The time-dependence of the Bragg diffraction by one-dimensional photonic crystals and its influence on the short pulse reflection are studied in the framework of the coupled-wave theory. The indicial response of the photonic crystal is calculated and it appears that it presents a time-delay effect with a transient time conditioned by the extinction length. A numerical simulation is presented for a Bragg mirror in the x-ray domain and a pulse envelope modelled by a sine-squared shape. The potential consequences of the time-delay effect in time-dependent optics of short-pulses are emphasized.