The French entered World War I with staunch and grim determination in the summer of 1914. Unlike the often-told story of British soldiers, isolated and alienated from king and country, who continued to fight out of loyalty to their comrades in the trenches rather than a belief in national solidarity, French poilus (soldiers), in touch literally and figuratively with the home front, maintained their resolve due to an unshakable faith in the nation. The unity of the French in war, however, belies the fragmented nature of French society during the preceding years, which were marked by political and social conflict. Violent industrial relations, the growth of radical political organizations on both the left and right, along with profound divisions in the body politic born of the Dreyfus Affair – in which a Jewish army officer was falsely accused of treason, culminating in the fiercely divisive separation of church and state in 1905 – all exemplified such disunity. The strong sense of national solidarity among the French during a time of crisis was in large part the result of the fin-de-siècle cult of the hero. Manifesting itself in all areas of national life, especially in the mass press and theater, this heroic cult allowed the French to overcome their differences and rally around the defense of the nation.