred Dreyfus was convicted of the exact same crime with little to no evidence to convict him other than hatred towards a group of people. Émile Zola, a French writer and revolutionary of opinion, defended Dreyfus in a letter addressed to the French president and published under the title "J'accuse!". This letter may show some bias on Zola's part due to his loyalty to Dreyfus, whom he greatly respected, and his distaste for the way the army and some members of the government seemed to work with the clearly expressed opinions in the letter. The Dreyfus Affair presents a depiction of France in the late 1800s with its stance, mimicking the stance of most of Eastern Europe at the time, on nationalism, corruption in the military /the government and anti-Semitism. "accuse" was written at a time of growing extreme nationalism in Eastern Europe. Countries came together to celebrate their similarities and denounce other countries' differences. Knowing this, it is no wonder that Zola addressed his letter published in a French newspaper to the French president Addressing the president as opposed to an individual or the nation, or even simply not writing it in letter form, was a conscious decision on Zola's part. to address this question to the president is a decision of nationalism it is addressed to the president who leads the country but is also a symbol of the unity of France The president is a representation of France as a whole, he represents. a complete France which...... middle of paper ...... that's where the whole question comes from and he wants a change for the whole country which comes from above, the president, to resolve this national problem The three problems presented in this letter are intertwined; one could not accuse Dreyfus without corruption and anti-Semitism and, in turn, there could not be a call for national unity addressed to the president without first having a problem to solve. The timing of this letter is significant because of the factors that all of Europe has been facing and because growing tensions between countries have made internal conflicts such as the sale of military secrets an even more important topic. Zola may have had some bias due to his closer feelings towards Dreyfus than those of the military he accused, but his side is also more defensible and probably correct due to the short time after the event when this was written and published..