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Archduke Assassination
Archduke Franz Ferdinand is assassinated in Sarajevo. His death is the event that sparks World War I.Archduke Franz Ferdinand, nephew of Emperor Franz Josef and heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, is shot to death along with his wife by a Serbian nationalist in Sarajevo, Bosnia, on this day in 1914 -
Russia Mobilizes
Russia mobilizes its army to intervene against Austria-Hungary in favor of its ally, Serbia. This move starts a chain reaction that leads to the mobilization of the rest of the European Great Powers, and inevitably to the outbreak of hostilities. -
Early life Leon Bourjade
He was training to become a priest when war broke out in Europe in August 1914.In 1908, he entered the noviate of the Fathers of the Sacred Heart of Issoudun. By 1914, he had moved on to study theology in Switzerland. Instead of continuing studying for the priesthood in the neutral country of Switzerland, in ... -
World War I Begins
Germany invades Belgium, beginning World War I,.Belgium's reply to what amounted to a German ultimatum (grant free passage or suffer occupation as an enemy of Germany) was delivered on 3 August 1914. -
First battle of the marne
During the crucial First Battle of the Marne of September 1914 Bourjade served with the 23rd Artillery Regiment, and subsequently transferred to the 125th Brigade of Bombardiers in 1915 having been meanwhile promoted Marechal des Logis. -
Lusitania Sinks
The British ocean liner Lusitania is attacked by a torpedo without warning by a German submarine off the south coast of Ireland. Within 20 minutes, the vessel sank into the Celtic Sea. Of 1,959 passengers and crew, 1,198 people were drowned, including 128 Americans. The attack aroused considerable indignation in the United States, but Germany defended the action, noting that it had issued warnings of its intent to attack all ships, neutral or otherwise, that entered the war zone around Britain. -
First Tanks
The British employ the first tanks ever used in battle, at Delville Wood. Eventhough they are useful at breaking through barbed wire and clearing a path for the infantry, tanks are still primitive and they fail to be the decisive weapon, as their designers thought they would be. -
The Battle of Verdun begins.
The Battle of Verdun begins. The Battle of Verdun was the longest battle of World War I and was one of the bloodiest. At 7:12 a.m. on the morning of February 21, 1916, a shot from a German Krupp 38-centimeter long-barreled gun—one of over 1,200 such weapons set to bombard French forces along a 20-kilometer front stretching across the Meuse River—strikes a cathedral in Verdun, France, beginning the Battle of Verdun, which would stretch on for 10 months and become the longest conflict of World War -
Submarines Back
Germany resumes unrestricted submarine warfare in European waterways. This act, more than any other, draws the United States into the war and causes the eventual defeat of Germany. -
Zimmerman Telegram
British intelligence gives Wilson the so-called Zimmermann Telegram, a message from German foreign secretary Arthur Zimmermann proposing that Mexico side with Germany in case of war between Germany and the United States. In return, Germany promises to return to Mexico the "lost provinces" of Texas and much of the rest of the American Southwest. Mexico declines the offer, but the outrage at this interference in the Western Hemisphere pushes American public opinion to support entering the war. -
U.S. Enters War
Congress authorizes a declaration of war against Germany. The United States enters World War I on the side of France and Britain.The U.S. House of Representatives endorses the decision by a vote of 373 to 50, and the United States formally enters the First World War -
the tranfer
He was granted a transfer and received his pilot's brevet in June that year, thereafter receiving additional training prior to his assignment to Escadrille N152 .Following additional training at Pau, he was posted to Escadrille N152 and became the highest scoring ace to serve with this unit. By the end of the war, he was credited with downing 27 balloons and 1 enemy aircraft. -
Germany and Russia peace
The Germans sign a peace treaty with the new Bolshevik government of Russia. The terms of the treaty give Germany huge tracts of land that had been the Ukraine and Poland, and peace on the Eastern Front allows Germany to shift soldiers to the Western Front, causing serious problems for the French, British, and Americans. -
The Battle of St. Mihiel
The Battle of St. Mihiel begins when 300,000 American troops under the direct command of General Pershing fling themselves into the German lines.l begins when 300,000 American troops under the direct command of General Pershing fling themselves into the German lines. -
wereballoons
By the armistice of November 1918 Bourjade had amassed 28 'kills', of which 27 wereballoons; he was therefore one of the most successful 'balloon busters' of the conflict and the most successful member of Escadrille N152.
