1914 in France explained

Events from the year 1914 in France.

Incumbents

• President

• President of the Council of Ministers

• • • • until 9 June: Gaston Doumergue 9 June-13 June: Alexandre Ribot
  • starting 13 June: René Viviani

Events

• 16 March – The wife of minister Joseph Caillaux shoots Gaston Calmette, the editor of Le Figaro because he threatened to publish Caillaux's love letters to her during his previous marriage; she is later acquitted by a jury.
• 26 April – French legislative election held.
• 10 May – French legislative election held.
• 31 July – Jean Jaurès assassinated by a French nationalist fanatic
• 3 August – Germany declares war on France.
• 9 August – Battle of Mulhouse begins, the opening attack of World War I by the French army against Germany.
• 26 August – Allies withdraw from Le Cateau to Saint-Quentin, after Battle of Le Cateau.
• 29 August – French Fifth Army attack St. Quentin.
• 30 August – French Fifth Army retreat from St. Quentin.
• 2 September – The village of Moronvilliers is occupied by the Germans.
• 5 September
  • London Agreement: No member of the Triple Entente (France, the United Kingdom or Russia) may seek a separate peace with the Central Powers.
  • The First Battle of the Marne begins: 50 km north-east of Paris, the French 6th Army under General Maunoury attacks German forces closing on the city. Over 2,000,000 fight (500,000 are killed/wounded) in the Allied victory. A French and British counterattack at the Marne ends the German advance on Paris.
• 6–8 September – French Army troops are rushed from Paris to join the First Battle of the Marne using Renault Type AG taxicabs.
• 13 September – The conclusion of the Battle of Grand Couronné ends the Battle of the Frontiers, with the north-east segment of the Western Front stabilising.
• 25 September – Battle of Albert begins as part of the Race to the Sea.
• 27 September – First Battle of Artois begins.
• 28 September – The First Battle of the Aisne ends indecisively.
• 30 September – British Indian Army Expeditionary Force A arrives at Marseille for service on the Western Front.
• 1 October – Battle of Arras begins.
• 4 October – Lens is lost, as French Tenth Army fails to hold back the Germans.
• 4 November – Britain and France declare war on the Ottoman Empire.
• 20 December – First Battle of Champagne begins.

Arts and literature

• December – Wilhelm Apollinaris de Kostrowitzky, who writes under the nom de plume "Guillaume Apollinaire", enlists in the French Army to fight in World War I and becomes a French citizen^[1] after an August attempt at enlistment has been rejected.

Sports

• 28 June – The 12th Tour de France begins.

Births

January to March

• 4 January – Jean-Pierre Vernant, historian and anthropologist (died 2007)
• 9 January – Lucien Bodard, reporter and writer on events in Asia (died 1998)
• 10 January – Pierre Cogan, cyclist (died 2013)
• 3 February – Michel Thomas, linguist, language teacher and decorated war veteran (died 2005)
• 17 February – René Vietto, cyclist (died 1988)
• 19 February – Jacques Dufilho, actor (died 2005)
• 28 February – Élie Bayol, motor racing driver (died 1995)
• 21 March – Paul Tortelier, cellist and composer (died 1990)

April to June

• 4 April – Marguerite Duras, writer and film director (died 1996)
• 17 April – Janine Micheau, lyric soprano opera singer (died 1976)
• 25 April – Claude Mauriac, author and journalist (died 1996)
• 26 April – Lilian Rolfe, heroine of World War II (died 1945)
• 27 April – Albert Soboul, historian (died 1982)
• 28 April – Michel Mohrt, editor, essayist, novelist and historian (died 2011)
• 8 May – Romain Gary, novelist, film director, World War II aviator and diplomat (died 1980)
• 14 May – Maurice Kriegel-Valrimont, militant communist, resistance fighter and politician (died 2006)
• 18 May
  • Pierre Balmain, fashion designer (died 1982)
  • Marcel Bernard, tennis player (died 1994)
• 16 June
  • Louis Gabrillargues, soccer player (died 1994)
  • Colette Maze, pianist (died 2023)
• 26 June – Antoine Argoud, twice attempted to assassinate Charles de Gaulle (died 2004)
• 30 June – Agnès-Marie Valois, French nun and nurse (died 2018)

July to September

• 5 July – Alain de Boissieu, Army chief-of-staff (died 2006)
• 5 July – Jean Tabaud, artist (died 1996)
• 21 July – Philippe Ariès, medievalist and historian (died 1984)
• 30 July – André Nocquet, aikido teacher (died 1999)
• 31 July – Louis de Funès, actor (died 1983)
• 19 August
  • Maurice Bourgès-Maunoury, politician and Prime Minister of France (died 1993)
  • Raymond Marcellin, politician (died 2004)
• 20 August – Yann Goulet, sculptor, Breton nationalist and war-time collaborationist with Nazi Germany (died 1999)
• 30 August – Jean Bottéro, historian (died 2007)
• 13 September – Henri Curiel, political activist (assassinated 1978)
• 23 September – Maurice Limat, science fiction author (died 2002)
• 24 September – Jean-Michel Guilcher, ethnologist (died 2017)^[2]

October to December

• 22 October – André Neher, Jewish scholar and philosopher (died 1988)
• 13 November – Henri Langlois, pioneer of film preservation and restoration (died 1977)
• 21 November – Henri Laborit, physician, writer and philosopher (died 1995)
• 4 December – Claude Renoir, cinematographer (died 1993)
• 5 December – Odette Joyeux, actress and writer (died 2000)
• 18 December – Aimé Teisseire, military officer (died 2008)

Deaths

• 18 January – Georges Picquart, army officer and Minister of War, exposed the truth in the Dreyfus Affair (born 1854)
• 30 January – Paul Déroulède, author and politician (born 1846)
• 13 February – Alphonse Bertillon, police officer and forensic scientist (born 1853)
• 25 March – Frédéric Mistral, poet, shared the Nobel Prize in literature in 1904 (born 1830)
• 31 July – Jean Jaurès, socialist and pacifist (assassinated) (born 1859)
• 3 August – Louis Couturat, logician, mathematician, philosopher and linguist (born 1868)
• 4 August – Hubertine Auclert, feminist and campaigner for women's suffrage (born 1848)
• 4 August – Jules Lemaître, critic and dramatist (born 1853)
• 3 September – Albéric Magnard, composer (born 1865)
• 5 September – Charles Péguy, poet, essayist and editor (born 1873)
• 6 September – Alfred Mayssonnié, rugby union player (killed in action) (born 1884)
• 16 September – Louis Bach, Association football player (killed in action) (born 1883)
• 23 September – Gaston Lane, rugby union player (killed in action) (born 1883)
• 26 September – Alain-Fournier (Lt Henri-Alban Fournier), novelist (killed in action) (born 1886)
• 2 October – Joé Anduran, rugby union player (killed in action) (born 1882)
• 25 December – Jean Alfred Fournier, dermatologist (born 1832)

See also

• 1914 in France

Notes and References

1. Book: Auster, Paul. The Random House Book of Twentieth-Century French Poetry; with translations by American and British poets. New York. Random House. 1982. 0-394-52197-8.
2. News: Peigné. Thierry. L'ethnologue breton Jean-Michel Guilcher est décédé. March 29, 2017. France 3 Bretagne. March 28, 2017.