Central Powers

The Central Powers, also known as t he Central Empires,[1][notes 1] was one of t he t wo main
coalit ions t hat fought in World War I (1914–18). It consist ed of t he German Empire, Aust ria-Hungary,
t he Ot t oman Empire and t he Kingdom of Bulgaria and was also known as t he Quadruple
Alliance.[2][notes 2] Colonies of t hese count ries also fought on t he Cent ral Powers' side such as
German New Guinea and German East Africa, unt il almost all of t heir colonies were occupied by t he
Allies.
 Cent ral Powers
Mittelmächte  (German)

Központi hatalmak  (Hungarian)

İttifak Devletleri  (Turkish)

Централни сили (Bulgarian)
1914–1918

The Central Powers as of 6 September 1915

 German Empire
 Austria-Hungary
 Ottoman Empire
 Bulgaria
Status Military alliance

Historical era World War I

• Dual Alliance
7 October 1879
(Germany / Austria-Hungary)
• Established 28 June 1914
• German–Ottoman alliance 2 August 1914
• Bulgaria–Germany treaty 6 September 1915 (secret)
14 October 1915 (public)
• Dissolved 11 November 1918

Preceded by
Dual Alliance (1879)
Triple Alliance (1882)
German–Ottoman alliance
Ottoman–Bulgarian alliance
Bulgaria–Germany treaty (1915)
 Leaders of the Central Powers (left to right):

Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany;

Kaiser and King Franz Joseph of Austria-Hungary;

Sultan Mehmed V of the Ottoman Empire;

Tsar Ferdinand I of Bulgaria

The caption reads:

"Vereinte Kräfte führen zum Ziel"

"United Powers Lead to the Goal"

The Cent ral Powers faced and were defeat ed by t he Allied Powers t hat had formed around t he
Triple Ent ent e. The Cent ral Powers' origin was t he alliance of Germany and Aust ria-Hungary in 1879.
Despit e having nominally joined t he Triple Alliance before, It aly did not t ake part in World War I on
t he side of t he Cent ral Powers. The Ot t oman Empire and Bulgaria did not join unt il aft er World War I
had begun, even t hough t he Ot t oman Empire had ret ained close relat ions wit h bot h Germany and
Aust ria-Hungary since t he beginning of t he 20t h cent ury.

Member states

Combatants

Co-belligerents

Client states

Controversial cases
Non-state combatants

Armistice and treaties

Leaders

See also

Footnotes

References

Further reading