Answer;
Because of the Dreyfus Affair.
Explanation;
Dreyfus affair was an incident in which a french jewish officer was framed for treason. This was a major scandal for the third republic because, at first, they were willing to let him sit in jail so that the french army didn't look bad. Popular support forced the government to free him, thus saving the third republic.
It was scandal that rocked France in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the Dreyfus affair involved a Jewish artillery captain in the French army, Alfred Dreyfus (1859-1935), who was falsely convicted of passing military secrets to the Germans.