With some of the Socialists supporting a Minister in the Government and many others opposed to a working agreement of any kind with other parties, the unity of the Socialist party in France could not be maintained. The absorption of members in matters outside the actual Socialist sphere, such as the Dreyfus case, had been considered a doubtful benefit. But over this, the Socialists, with Guesde amongst them, had hesitated—Guesde even spoke of the action of Zola in publishing J'Accuse as "the greatest revolutionary act of the century." Later on, however, they called a halt, and Socialists on both sides, Guesdists and the moderate men like Millerand, begged Jaurès to stop just when his renewed and passionate efforts were instrumental in bringing to light the forgery to which Colonel Henry confessed, and so finally in assuring a successful end to the campaign.
As Jaurès saw and declared, it was one of the results of these efforts that Millerand was asked to enter the Ministry.
Guesde replied that it was true. This collaboration had certainly arisen out of Jaurès' collaboration over the Dreyfus case, as Jaurès had boasted, but this only showed how wrong he had been to enter into that work. Jaurès thought it a victory that Millerand should have penetrated into the Ministry, but in reality he was nothing but a prisoner, nothing but a hostage,
