Central Powers

The Central Powers were the nations of Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria, which fought against the Allies during World War I. They are called this because they all 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 7 October 1879, being joined subsequently (20 May 1882) (see Triple Alliance) by Italy, which intended to limit the alliance to defensive purposes. At the beginning of the war, the German and Austro-Hungarian request of Italian intervention was rejected by the Italian Government based on the fact that Austria had declared war not Serbia, so it was not a defensive war. Italy entered World War I on May 23, 1915, on the Allies' side.

Following the outbreak of European war in August 1914, the Ottoman Empire intervened at the end of October against Russia, provoking declarations of war by the Triple Entente powers--Russia, France and the United Kingdom.

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.

Fringe movements supported the efforts of the Central Powers for their own reasons, such as the rebels who launched the Easter Rising in Dublin in April 1916; they referred to their "gallant allies in Europe." In 1917-18 the Finns under C.G.E. Mannerheim and the Ukrainian and Lithuanian nationalists had a common cause against Russia. The Ottoman Empire also had it's own ally in Azerbaijan. The two 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 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 after a succession of advances by Belgian, British, French and US forces in north-eastern France and Belgium.

Central Powers surrender by order of date:

• Bulgaria 29 September 1918
• The Ottoman Empire 30 October 1918
• Austria-Hungary 4 November 1918
• German Empire 11 November 1918

Central Powers

• Image:Austria-Hungary-flag-1869-1918-naval-1786-1869-war.svg Austro-Hungarian Empire
• Image:Flag of the German Empire.svg German Empire
• Image:Ottoman Flag.svg Ottoman Empire
• Image:Flag of Bulgaria (1878-1944).svg Bulgaria

See also

• Triple Entente
• Participants in World War I
• Axis powers of World War II (allies of Nazi Germany in WWII)
• Allies of World War Iar:قوات المحور

ca:Potències Centrals cs:Centrální mocnosti da:Centralmagterne de:Mittelmächte eo:Centraj Potencoj es:Potencias Centrales et:Keskriigid fi:Keskusvallat gl:Potencias Centrais he:מעצמות המרכז hu:Központi hatalmak id:Blok Sentral is:Miðveldin it:Imperi Centrali ja:中央同盟国 ko:동맹국 lt:Centrinių valstybių sąjunga lv:Centrālās lielvalstis nl:Centrale mogendheid nn:Sentralmaktene no:Sentralmaktene pl:Państwa centralne pt:Impérios Centrais ro:Puterile Centrale ru:Тройственный союз 1882 sk:Ústredné veľmoci sl:Centralne sile sv:Centralmakterna th:ฝ่ายมหาอำนาจกลาง tr:İttifak Devletleri uk:Центральні держави ur:مرکزی طاقتیں zh:同盟國 (第一次世界大戰)

Wikipedia information about Central Powers This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Central Powers". It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer). Help contribute to Americola and edit this article.