Central Powers

Infobox Former International Organization
conventional_long_name = Central Powers
common_name = Central Powers
_noautocat = yes
status = Military alliance
continent = Europe, Africa, Asia
era = World War I
event_start =
year_start = 1914
date_start = June 28, 1914
event_end = Dissolved
year_end = 1918
date_end = October 11, 1918
event1 = German and Austria-Hungarian Treaty
date_event1 = October 7, 1879
event2 = Ottoman Empire Joins
date_event2 = August 2, 1914
event3 = Bulgaria Joins
date_event3 = October, 1915

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image_map_caption = Participants in World War I The Central Powers and their colonies in orange, the Allies and their colonies in green, and neutral countries in gray.
capital = "Not applicable"
footnotes =

The Central Powers (German: "Mittelmächte"; Hungarian: "Központi hatalmak";Turkish: "İttifak Devletleri"; Bulgarian: "Централни сили") was one of the two sides that participated in World War I. They fought against the Allies, and consisted of Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria. The name Central Powers is derived from the location of these countries; all four were located between the Russian Empire in the east and France and the United Kingdom in the west.

Germany and Austria-Hungary became allies on the 7 October, 1879, and were joined later on (20 May, 1882) (see Triple Alliance) by Italy, which intended to limit the alliance to defensive purposes only. [ [http://www.lib.byu.edu/~rdh/wwi/1914m/tripally.html The Triple Alliance (First 8 Articles)] The World War I Document Archive, Brigham Young University Library, accessed 2008-04-21] [ [http://users.dickinson.edu/~rhyne/232/Six/Triple_Alliance_1882.html Triple Alliance, 1882] Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania, accessed 2008-04-21] When World War I began, the petition made by Germany and Austria-Hungary for Italian intervention was rejected by the Italian Government on the grounds of these two countries declaring war on Serbia, rather than taking defensive action against it. Italy eventually entered World War I on May 23, 1915, but it fought against Germany and Austria-Hungary rather than with them.

Following the outbreak of war in Europe during August 1914, the Ottoman Empire intervened at the end of October by taking action against Russia, resulting in declarations of war by the Triple Entente.

Bulgaria, still resentful after its defeat in July 1913 at the hands of Serbia, Greece, Romania and the Ottoman Empire, was the last nation to enter the war against the Entente, invading Serbia in conjunction with German and Austro-Hungarian forces in October 1915.

Other movements supported the efforts of the Central Powers for their own reasons, such as the Irish Nationalists who launched the Easter Rising in Dublin in April 1916; they referred to their "gallant allies in Europe". During the years 1917 and 1918, the Finns under C.G.E. Mannerheim and the Ukrainian and Lithuanian nationalists fought Russia for a common cause. The Ottoman Empire also had its own allies in Azerbaijan and the Mountainous Republic of the Northern Caucasus. The three nations fought alongside each other under the Army of Islam in the Battle of Baku.

Bulgaria signed an armistice with the Allies on 29 September,1918, following a successful Allied advance in Macedonia. The Ottoman Empire followed suit on 30 October,1918 in the face of British and Arab gains in Palestine and Syria. Austria and Hungary concluded ceasefires separately during the first week of November following the disintegration of the Habsburg Empire, and Germany signed the armistice ending the war on the morning of 11 November,1918 after the Allied Hundred Days Offensive, a succession of advances by Australian, Canadian, Belgian, British, French and US forces in north-eastern France and Belgium.

Leaders

;Austria-Hungary
*Franz Josef I - Emperor of Austria-Hungary
*Karl I - Emperor of Austria-Hungary
*Conrad von Hötzendorf - Chief of the Austro-Hungarian General Staff
*Arthur Arz von Straussenburg - Chief of the Austro-Hungarian General Staff
*Anton Haus - Commander-in-Chief of the Austro-Hungarian Navy
*Maximilian Njegovan - Commander-in-Chief of the Austro-Hungarian Navy;German Empire
*Wilhelm II - German Emperor
*Erich von Falkenhayn - Chief of the German General Staff
*Paul von Hindenburg - Chief of the German General Staff
*Reinhard Scheer - Commander of the Imperial High Seas Fleet
*Erich Ludendorff - Deputy Chief of Staff of the German Army
*Wilhelm Souchon - German Naval Advisor to the Ottoman Empire
*Otto Liman von Sanders - German Army Advisor to the Ottoman Empire;Ottoman Empire
*Mehmed V - Sultan of the Ottoman Empire
*İsmail Enver - Commander-in-Chief of the Ottoman Army;Bulgaria
*Ferdinand I - Czar of Bulgaria
*Vladimir Vazov - Bulgarian Lieutenant General
*Nikola Zhekov - Bulgarian Lieutenant General

See also

* Triple Entente
* Participants in World War I
* Axis powers (allies of Nazi Germany in WWII)
* Allies of World War I

References