The Subtext of 'Neŭtraleco': The Dreyfus Affair and the Esperanto Movement

Abstract

Circa 1900 the Esperanto movement was centered in a France polarized by the Dreyfus Affair. The movement’s public documents never mention the Affair. Its leaders spoke of the need to maintain Esperanto’s neutrality on politics and religion in language that carried a subtext of the Affair. Private correspondence among prominent Esperantists reveals their factional split on the Affair and their desire to maintain Esperanto’s broad appeal in France. Their public discussion of neŭtraleco, in coded language, indicates their silence on the Affair was not by unanimous choice. The documents cited in this paper reveal the factional divide and power struggle that motivated the 1907 Ido schism. This research focuses on elite French Esperantists and complements work by historians who have focused on Zamenhof’s thinking. It includes research on Espero Pacifista and Espero Katolika, which few have studied. This research complements other work on L’Espérantiste by focusing on the Affair.