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{{short description|Military coalition in World War I}}
{{For|the [[World War II]] alliance|Axis powers}}
{{good article}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2017}}
{{Infobox geopolitical organization
| conventional_long_name = Central Powers
| common_name            = Central Powers
| image_map              = WW1 Central Powers 6 Sept 1915.svg
| map_caption            = The Central Powers as of 14 October 1915 in Europe.
| image_map2             = File:Improved Belligerents map for ww1.png
| map_caption2           = Central Powers around the world in orange.
| membership             = {{plainlist | style = padding-left: 0.6em; text-align: left; |
* {{flagcountry|German Empire}}
* {{flagcountry|Austria-Hungary}}
* {{flagcountry|Ottoman Empire}}
* {{flagcountry|Kingdom of Bulgaria}} (from 1915)
}}
| status                 = [[Military alliance]]
| year_end               = 1918
| year_start             = 1914
| event_end              = Dissolved
| p1                     = Dual Alliance (1879)
| p2                     = German–Ottoman alliance
| p3                     = Bulgaria–Germany treaty (1915)
| p4                     = Triple Alliance (1882)
| era                    = World War I
}}
[[File: Leaders of the Central Powers - Vierbund.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|{{ublist|class=nowrap |Leaders of the Central Powers (left to right): |[[Wilhelm II, German Emperor|Wilhelm II]] of Germany; |[[Franz Joseph I of Austria|Franz Joseph]] of Austria-Hungary; |[[Mehmed V]] of the Ottoman Empire; | [[Ferdinand I of Bulgaria]]|The caption reads:|"Vereinte Kräfte führen zum Ziel"|("United Powers Lead to the Goal")}}]]

The '''Central Powers''', also known as the '''Central Empires''',<ref>{{Cite book |last=Harris |first=Luke |title=Britain and the Olympic Games, 1908–1920: Perspectives on Participation and Identity |date=2015 |publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan]] |isbn=978-1-137-49861-8 |series= |location=Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire}}</ref><ref group="notes">{{langx|de|Mittelmächte}}; {{langx|hu|Központi hatalmak}}; {{langx|ota|اتفاق دولتري|İttıfâq Devletleri}}, {{lang|tr|Bağlaşma Devletleri}}; {{langx|bg|Централни сили|translit=Centralni sili}}</ref> were one of the two main coalitions that fought in [[World War&nbsp;I]] (1914–1918). It consisted of the [[German Empire]], [[Austria-Hungary]], the [[Ottoman Empire]], and the [[Kingdom of Bulgaria]]; this was also known as the '''Quadruple Alliance.'''<ref>{{cite book |author=Hindenburg |first=Paul von |url=https://archive.org/details/outofmylife00hinduoft |title=Out of My Life |publisher=[[Cassell (publisher)|Cassell]] |year=1920 |location=London |pages=113 |via=[[Internet Archive]]}}</ref><ref group="notes">{{langx|de|Vierbund}}, {{langx|ota|دورتلى اِتَّفَاق|Dörtlü İttıfâq}}, {{langx|hu|Központi hatalmak}}, {{langx|bg|Четворен съюз|translit=Četvoren sūjuz}}</ref>

The Central Powers' origin was the [[Dual Alliance (1879)|alliance of Germany and Austria-Hungary in 1879]]. Despite having nominally joined the [[Triple Alliance (1882)|Triple Alliance]] before, [[Kingdom of Italy|Italy]] did not take part in World War I on the side of the Central Powers and later joined on the side of the [[Allies of World War I|Allies]]. The Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria did not join until after World War I had begun. The Central Powers faced, and were defeated by, the Allied Powers, which themselves had formed around the [[Triple Entente]]. They dissolved in 1918 after they lost the war.

== Name ==
The name 'Central Powers' is derived from the location of its member countries. All four were located between the [[Russian Empire]] in the east and [[French Third Republic|France]] and the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|United Kingdom]] in the west.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |title=Central Powers |url=https://nzhistory.govt.nz/war/central-powers |access-date=2024-12-08 |website=New Zealand History}}</ref> The Central Powers too used the name in their languages respectively, with the exception of Turkish, in which the Central Powers were called the {{lang|ota|دولتري}}, {{lang|ota|İttıfâq Devletleri}}, or {{lang|ota|Bağlaşma Devletleri}}, 'Allied States'. Likewise in China, an associated state on the Allied side, the Central Powers were called the {{lang|zh|同盟國}}, {{lang|zh|同盟国}}, 'Allied States', while the Allies were known as the {{lang|zh|協約國}}, {{lang|zh|协约国}}, 'Entente States'.{{cn|date=April 2025}}

== Collaboration ==
Germany had plans to create a ''[[Mitteleuropa]]'' economic association. Members would include Austria-Hungary, Germany, and others.<ref name=":22">{{Cite web |title=The September Memorandum (September 9, 1914) |url=https://ghdi.ghi-dc.org/sub_document.cfm?document_id=980 |access-date=19 December 2022 |website=German History in Documents and Images (GHDI)}}</ref>

== History ==

=== Alliance formation ===
[[File:CentralPowersPoster1.jpg|alt=propaganda postcard|thumb|upright|The Ottomans enter the conflict: propaganda postcard.]]
On {{date|28 July 1914|world war}}, Austria-Hungary, supported by Germany, declared war on [[Kingdom of Serbia|Serbia]].{{sfn|Renouvin|1934|p=205}} Germany then supported its only reliable and dependable ally, the Dual Monarchy, and attempted to localize the Austro-Serbian conflict, without success.{{sfn|Renouvin|1934|p=207}}

Officially neutral at the outbreak of the conflict, the Ottoman Empire was nevertheless bound to Germany by a secret treaty; for nearly two months, the Ottoman government maneuvered, pursued a policy favorable to German interests, and prepared for war but did not formally commit.{{sfn|Renouvin|1934|p=259}} The autumn of 1914 was marked by the strategic failure of Germany and the Dual Monarchy, and on {{date|29 October 1914|world war}}, an action by cruisers sold to the Ottoman Empire in {{date|August 1914|world war}} prompted the Ottoman Empire's entry into the war alongside the Central Powers.{{sfn|Renouvin|1934|p=260}}

=== Bulgarian intervention ===
[[File:Bulgarien-mit-uns.jpg|alt=German propaganda postcard|left|thumb|upright|German propaganda postcard magnifying Bulgaria’s intervention in the conflict. Inscription: ''{{lang|de|Bulgarien mit uns!}}'' {{lang|en|Bulgaria with us!}}.]]
Throughout 1915, the Bulgarian government was courted by both alliance blocs, but, faced with the distant and hypothetical promises of the [[Allies of World War I|Allies]], the government aligned with Germany and its allies, signing an alliance treaty with the Central Powers, the Dual Monarchy, and the Ottoman Empire; the signing of this treaty solidified Germany’s alliances until {{date|29 September 1918|world war}}, the date when the armistice between Bulgaria and the Allies took effect.{{sfn|Renouvin|1934|p=318}}

Thus, [[Ferdinand I of Bulgaria|King Ferdinand]] tied his country to the alliance bloc that guaranteed rapid annexations over its Serbian rivals.{{sfn|Fischer|1970|p=367}}

Under this convention, the Bulgarian government agreed to subordinate its army to directives issued by the German Emperor.{{sfn|Laparra|Hesse|2011|p=366}}

== Main member states ==
{| class="wikitable nowrap floatright"
! Nation                       !! Date of entry
|-
| {{flagicon|Austria-Hungary}} [[Austria-Hungary|Austro-Hungarian Empire]] || 28 July 1914
|-
| {{flag|German Empire}}|| 1 August 1914
|-
| {{flag|Ottoman Empire}} || 29 October 1914
|-
| {{flag|Kingdom of Bulgaria|name=Tsardom of Bulgaria}}|| 14 October 1915
|}

At the start of the war, the Central Powers consisted of the [[German Empire]] and the [[Austria-Hungary|Austro-Hungarian Empire]]. The [[Ottoman Empire]] joined later in 1914, followed by the [[Tsardom of Bulgaria (1908-1946)|Tsardom of Bulgaria]] in 1915.<ref name=":4" />
{{clear}}

=== German Empire ===
{{Main|German entry into World War I|History of Germany during World War I|German Empire}}
{{see also|German occupation of Belgium during World War I|German occupation of Luxembourg during World War I|German occupation of Estonia during World War I|German occupation of north-east France during World War I|General Government of Belgium|Government General of Warsaw|German occupation of Byelorussia during World War I}}

==== War justifications ====
[[File:German infantry 1914 HD-SN-99-02296.JPEG|thumb|German soldiers on the battlefield in August 1914 on the Western Front, shortly after the outbreak of war|alt=A black and white image of numerous soldiers charging to the left]]
[[File:Warschau unter Deutscher Besetzung 1915 - einzug deutscher Kavallerie (75299019) (cropped).jpg|thumb|German cavalry entering [[Warsaw]] in 1915|alt=A black and white image of soldiers on horseback with children watching on either side of them]]
[[File:SMS Seydlitz damage.jpg|thumb|German battlecruiser {{SMS|Seydlitz}} heavily damaged after the [[Battle of Jutland]]|alt=A black and white image of a heavily damaged German naval ship]]
[[File:Fordi-2.jpg|thumb|German [[Fokker Dr.I]] fighter aircraft of ''[[Jasta]]'' 26 at [[Erchin]] in [[German occupation of north-east France during World War I|German-occupied France]]|alt=A black and white image of triplanes lined up on grass a black Iron Cross on the back of each of them with many people behind them]]
In early July 1914, in the aftermath of the assassination of Austro-Hungarian [[Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria|Archduke Franz Ferdinand]] and faced with the prospect of war between Austria-Hungary and [[Kingdom of Serbia|Serbia]], [[Kaiser]] [[Wilhelm II]] and the German government informed the Austro-Hungarian government that Germany would uphold its alliance with Austria-Hungary and defend it from possible Russian intervention if a war between Austria-Hungary and Serbia took place.<ref name="Cashman, Greg 2007. P57">{{Cite book |last1=Cashman |first1=Greg |title=An Introduction to the Causes of War: Patterns of Interstate Conflict from World War I to Iraq. |last2=Robinson |first2=Leonard C |date=2007 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-0-7425-5510-5 |page=}}</ref> When Russia enacted a [[general mobilization]], Germany viewed the act as provocative.<ref name=":6">{{Cite book |last=Meyer |first=G. J. |title=A World Undone: The Story of the Great War, 1914 to 1918 |publisher=[[Delacorte Press]] |year=2006 |isbn=978-0553803549}}</ref>{{RP|39}} The Russian government promised Germany that its general mobilization did not mean preparation for war with Germany but was a reaction to the tensions between Austria-Hungary and Serbia.<ref name=":6" />{{RP|39}} The German government regarded the Russian promise of no war with Germany to be nonsense in light of its general mobilization, and Germany, in turn, mobilized for war.<ref name=":6" />{{RP|39}} On 1 August, Germany sent an ultimatum to [[Russian Empire|Russia]] stating that since both Germany and Russia were in a state of military mobilization, an effective state of war existed between the two countries.<ref name=":6" />{{RP|95}} Later that day, [[French Third Republic|France]], an ally of Russia, declared a state of general mobilization.<ref name=":6" />{{RP|95}}

In August 1914, Germany attacked Russia, citing Russian aggression as demonstrated by the mobilization of the Russian army, which had resulted in Germany mobilizing in response.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hagen |first=William W. |url=https://archive.org/details/germanhistoryinm0000hage |title=German History in Modern Times: Four Lives of the Nation |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |year=2012 |isbn=978-0521191906 |page=228}}</ref>

After Germany declared war on Russia, France, with its alliance with Russia, prepared a general mobilization in expectation of war. On 3 August 1914, Germany responded to this action by declaring war on France.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Tucker |first=Spencer C |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h5_tSnygvbIC |title=Global Chronology of Conflict: From the Ancient World to the Modern Middle East |publisher=[[ABC-CLIO]] |year=2009 |isbn=978-1851096725 |page=1556}}</ref> Germany, facing a two-front war, enacted what was known as the [[Schlieffen Plan]], which involved German armed forces moving through [[Belgium]] and swinging south into France and towards the French capital of Paris. This plan was hoped to quickly gain victory against the French and allow German forces to concentrate on the Eastern Front. Belgium was a neutral country and would not accept German forces crossing its territory. Germany disregarded Belgian neutrality and invaded the country to launch an offensive towards Paris. This caused [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|Great Britain]] to declare war against the German Empire, as the action violated the [[Treaty of London (1839)|Treaty of London]] that both nations signed in 1839 guaranteeing Belgian neutrality.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kossmann |first=E. H. |url=https://archive.org/details/lowcountries17800000koss |title=The Low Countries, 1780–1940 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=1978|isbn=978-0-19-822108-1 }}</ref>

Subsequently, several states declared war on Germany in late August 1914, with [[Kingdom of Italy|Italy]] declaring war on Germany in August 1916,<ref>{{cite web |date=6 March 2015 |title=Il 1861 e le quattro Guerre per l'Indipendenza (1848–1918) |url=http://www.piacenzaprimogenita150.it/index.php?it%2F176%2Fil-1861-e-le-quattro-guerre-per-lindipendenza-1848-1918 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220319075828/http://www.piacenzaprimogenita150.it/index.php?it%2F176%2Fil-1861-e-le-quattro-guerre-per-lindipendenza-1848-1918 |archive-date=19 March 2022 |access-date=12 March 2021 |language=it}}</ref> the [[United States]] in April 1917,<ref>McDuffie, Jerome; Piggrem, Gary Wayne; Woodworth, Steven E. (2005). ''U.S. History Super Review''. Piscataway, NJ: Research & Education Association. p. 418. {{ISBN|978-0-7386-0070-3}}.</ref> and [[Kingdom of Greece (Glücksburg)|Greece]] in July 1917.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Leon |first=George B. |title=Greece and the First World War: From Neutrality to Intervention, 1917–1918 |publisher=East European Monographs |year=1990 |isbn=9780880331814}}</ref>

==== Colonies and dependencies ====
{{Main|German colonial empire}}

=====Europe=====
The German Empire had incorporated the province of [[Alsace–Lorraine|Alsace-Lorraine]], after successfully defeating France in the [[Franco-Prussian War]]. However, the province was still claimed by French [[Revanchism|revanchists]],<ref>Seager, Frederic H. (1969). "The Alsace-Lorraine Question in France, 1871–1914". in Charles K. Warner, ed., ''From the Ancien Régime to the Popular Front'', pp. 111–126.</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Jay |first=Robert |date=January 1984 |title=Alphonse de Neuville's 'The Spy' and the Legacy of the Franco-Prussian War |url=https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.2307/1512817 |journal=Metropolitan Museum Journal |language=en |volume=19/20 |pages=151–162 |doi=10.2307/1512817 |jstor=1512817 |s2cid=193058659 |issn=0077-8958|url-access=subscription }}</ref> leading to its return to France at the Treaty of Versailles.<ref name="Grandhomme-2008-11-retour">{{cite journal |last=Grandhomme |first=Jean-Noël |date=November 2008 |title=Le retour de l'Alsace–Lorraine |journal=L'Histoire |number=336 |language=fr}}</ref>

=====Africa=====
The German Empire was late to colonization, only beginning overseas expansion in the 1870s and 1880s. Colonization was opposed by much of the government, including chancellor [[Otto von Bismarck]], but it became a colonial power after participating in the [[Berlin Conference]]. Then, private companies were founded and began settling parts of Africa, the Pacific, and China. Later these groups became German protectorates and colonies.<ref>{{Cite book |last=von Washausen |first=Helmut |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vdM_AAAAYAAJ |title=Hamburg und die Kolonialpolitik des Deutschen Reiches |publisher=H. Christians |year=1968 |page=116}}</ref>

[[Kamerun|Cameroon]] was a German colony existing from 1884 until its complete occupation in 1915. It was ceded to France as a [[League of Nations mandate|League of Nations Mandate]] at the war's end.<ref name=":7">{{Cite journal |last=Elango |first=Lovett |date=1985 |title=The Anglo-French 'Condominium' in Cameroon, 1914–1916: The Myth and the Reality |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/218801 |journal=The International Journal of African Historical Studies |volume=18 |issue=4 |pages=657–673 |doi=10.2307/218801 |issn=0361-7882 |jstor=218801|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

[[German East Africa]] was founded in 1885 and expanded to include modern-day [[Tanzania]] (except [[Zanzibar]]), [[Rwanda]], [[Burundi]], and parts of [[Mozambique]]. It was the only German colony to not be fully conquered during the war, with resistance by commander [[Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck]] lasting until November 1918. Later it was surrendered to the Allies in 1919 and split between the [[Belgian Congo]], [[Portuguese Mozambique]], and the newly founded colony of [[Tanganyika Territory|Tanganyika]].<ref name="Ends">{{cite book |last=Louis |first=William Roger |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NQnpQNKeKKAC&pg=PA246 |title=Ends of British Imperialism: The Scramble for Empire, Suez, and Decolonization |publisher=[[I.B. Tauris]] |year=2006 |isbn=978-1-84511347-6 |access-date=19 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200611044443/https://books.google.com/books?id=NQnpQNKeKKAC&pg=PA246 |archive-date=11 June 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref>

[[German South West Africa|South West Africa]], modern-day [[Namibia]], came under German rule in 1885 and was absorbed into [[South Africa]] following its invasion in 1915.<ref>{{Cite web |title=German South West Africa |url=https://awayfromthewesternfront.org/campaigns/africa/german-south-west-africa/ |access-date=2023-05-13 |website=Away from the Western Front |language=en-GB}}</ref>

[[Togoland]], now part of [[Ghana]], was made a German protectorate in 1884. However, after a swift [[Togoland campaign|campaign]], it was occupied by the [[Allies of World War I|Allies]] in 1915 and divided between [[French Togoland]] and [[British Togoland]].<ref name="Martin">{{cite book |last=Martin |first=Lawrence |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jtyOqiwiDLYC&pg=PR15 |title=The Treaties of Peace, 1919–1923 |publisher=The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd. |year=2007 |isbn=978-1-58477-708-3 |volume=2 |page=15 |access-date=19 July 2011}}</ref>

=====Asia=====

The [[Jiaozhou Bay Leased Territory]] was a German dependency in East Asia leased from China in 1898.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gottschall |first=Terrell |title=By Order of the Kaiser: Otto von Diederichs and the Rise of the Imperial German Navy, 1865–1902 |publisher=[[Naval Institute Press]] |year=2003 |isbn=978-1557503091 |page=117}}</ref> Japanese forces occupied it following the [[Siege of Tsingtao]].<ref>{{Cite journal |author1=刘平 |author2=江林泽 |date=2014 |title=第一次世界大战中的远东战场———青岛之战述评 |trans-title=The Far Eastern Theatre in the First World War – A Review of the Battle of Tsingtao |journal=军事历史研究 |language=zh |issue=4 |page=52 |issn=1009-3451}}</ref>

The Austrian Empire had a [[Foreign concessions in Tianjin|foreign concession in Tianjin]] which was swiftly invaded by China in 1917. The German concessions in [[Tianjin]] and [[Hankou]] were also invaded.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Singerton |first=Jonathan |date=May 2024 |title=Michael Falser. Habsburgs Going Global: The Austro-Hungarian Concession in Tientsin/Tianjin in China (1901–1917) Vienna: Austrian Academy of Sciences Press, 2022. Pp. 286. |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/austrian-history-yearbook/article/michael-falser-habsburgs-going-global-the-austrohungarian-concession-in-tientsintianjin-in-china-19011917-vienna-austrian-academy-of-sciences-press-2022-pp-286/DDDEA15B740CA4E4A49C927DCE4E5EF5 |journal=Austrian History Yearbook |language=en |volume=55 |pages=463–465 |doi=10.1017/S0067237823000851 |issn=0067-2378|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

=====Pacific=====

[[German New Guinea]] was a German protectorate in the Pacific. It was occupied by Australian forces in 1914.<ref>{{Cite web |title=British and German New Guinea. |url=https://www.loc.gov/item/2021668665/#:~:text=When%20World%20War%20I%20broke,the%20territory%20of%20New%20Guinea. |access-date=2024-09-30 |website=Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.}}</ref>

[[German Samoa]] had been a German protectorate since the [[Tripartite Convention]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ryden |first=George Herbert |title=The Foreign Policy of the United States in Relation to Samoa |publisher=[[Octagon Books]] |year=1975 |pages=574}}</ref> It was [[Occupation of German Samoa|occupied]] by the New Zealand Expeditionary Force in 1914.<ref>{{cite book|last=Smith|first=Stephen John|year=1924|title=The Samoa (N.Z.) Expeditionary Force 1914–1915|url=http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-WH1-Samo.html|publisher=Ferguson & Osborn|location=Wellington, New Zealand|oclc=8950668}}</ref>

=== Austro-Hungarian Empire ===
{{Main|Austro-Hungarian entry into World War I|Austria-Hungary}}
{{see also|Austro-Hungarian occupation of Serbia|Montenegrin campaign|Albania during World War I#Austro-Hungarian occupation of Albania (1916–1918)}}
[[File:KuK Stosstruppen.jpg|thumb|Austro-Hungarian soldiers in a trench on the Italian front|alt=A black and white image of soldiers looking left over the walls of a trench]]
[[File:Austrian troops marching up Mt. Zion, 1916.JPG|thumb|right|Austro-Hungarian soldiers marching up [[Mount Zion]] in [[Jerusalem]] in the Ottoman Empire, during the Middle Eastern campaign]]

==== War justifications ====
Austria-Hungary regarded the assassination of [[Archduke Franz Ferdinand]] as having been orchestrated with the assistance of [[Kingdom of Serbia|Serbia]].<ref name="Cashman, Greg 2007. P57" /> The country viewed the assassination as setting a dangerous precedent of encouraging the country's [[South Slavs|South Slav]] population to rebel and threaten to tear apart the multinational country.<ref name=":6" />{{RP|39}} Austria-Hungary sent a formal ultimatum to Serbia demanding a full-scale investigation of Serbian government complicity in the assassination and complete compliance by Serbia in agreeing to the terms demanded by Austria-Hungary.<ref name="Cashman, Greg 2007. P57" /> Serbia submitted to accept most of the demands. However, Austria-Hungary viewed this as insufficient and used this lack of full compliance to justify military intervention.<ref name="Cashman, Greg 2007. P57" /> These demands have been viewed as a diplomatic cover for an inevitable Austro-Hungarian declaration of war on Serbia.<ref name="Cashman, Greg 2007. P57" />

Russia had warned Austria-Hungary that the Russian government would not tolerate Austria-Hungary invading Serbia.<ref name="Cashman, Greg 2007. P57" /> However, with Germany supporting Austria-Hungary's actions, the Austro-Hungarian government hoped that Russia would not intervene and that the conflict with Serbia would remain a regional conflict.<ref name="Cashman, Greg 2007. P57" />

Austria-Hungary's invasion of Serbia resulted in Russia declaring war on the country, and Germany, in turn, declared war on Russia, setting off the beginning of the clash of alliances that resulted in the World War.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hosch |first=William L. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BGeWhF7pltoC&dq=world+war+I+russia+general+mobilization+July+30%2C+1914+nicholas&pg=PA163 |title=World War I: People, Politics, and Power |year=2009 |publisher=The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc. |isbn=978-1-61530-013-6}}</ref>  In support of his German ally, on Thursday, 6 August 1914, [[Emperor Franz Joseph]] signed the declaration of war on Russia.

==== Territory ====
Austria-Hungary was internally divided into two states with their own governments, joined through the Habsburg throne. Austria, also known as [[Cisleithania]], contained various duchies and principalities but also the [[Kingdom of Bohemia]],<ref>{{Cite book |last=Pánek |first=Jaroslav |title=A History of the Czech Lands |publisher=[[Karolinum Press]] |year=2009 |isbn=978-8024616452 |editor-last=Tuma |editor-first=Oldrich}}</ref> the [[Kingdom of Dalmatia]],<ref>{{Cite book |last=Biondich |first=Mark |title=Stjepan Radić, the Croat Peasant Party, and the Politics of Mass Mobilization, 1904–1928 |publisher=[[University of Toronto Press]] |year=2000}}</ref> and the [[Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Magocsi|first=Paul R.|author-link=Paul R. Magocsi|title=Galicia: A Historical Survey and Bibliographic Guide|year=1983|location=Toronto|publisher=University of Toronto Press|isbn=9780802024824|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qgTrJm85sDQC}}</ref> Hungary ([[Transleithania]]) was composed of the [[Kingdom of Hungary]]<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Gulya |first1=Kristó |title=Magyarország története előidőktől 2000-ig |last2=János |first2=Barta |last3=Jenő |first3=Gergely |publisher= |year=2002 |language=hu}}</ref> and the [[Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Catholic Encyclopedia's : Hungary |url=https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07547a.htm |access-date=2024-12-09 |website=www.newadvent.org}}</ref> In [[Bosnia and Herzegovina in Austria-Hungary|Bosnia and Herzegovina]], sovereign authority was shared by both Austria and Hungary.<ref>{{cite book|last=Zovko |first=Ljubomir |title=Studije iz pravne povijesti Bosne i Hercegovine: 1878–1941 |publisher=[[University of Mostar]] |year=2007 |language=hr |isbn=978-9958-9271-2-6 }}</ref>

=== Ottoman Empire ===
{{Main|Ottoman Empire|Ottoman entry into World War I}}

[[File:Muster on the Plain of Esdraelon 1914.jpg|thumb|right|Ottoman soldiers in military preparations for an assault on the [[Suez Canal]] in 1914]]
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1981-137-08A, Konstantinopel, Besuch Kaiser Wilhelm II..jpg|thumb|Kaiser Wilhelm II visiting the Turkish cruiser ''Yavuz Sultan Selim'' during his stay in [[Istanbul]] in October 1917 as a guest of Sultan [[Mehmed V]]]]

==== War justifications ====
The Ottoman Empire joined the war on the side of the Central Powers in November 1914. The Ottoman Empire had gained strong economic connections with Germany through the Berlin-to-Baghdad railway project that was still incomplete at the time.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Jukes |first1=Geoffrey |url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/ocm52375688 |title=The First World War |last2=Simkins |first2=Peter |last3=Hickey |first3=Michael |date=2003 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-96841-6 |edition= |series=Essential histories |location=New York |oclc=}}</ref> The Ottoman Empire made a formal alliance with Germany signed on 2 August 1914.<ref name="Afflerbach, Holger 2012.">{{Cite book |last1=Afflerbach |first1=Holger |last2=David Stevenson |first2=David |title=An Improbable War: The Outbreak of World War 1 and European Political Culture |publisher=Berghan Books |date=2012}}</ref>{{RP|292}} The alliance treaty expected that the Ottoman Empire would become involved in the conflict in a short amount of time.<ref name="Afflerbach, Holger 2012." />{{RP|292}} However, for the first several months of the war, the Ottoman Empire maintained neutrality though it allowed a German naval squadron to enter and stay near the strait of [[Bosphorus]].<ref name="Kent, Mary 1998. P119">{{Cite book |last=Kent |first=Mary |title=''The Great Powers and the End of the Ottoman Empire''. end ed. Frank Cass. |date=1998 |page=119}}</ref> Ottoman officials informed the German government that the country needed time to prepare for conflict.<ref name="Kent, Mary 1998. P119" /> Germany provided financial aid and weapons shipments to the Ottoman Empire.<ref name="Afflerbach, Holger 2012." />{{RP|292}}

After pressure escalated from the German government demanding that the Ottoman Empire fulfill its treaty obligations, or else Germany would expel the country from the alliance and terminate economic and military assistance, the Ottoman government entered the war with the recently acquired cruisers from Germany, along with their own navy, launching a [[Black Sea raid|naval raid]] on the Russian ports of [[Odessa]], [[Sevastopol]], [[Novorossiysk]], [[Feodosia]], and [[Yalta]],<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=McMeekin |first=Sean |title=The Russian Origins of the First World War |publisher=Harvard University Press |year=2011 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vQF099JYW_EC |isbn=978-0-674-06320-4 }}</ref><ref name=":11">{{Cite web |url=http://www.gwpda.org/naval/turkmill.htm |title=Turkey Enters the War and British Actions |last=Miller |first=Geoffrey |date=December 1999 |publisher=Great War Primary Document Archive |access-date=1 August 2016 }}</ref> thus engaging in military action in accordance with its alliance obligations with Germany. Shortly after, the Triple Entente declared war on the Ottoman Empire.<ref name="Afflerbach, Holger 2012." />{{RP|293}}

=== Bulgaria ===
{{Main|Tsardom of Bulgaria (1908–1946)}}

{{See also|Bulgaria during World War I|Bulgarian occupation of Serbia (World War I)|Bulgarian occupation of Albania}}

==== War justifications ====
[[File:Bulgaria southern front.jpg|thumb|left|Bulgarian soldiers firing at incoming aircraft]]
After Bulgaria's [[Second Balkan War|defeat]] in July 1913 at the hands of Serbia, [[Kingdom of Greece (Glücksburg)|Greece]] and [[Kingdom of Romania|Romania]], it signed [[Ottoman–Bulgarian alliance|a treaty of defensive alliance]] with the Ottoman Empire on 19 August 1914.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Turkey's Entry into World War I: An Assessment of Responsibilities |first=Ulrich |last=Trumpener |journal=Journal of Modern History |volume=34 |issue=4 |year=1962 |pages=369–380 |doi=10.1086/239180 |s2cid=153500703 }}</ref> Bulgaria was the last country to join the Central Powers, which it did in October 1915 by declaring war on Serbia.<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |last=Robbins |first=Keith |year=1971 |title=British Diplomacy and Bulgaria 1914–1915 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4206453 |journal=[[The Slavonic and East European Review]] |volume=49 |issue=117 |pages=560–585 |jstor=4206453}}</ref> It invaded Serbia in conjunction with [[Imperial German Army|German]] and [[Austro-Hungarian Army|Austro-Hungarian forces]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Pajic |first=B. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WOeZDwAAQBAJ |title=Our Forgotten Volunteers: Australians and New Zealanders with Serbs in World War One |publisher=Arcadia |year=2019 |isbn=978-1-925801-44-6}}</ref>

Bulgaria held claims on the region of [[Vardar Macedonia]] then held by Serbia following the [[Balkan Wars]] of 1912–1913 and the [[Treaty of Bucharest (1913)]].<ref>{{cite web|last1=Hall|first1=Richard C.|title=Bulgaria in the First World War|url=http://russiasgreatwar.org/media/arc/bulgaria.shtml|website=Russia's Great War and Revolution|access-date=22 September 2017 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170923050908/http://russiasgreatwar.org/media/arc/bulgaria.shtml |archive-date= Sep 23, 2017 }}</ref> As a condition of entering the war on the side of the Central Powers, Bulgaria was granted the right to reclaim that territory.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Jelavich|first1=Charles|last2=Jelavich|first2=Barbara|title=The establishment of the Balkan national states, 1804–1920 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MhQTCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA284 |date=1986|publisher=University of Washington Press|location=Seattle|isbn=978-0-295-96413-3|pages=284–297|edition=1st pbk.}}</ref><ref>Richard C. Hall, "Bulgaria in the First World War". ''Historian'' 73.2 (2011): 300–315.</ref>

== Co-belligerents ==
[[File:Flag of Transvaal.svg|thumb|upright=.6|Flag of the South African Republic]]

=== South African Republic ===
In opposition to offensive operations by the [[Union of South Africa]], which had joined the war, [[Boer]] army officers of what is now known as the [[Maritz Rebellion]] "refounded" the [[South African Republic]] in September 1914. Germany assisted the rebels, with some operating in and out of the German colony of [[German South-West Africa]]. The rebels were all defeated or captured by South African government forces by 4 February 1915.<ref>T. R. H. Davenport, "The South African Rebellion, 1914." ''English Historical Review'' 78.306 (1963): 73–94, {{JSTOR|559800}}.</ref>

=== Senussi Order ===
[[File:Flag of the Senussi Dynasty.svg|thumb|upright=.6|Flag of the Senussi]]
The [[Senussi|Senussi Order]] was a [[Muslims|Muslim]] political-religious [[tariqa]] ([[Sufi order]]) and clan in [[Libya]], previously under [[Ottoman Tripolitania|Ottoman control]], which had been [[Italo-Turkish War|lost to Italy in 1912]].<ref>{{cite web |date=31 May 2009 |title=Uşi (Ouchy) Antlaşması |trans-title=Treaty of Ouchy |url=http://www.bildirmen.com/usi-ouchy-antlasmasi/ |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100903224624/http://www.bildirmen.com/usi-ouchy-antlasmasi/ |archive-date=3 September 2010 |access-date=24 August 2010 |publisher=Bildirmem.com |language=tr}}</ref> In 1915, they were courted by the Ottoman Empire and Germany, and Grand Senussi [[Ahmed Sharif as-Senussi]] declared [[jihad]] and attacked the [[Italian colonization of Libya|Italians in Libya]] and the [[Sultanate of Egypt|British in Egypt]] in the [[Senussi Campaign]].<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Macmunn |first1=G. |title=Military Operations: Egypt and Palestine: From the Outbreak of War with Germany to June 1917 |last2=Falls |first2=C. |isbn=978-0-89839-241-8 |series=History of the Great War Based on Official Documents by Direction of the Historical Section of the Committee of Imperial Defence. Vol. I (Imperial War Museum and Battery Press ed.)|date=1996 }}</ref>

=== Sultanate of Darfur ===
[[File:Flag of Darfur.svg|thumb|upright=.6|Flag of Darfur]]In 1915, the [[Sultanate of Darfur]] renounced allegiance to the [[Anglo-Egyptian Sudan|Sudanese]] government and aligned with the Ottomans. They were able to contact them via the [[Senusiyya|Senussi]]. Prior to this they were a British ally. The [[Anglo-Egyptian Darfur Expedition]] preemptively invaded to prevent an attack on Sudan.<ref name=":10" /> A small force was sent after [[Ali Dinar|the sultan]] and he was killed in action in November 1916.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Gillan |first=J.A. |date=1939 |title=Darfur, 1916 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41716312 |journal=Sudan Notes and Records |volume=22 |issue=1 |pages=1–25 |jstor=41716312 }}</ref> The invasion ended with an Anglo-Egyptian victory in November 1916.<ref name=":10">{{Cite book |last1=Skinner |first1=H. T. |title=Principal Events 1914–1918 |last2=Stacke |first2=H. Fitz M. |publisher=[[HMSO]] |year=1922 |edition=online |series=History of the Great War Based on Official Documents by Direction of the Historical Section of the Committee of Imperial Defence |page=211 |oclc=17673086}}</ref>

=== Zaian Confederation ===
The [[Zayanes|Zaian Confederation]] began to fight against [[French Third Republic|France]] in the [[Zaian War]] to prevent French expansion into [[Morocco]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hoisington |first=William |title=Lyautey and the French Conquest of Morocco |publisher=[[St. Martin's Press]] |page=63}}</ref> The fighting lasted from 1914 and continued after the First World War ended, to 1921. The Central Powers (mainly the Germans) began to attempt to incite unrest to hopefully divert French resources from Europe.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Schmitz |first=David |title=Morocco: From Empire to Independence |publisher=[[Oneworld Publications]] |year=2009}}</ref>

=== Dervish State ===
[[File:Dervish Somali flag.png|thumb|top|upright=.6|Flag of the Dervish]]
The [[Dervish movement (Somali)|Dervish State]] fought against the [[British Empire|British]], [[Ethiopian Empire|Ethiopian]], [[Italian Empire|Italian]], and [[French colonial empire|French Empires]] between 1896 and 1925.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Omar |first=Mohamed |title=The Scramble in the Horn of Africa: History of Somalia (1827–1977) |year=2001 |oclc=769997657}}</ref> During World War I, the Dervish State received many supplies from the [[German Empire|German]] and [[Ottoman Empire]]s to carry on fighting the Allies. However, looting from other Somali tribes in the Korahe raid eventually led to its collapse in 1925.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Irons |first1=Roy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t9MVBAAAQBAJ&q=Three+thousand+Habr+yunis+Dolbahanta+Toljaala&pg=PA209 |title=Churchill and the Mad Mullah of Somaliland|page=209 |date= 2013 |publisher=Pen and Sword |isbn=9781783463800}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Nicolosi |first1=Gerardo |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i5Uz5uukdPIC&q=Rer+Ainashe&pg=PA305 |title=Imperialismo e resistenza in corno d'Africa: Mohammed Abdullah Hassan|page=305 |publisher=Rubbettino Editore |year=2002 |isbn=9788849803846}}</ref><ref name="kings coll1">{{cite web |first= |title=King's College London, King's collection: Ismay's summary as Intelligence Officer (1916–1918) of Mohammed Abdullah Hassan |url=http://www.kingscollections.org/exhibitions/archives/armies-abroad/dervish-state/establishment#Gallery[gallery1]/1/}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Beachey |first1=R. W. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9LxyAAAAMAAJ&q=Haji+Waraba |title=The warrior mullah: the Horn aflame, 1892–1920 |page=153 |publisher=Bellew |year=1990 |isbn=9780947792435}}</ref>

=== Client states ===
Both the Ottomans and Germans had [[client state]]s, they are listed below.
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Client state
!State in charge
|-
|{{flagicon image|Flag of Poland (1919-1928).svg}} [[Kingdom of Poland (1917–1918)|Poland]]<ref>The Regency Kingdom has been referred to as a [[puppet state]] by Norman Davies in ''Europe: A history'' ([https://books.google.com/books?id=jrVW9W9eiYMC&dq=%22Kingdom+of+Poland%22+1916+puppet&pg=PA910 Google Print, p. 910]); by Jerzy Lukowski and Hubert Zawadzki in ''A Concise History of Poland'' ([https://books.google.com/books?id=HMylRh-wHWEC&pg=PA218 Google Print, p. 218]); by Piotr J. Wroblel in ''Chronology of Polish History'' and ''Nation and History'' ([https://books.google.com/books?id=lzWHDEE6OqkC&pg=PA454 Google Print, p. 454]); and by Raymond Leslie Buell in ''Poland: Key to Europe'' ([https://books.google.com/books?id=-KcfGbrKptoC&q=Poland+Key+to+Europe Google Print, p. 68]: "The Polish Kingdom... was merely a pawn [of Germany]").</ref>
|{{flagcountry|German Empire}}
|-
|{{flagicon image|Flag of Lithuania (1918).svg}} [[Kingdom of Lithuania (1918)|Lithuania]]<ref name="maks">{{cite book |last=Maksimaitis |first=Mindaugas |title=Lietuvos valstybės konstitucijų istorija (XX a. pirmoji pusė) |publisher=Justitia |year=2005 |isbn=9955-616-09-1 |location=Vilnius |pages=36–44 |language=lt}}</ref>
|{{flagcountry|German Empire}}
|-
|{{flagicon image|Flag of Belarus (1918, 1991–1995).svg}} [[Belarusian Democratic Republic|Belarus]]<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-11-27 |title=The History of the Statehood of Belarus – Rada of the Belarusian Democratic Republic |url=https://www.radabnr.org/en/the-history-of-the-statehood-of-belarus/ |access-date=2024-10-06 |language=en-GB}}</ref>
|{{flagcountry|German Empire}}
|-
|{{flagicon image|Flag of Ukraine (1917–1921).svg}} [[Ukrainian State|Ukraine]]<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wolczuk |first=Kataryna |title=The Moulding of Ukraine: The Constitutional Politics of State Formation |publisher=[[Central European University Press]] |year=2001 |page=37}}</ref>
|{{flagcountry|German Empire}}
|-
|{{flagicon image|Flag of the Crimean Regional Government.svg}} [[Crimean Regional Government|Crimea]]<ref name="Zerkalo">{{cite news |author=Vilayet |date=2006-12-02 |title=ПОЛЬСКИЕ ТАТАРЫ НА СЛУЖБЕ АЗЕРБАЙДЖАНСКОЙ ГОСУДАРСТВЕННОСТИ |trans-title=Polish Tatars serving for Azerbaijani Statehood |publisher=Zerkalo |location=Baku}}</ref>
|{{flagcountry|German Empire}}
|-
|[[Duchy of Courland and Semigallia (1918)|Courland and Semigallia]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=How the Duchy of Courland was briefly resurrected in 1918 |url=https://eng.lsm.lv/article/culture/history/how-the-duchy-of-courland-was-briefly-resurrected-in-1918.a271089/ |access-date=2024-09-29 |website=eng.lsm.lv |language=en}}</ref>
|{{flagcountry|German Empire}}
|-
|[[United Baltic Duchy]]<ref name=":9">{{Cite web |title=Things to know about the United Baltic Duchy |url=https://eng.lsm.lv/article/culture/history/things-to-know-about-the-united-baltic-duchy.a274793/ |access-date=2024-09-29 |website=eng.lsm.lv |language=en}}</ref>
|{{flagcountry|German Empire}}
|-
|{{flagicon image|Flag of Finland 1918 (state).svg}} [[Kingdom of Finland (1918)|Finland]]<ref>{{cite web |date=1988 |title=The Establishment of Finnish Democracy |url=http://countrystudies.us/finland/16.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170811143453/http://countrystudies.us/finland/16.htm |archive-date=Aug 11, 2017 |access-date=5 February 2017 |website=Finland: A Country Study |publisher=GPO for the Library of Congress |via=Country Studies US |editor-first1=Eric |editor-last1=Solsten |editor-first2=Sandra W. |editor-last2=Meditz}}</ref>
|{{flagcountry|German Empire}}
|-
|{{flagicon image|Flag of Georgia (1918–1921, 4-5).svg}} [[Democratic Republic of Georgia|Georgia]]<ref>{{Cite book |last=Suny |first=Robert Grigor |title=The Making of the Georgian Nation |publisher=[[Indiana University Press]] |year=1994}}</ref>
|{{flagcountry|German Empire}}
|-
|{{flagicon image|Flag of Kuban People's Republic.svg}} [[Kuban People's Republic]]<ref name="Kubiyovych">{{cite book|author=Kubijovyč, Volodymyr|author-link=Volodymyr Kubiyovych|title=Ukraine: A Concise Encyclopedia|location=[[Toronto]]|publisher=[[University of Toronto Press]]|year=1963|pages=790–793}}</ref>
|{{flagcountry|German Empire}}
|-
|{{flagicon|Jabal Shammar}}  [[Emirate of Jabal Shammar|Jabal Shammar]]<ref name="Encyclopedia.com">{{cite web |title=Jabal Shammar |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/asia-and-africa/middle-eastern-history/jabal-shammar |publisher=Encyclopedia.com}}</ref>
|{{flagu|Ottoman Empire|name=[[Ottoman Empire]]}}
|-
|{{flagicon image|Flag of the Mountain Republic.svg}} [[Mountainous Republic of the Northern Caucasus|Mountain Republic]]<ref>{{cite book|author=Michael A. Reynolds |date=2011 |location=Cambridge |pages=248–251 |title=Shattering Empires: the Clash and Collapse of the Ottoman and Russian Empires, 1908–1918 |url=https://archive.org/details/shatteringempire0000reyn/page/248}}<!-- auto-translated from Russian by Module:CS1 translator --></ref>
|{{flagu|Ottoman Empire|name=[[Ottoman Empire]]}}
|-
|{{flagcountry|Azerbaijan Democratic Republic}}<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Lerman |first1=Zvi |title=Rural Transition in Azerbaijan |last2=Sedik |first2=David |publisher=[[Lexington Books]] |year=2010}}</ref>
|{{flagu|Ottoman Empire|name=[[Ottoman Empire]]}}
|-
|{{flagicon image|Flag of the Republic of Aras.svg}} [[Republic of Aras]]<ref name="Atlas">Dr. Andrew Andersen, Ph.D. [http://www.conflicts.rem33.com/images/Armenia/disp.htm Atlas of Conflicts: Armenia: Nation Building and Territorial Disputes: 1918–1920] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161228162852/http://www.conflicts.rem33.com/images/Armenia/disp.htm |date=2016-12-28 }}</ref>
|{{flagu|Ottoman Empire|name= [[Ottoman Empire]]}}
|-
|{{flag|Qatar|1860}}<ref>{{cite book |last1=Zahlan |first1=Rosemarie Said |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uVqFCwAAQBAJ |title=The Creation of Qatar |date=1979 |publisher=Croom Helm |isbn=978-1-138-18167-0 |location=Abingdon |page=74 |access-date=27 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230119043503/https://books.google.com/books?id=uVqFCwAAQBAJ |archive-date=19 January 2023 |url-status=live}}</ref>
|{{flagu|Ottoman Empire|name=[[Ottoman Empire]]}}
|-
|[[Yemen vilayet|Yemen]]<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Gerteiny |first=Alfred G. |date=April 1974 |title=Muddle of the Middle East, Volumes I and II |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03612759.1974.9947344 |journal=History: Reviews of New Books |volume=2 |issue=6 |pages=147–148 |doi=10.1080/03612759.1974.9947344 |issn=0361-2759|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
|{{flagu|Ottoman Empire|name=[[Ottoman Empire]]}}
|}

== Nations supported by the Central Powers ==
States listed in this section were not officially members of the Central Powers. Still, during the war, they cooperated with one or more Central Powers members on a level that makes their neutrality disputable.

=== Ethiopia ===
[[File:Iyasu in a Muslim Turban.png|thumb|upright|[[Iyasu V|Lij Iyasu]], ruler of [[Ethiopian Empire|Ethiopia]] until 1916 pictured in his Ottoman-style turban with governor [[Abdullahi Sadiq]]]]
The [[Ethiopian Empire]] was officially neutral throughout World War I but widely suspected of sympathy for the Central Powers between 1915 and 1916. At the time, Ethiopia was one of only two fully independent states in Africa (the other being [[Liberia]]) and a major power in the [[Horn of Africa]]. Its ruler, [[Iyasu V|Lij Iyasu]], was widely suspected of harbouring pro-Islamic sentiments and being sympathetic to the Ottoman Empire.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bekele |first=Shiferaw |title=The First World War from Tripoli to Addis Ababa |publisher=[[Centre français des études éthiopiennes]] |year=2018 |pages=37–58}}</ref> The German Empire also attempted to reach out to Iyasu, dispatching several unsuccessful expeditions to the region to attempt to encourage it to collaborate in an [[Arab Revolt]]-style uprising in East Africa. One of the unsuccessful expeditions was led by [[Leo Frobenius]], a celebrated ethnographer and personal friend of Kaiser Wilhelm II. Under Iyasu's directions, Ethiopia probably supplied weapons to the Muslim Dervish rebels during the [[Somaliland Campaign]] of 1915 to 1916, indirectly helping the Central Powers' cause.<ref name=EthiopiaBBC>{{cite news |title=How Ethiopian prince scuppered Germany's WW1 plans |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-37428682 |access-date=22 October 2018 |publisher=BBC News |date=25 September 2016}}</ref>

The Allies jointly pressured the aristocracy for the designated emperor's removal on the 10th of September, 1916 stating he was a threat to both the Allies and Ethiopia.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Dilebo |first1=Getahun |title=Emperor Menelik's Ethiopia, 1865–1916 National Unification Or Amhara Communal Domination |date=1986 |quote=Therefore, on September 10, 1916, the allied diplomats collectively demanded Shawan chiefs and ministers to eliminate Lig Eyasu as a security risk for Ethiopia and the allies. |publisher=UMI Howard University |page=244 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z11BnQEACAAJ}}</ref> Fearing the rising influence of Iyasu and the Ottoman Empire, the Christian nobles of Ethiopia conspired against Iyasu. Iyasu was first excommunicated by the [[List of Abunas of Ethiopia|Ethiopian Orthodox Patriarch]] and eventually deposed in a coup d'état on 27 September 1916. A less pro-Ottoman regent, ''Ras'' [[Tafari Makonnen]], was installed on the throne.<ref name=EthiopiaBBC/>

=== Liechtenstein ===
{{Further information|Liechtenstein during World War I}}[[File:Imhof_Leopold.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Leopold Freiherr von Imhof]], [[List of heads of government of Liechtenstein|Governor of Liechtenstein]] from 1914 to 1918]]
Liechtenstein was officially neutral throughout World War I, though the general population and government was supportive of the Central Powers, particularly [[Austria-Hungary]], with which the two countries had been in a [[customs union]] since 1852. However, from September 1914 food deliveries from Austria-Hungary began to decrease, which quickly soured the initial war support.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Quaderer |first=Rupert |author-link=Rupert Quaderer |date=31 December 2011 |title=Erster Weltkrieg |url=https://historisches-lexikon.li/Erster_Weltkrieg |access-date=28 September 2023 |website=[[Historisches Lexikon des Fürstentums Liechtenstein]] |language=de}}</ref> By 1916 all food deliveries from Austria-Hungary had ceased, which forced Liechtenstein to seek closer ties with Switzerland in order to ensure food deliveries continued.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite news |date=21 March 1915 |title=10,000 Neutrals Starving; Swiss Government Sends Food to Liechtenstein Population. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1915/03/21/archives/10000-neutrals-starving-swiss-government-sends-food-to.html |access-date=6 October 2023 |work=[[The New York Times]] |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> From 1916, Liechtenstein was embargoed by the Entente countries due to its connections with the Central Powers; this caused mass unemployment in the country.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Marxer |first=Roland |date=31 December 2011 |title=Neutralität |url=https://historisches-lexikon.li/Neutralität |access-date=28 September 2023 |website=[[Historisches Lexikon des Fürstentums Liechtenstein]] |language=de}}</ref> The government remained sympathetic to the Central Powers until 7 November 1918, when the [[November 1918 Liechtenstein putsch]] took place and a new government took power.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Quaderer |first=Rupert |author-link=Rupert Quaderer |date=31 December 2011 |title=Novemberputsch 1918 |url=https://historisches-lexikon.li/Novemberputsch_1918 |access-date=3 October 2023 |website=[[Historisches Lexikon des Fürstentums Liechtenstein]] |language=de}}</ref>

=== Upper Asir ===
[[Sheikdom of Upper Asir|Upper Asir]], a sheikdom in Arabia, revolted away from [['Asir Province|Asir]] in 1916, possibly with [[Kingdom of Hejaz|Hejazi]] aid.<ref name=":8">{{Cite book |last=Bang |first=Anne K. |title=The Idrisi State in Asir: Politics, Religion and Prestige in Arabia |date=1997 |publisher=[[C. Hurst & Co]] |isbn=978-1-85065-306-6 |series= |location=[[London]]}}</ref> It was led by [[Hassan bin Ali al-Aidh]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Jean-Marc |first=Merklin |title=w.ethnia.org |url=http://w.ethnia.org/polity.php?ASK_CODE=XQ__&ASK_YY=1916&ASK_MM=08&ASK_DD=01&SL=en |access-date=2024-12-23 |website=w.ethnia.org}}</ref> It was then partitioned between the Saudi and the [[Idrisid Emirate of Asir|Idrisi]] on 30 August 1920.<ref name=":8" />

=== Kingdom of Greece ===
The [[Kingdom of Greece]] was in a [[National Schism|political dispute with Venizelists]]. The Central Powers supported the royalists until [[Constantine I of Greece|King Constantine's]] abdication in 1917.<ref>{{Cite journal |date=April 1977 |title=Greece and the Great Powers, 1914–1917 |last=Leon |first=George B. |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/ahr/82.2.391-a |journal=The American Historical Review |volume=82 |issue=2 |publisher=Institute for Balkan Studies |doi=10.1086/ahr/82.2.391-a |issn=1937-5239|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

=== Romania ===
Following their armistice with the Central Powers, [[Kingdom of Romania|Romania]] was [[Romanian military intervention in Bessarabia|involved in the Russian Civil War]] against both the Whites and the Reds. Romania fought alongside the Central Powers until it rejoined the war against them on November 10, 1918.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Istodor |first=Gheorghe |date=2016 |title=Renaşterea Gnozei Păgâne Î România – UN Mare Pericol Pentru Tineretul Ortodox  |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.29302/ar.2016.1.27 |journal=Altarul Reîntregirii |issue=1 |pages=479–501 |doi=10.29302/ar.2016.1.27 |issn=1584-8051}}</ref>

===Kelantan===
Kelantanese rebels were supported by the Ottoman and German Empires during their [[Kelantan rebellion|anti-colonial uprising]] against the British Empire in 1915.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Cheah |first=Boon Kheng |title=To' Janggut: Legends, Histories, and Perceptions of the 1915 Rebellion in Kelantan |date=2006 |publisher=Singapore University Press |isbn=978-9971-69-316-9 |location=Singapore}}</ref>

== Non-state combatants ==
Other movements supported the efforts of the Central Powers for their own reasons, such as the radical [[Irish Republican Brotherhood|Irish Nationalists]] who launched the [[Easter Rising]] in [[Dublin]] in April 1916; they referred to their "gallant allies in Europe". However, most Irish Nationalists supported the British and allied war effort up until 1916, when the Irish political landscape was changing. In 1914, [[Józef Piłsudski]] was permitted by Germany and Austria-Hungary to form independent [[Polish Legions in World War I|Polish legions]]. Piłsudski wanted his legions to help the Central Powers defeat Russia and then side with France and the UK and win the war with them.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rothschild |first=Joseph |title=East Central Europe Between the Two World Wars |year=1990 |page=45}}</ref> Below is a list of these non-state combatants.

{{div col|content=
* [[Irish Citizen Army]]<ref>{{Cite book |last=Townshend |first=Charles |title=Easter 1916: The Irish Rebellion |date=2006 |publisher=Penguin Books |isbn=978-0-14-101216-2 |location=London}}</ref>
* [[Irish Republican Brotherhood]]
* [[Irish Volunteers]]
* [[White Guard (Finland)]]<ref>{{Cite book |last=Haapala |first=Pertti |title=Sisällissodan Pikkujättiläinen |date=2009 |publisher=Söderström |isbn=978-951-0-35452-0 |editor-last=Hoppu |editor-first=Tuomas |edition= |location=[[Helsinki]] }}</ref>
* [[Polish Legions in World War I|Polish Legions]]<ref name="rlg">{{cite book |last1=Buttar |first1=Prit |title=Russia's Last Gasp: The Eastern Front 1916–17 |date=2017 |publisher=Osprey Publishing |isbn=978-1-4728-2489-9 |location=Oxford |page=192}}</ref>
* [[Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization|IMRO]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Macedonia and the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization / 1.0 / encyclopedic |url=https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/macedonia-and-the-internal-macedonian-revolutionary-organization/#toc_eve_of_bulgarian_entry_in_the_great_war |access-date=2024-11-04 |website=1914–1918-Online (WW1) Encyclopedia |language=en}}</ref>
* [[Ahl Haydara Mansur]]<ref>{{Cite news |last=Jacob |first=H. |date=10 March 1916 |title=Present Political Situation in our Hinterland and Beyond the Border |url=https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100080540439.0x00005b |work=Political Resident, Aden |page=3}}</ref>
}}

== Armistice and treaties ==
Bulgaria signed [[Armistice of Salonica|an armistice]] with the Allies on 29 September 1918, following a successful [[Vardar Offensive|Allied advance]] in [[Macedonia (region)|Macedonia]].<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2018-09-28 |title=The National Archives – Milestones to peace: the Armistice of Salonica |url=https://blog.nationalarchives.gov.uk/milestones-peace-armistice-salonica/ |access-date=2024-10-24 |website=The National Archives blog |language=en-GB}}</ref> The Ottoman Empire followed suit on 30 October 1918 in the face of British and [[Arab]] gains in [[History of Palestine#Ottoman period|Palestine]] and [[Syria]].<ref name="fromkin">{{Cite book |last=Fromkin |first=David |author-link=David Fromkin |title=[[A Peace to End All Peace: The Fall of the Ottoman Empire and the Creation of the Modern Middle East]] |publisher=Macmillan |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-8050-8809-0 |pages=360–373}}</ref> [[German Austria|Austria]] and [[Hungarian Democratic Republic|Hungary]] concluded ceasefires separately during the first week of November following the disintegration of the [[Habsburg monarchy|Habsburg Empire]] and the [[Battle of Vittorio Veneto|Italian offensive at Vittorio Veneto]];<ref>[http://www.forost.ungarisches-institut.de/pdf/19181103-1.pdf Armistice Convention with Austria-Hungary]</ref><ref>{{cite journal
|first= Bogdan
|last= Krizman
|title= The Belgrade Armistice of 13 November 1918
|journal= [[The Slavonic and East European Review]]
|publisher= [[UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies]]
|issn= 0037-6795
|location= London
|volume= 48
|issue= 110
|year= 1970
|pages= 67–87
|jstor= 4206164
|url= https://www.jstor.org/stable/4206164
}}</ref> Germany signed the armistice ending the war on the morning of 11 November 1918 after the [[Hundred Days Offensive]], and a succession of advances by [[Dominion of New Zealand|New Zealand]], [[Australia]]n, [[Canada|Canadian]], [[Belgium|Belgian]], [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|British]], [[French Third Republic|French]] and [[United States|US]] forces in north-eastern [[French Third Republic|France]] and [[Belgium]]. There was no unified treaty ending the war; the Central Powers were dealt with in separate treaties.<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Davis |editor1-first=Robert T. |title=U.S. Foreign Policy and National Security: Chronology and Index for the 20th Century |publisher=Praeger Security International |location=Santa Barbara, California |volume=1 |year=2010 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=gsM1JiXAMJEC&pg=PA49 49] |isbn=978-0-313-38385-4}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ Central Powers by date of [[armistice]]
! Country
! Date

|-
| {{flagicon|Tsardom of Bulgaria (1908–1946)}} [[Tsardom of Bulgaria (1908–1946)|Bulgaria]] || {{dts|format=dmy|1918|09|29}}
|-
| {{flagicon|Ottoman Empire}} [[Ottoman Empire]]  || {{dts|format=dmy|1918|10|30}}
|-
| {{flagicon|Austria-Hungary}} [[Austria-Hungary]] || {{dts|format=dmy|1918|11|4}}
|-
| {{flagicon|German Empire}} [[German Empire|Germany]]   || {{dts|format=dmy|1918|11|11}}
|}

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ Central Powers treaties
! width=160|Country
! width=90 |Treaty of
! class=unsortable|Results
! Date signed

|-
| {{flagicon|Weimar Republic}} [[Weimar Republic|Germany]]|| [[Treaty of Versailles|Versailles]]
|Germany was required to demilitarize the [[Rhineland]], to reduce their [[army]] to 100,000 men, and the [[navy]] to 15,000 sailors, and to pay 132 billion gold marks (US$33 billion). [[Tank]]s, [[submarine]]s, and an [[air force]] were all forbidden.
|{{dts|format=dmy|1919|06|28}}
|-
| {{flagicon|Austria|1230}} [[Republic of German-Austria|Austria]]|| [[Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye (1919)|Saint-Germain]]
|
|{{dts|format=dmy|1919|09|10}}
|-
| {{flagicon|Tsardom of Bulgaria (1908–1946)}} [[Tsardom of Bulgaria (1908–1946)|Bulgaria]]|| [[Treaty of Neuilly-sur-Seine|Neuilly]]
|
|{{dts|format=dmy|1919|11|27}}
|-
| {{flagicon|Kingdom of Hungary (1920–1946)}} [[Kingdom of Hungary (1920–1946)|Hungary]] || [[Treaty of Trianon|Trianon]]
| Hungary lost 72% of its total land area, and 31% of ethnic [[Hungarians]] became minorities in the neighboring countries ([[Kingdom of Romania|Romania]], [[Czechoslovakia]], [[Yugoslavia]], [[First Austrian Republic|Austria]]).<ref name="Macartney37">{{cite book |last=Macartney |first=C. A. |title=Hungary and her successors: The Treaty of Trianon and Its Consequences 1919–1937 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=1937}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=East on the Danube: Hungary's Tragic Century|work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B07E3D91531F93AA3575BC0A9659C8B63&pagewanted=2|date=9 August 2003 |first=Richard |last=Bernstein}}</ref>
||{{dts|format=dmy|1919|06|04}}

|-
| {{flagicon|Ottoman Empire}} [[Ottoman Empire]]/[[Turkey]] || [[Treaty of Sèvres|Sèvres]]/[[Treaty of Lausanne (1923)|Lausanne]]
| The Treaty of Sèvres caused resentment among the Turkish populace of the Ottoman Empire and resulted in the outbreak of the [[Turkish War of Independence]], after which the Treaty of Lausanne was signed.
|{{dts|format=dmy|1920|08|10}}/{{dts|format=dmy|1923|08|24}}
|}

<gallery widths="200" heights="200">
File:CentralPowersPoster3.jpg|A postcard depicting the flags of the Central Powers' countries
File:Winold Reiss - WWI poster Charity Bazaar.jpg|Poster for a 1916 [[charity bazaar]] raising funds for widows and orphans of the Central Power states
File:Drei Kaiser Bund.jpg|The leaders of the Central Powers in 1914
</gallery>

== Leaders ==
{{Main|Leaders of the Central Powers of World War I}}

{| class="wikitable"
|+Leaders of the Central Powers
!Portrait
!Leader
!Title
!Time period
|-
|[[File:Franz Joseph of Austria 1910 old.jpg|128px]]
|[[Franz Joseph I of Austria|Franz Joseph I]]<ref name=":5">{{Cite book |last=Hart |first=Peter |title=The Great War: A Combat History of the First World War |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=2015}}</ref>
|[[Emperor of Austria]] and [[Apostolic King of Hungary]]
|1848–1916
|-
|[[File:Theodor Mayerhofer Kaiser Karl I von österreich 1917.jpg|128px]]
|[[Charles I of Austria|Karl I]]<ref name=":5" />
|[[Emperor of Austria]] and [[Apostolic King of Hungary]]
|1916–1918
|-
|[[File:Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany - 1902.jpg|128px]]
|[[Wilhelm II, German Emperor|Wilhelm II]]<ref name=":5" />
|[[German Emperor]]
|1888–1918
|-
|[[File:Sultan Muhammed Chan V., Kaiser der Osmanen 1915 C. Pietzner.jpg|128px]]
|[[Mehmed V]]<ref name=":5" />
|[[List of sultans of the Ottoman Empire|Sultan of the Ottoman Empire]]
|1909–1918
|-
|[[File:Sultan Mehmed VI of the Ottoman Empire.jpg|128px]]
|[[Mehmed VI]]<ref name=":5" />
|[[List of sultans of the Ottoman Empire|Sultan of the Ottoman Empire]]
|1918–1922
|-
|[[File:Zar Ferdinand Bulgarien.jpg|128px]]
|[[Ferdinand I of Bulgaria|Ferdinand I]]<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Ferdinand |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica Online |publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. |url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/204384/Ferdinand |access-date=30 January 2015 |date=2015}}</ref>
|[[List of Bulgarian monarchs|Tsar of Bulgaria]]
|1887–1918
|-
|
|[[Ali Dinar]]<ref>{{Cite book |last=O'Fahey |first=R.S. |title=The Darfur Sultanate: A History |date=2008 |publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn=978-0-231-70038-2 |location=New York  |pages=283–284 |language=English}}</ref>
|[[Sultan of Darfur]]
|1899–1916
|-
|[[File:Genl Manie Maritz(1) (cropped).jpg|128px]]
|[[Manie Maritz]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Salomon Gerhardus Maritz {{!}} Boer War, Commando Leader, Transvaal {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Salomon-Gerhardus-Maritz |access-date=2024-09-29 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref>
|Leader of the [[Maritz rebellion|Maritz Rebellion]]
|1914–1915
|-
|[[File:Mohammed Abdullah Hassan-dj.jpg|128px]]
|[[Mohammed Abdullah Hassan]]<ref>{{cite book |last=Abdullahi (Badiyow) |first=Abdurahman |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sHYoDwAAQBAJ&q=qaadiriyah |title=The Islamic Movement in Somalia |publisher=Adonis & Abbey Publishers Ltd. |year=2015 |isbn=9781912234035 |page=71}}</ref>
|[[Dervish movement (Somali)|Emir of the Dervish State]]
|1896–1920
|-
|[[File:Ahmed Sharif es Senussi.jpg|128px]]
|[[Ahmed Sharif as-Senussi]]<ref name="EB1911">{{cite EB1911|wstitle=Senussi|volume=24|pages=649–651|first=Frank Richardson|last=Cana}}</ref>
|[[Senusiyya|Leader of the Senussi]]
|1902–1933
|-
|[[File:Saud alrasheed.jpg|128px]]
|[[Saud bin Abdulaziz Al Rashid|Saud bin Abdulaziz]]<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Ibn Sa'ud |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica Online |publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. |url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/280827/Ibn-Saud#ref22894 |access-date=30 January 2015 |last=Glubb |first=John Bagot |date= 2014 |author-link=John Bagot Glubb}}</ref>
|[[Rashidi dynasty|Emir of Jabal Shammar]]
|1908–1920
|-
|[[File:Fatali Khan Khoyski.jpg|128px]]
|[[Fatali Khan Khoyski]]<ref name=":02">{{Cite web |last=Ahmadova |first=Firdovsiyya |date=2017 |title=Founders of the Republic: Fatali Khan Khoyski |url=http://irs-az.com/new/pdf/201508/1440762901408949551.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170714121016/http://irs-az.com/new/pdf/201508/1440762901408949551.pdf |archive-date=2017-07-14 |website=irs-az.com/new/pdf/201508/1440762901408949551.pdf}}</ref>
|[[Prime Minister of Azerbaijan]]
|1918–1919
|-
|[[File:Pavlo Skoropadsky portrait, colorized by Ruslan Habanets.jpg|128px]]
|[[Pavlo Skoropadskyi]]<ref name="history">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tXniAAAAMAAJ&q=%22%D0%93%D0%B5%D1%82%D1%8C%D0%BC%D0%B0%D0%BD%20%D1%83%D1%81%D1%96%D1%94%D1%97%20%D0%A3%D0%BA%D1%80%D0%B0%D1%97%D0%BD%D0%B8%22 |title=Історія України в особах XIX–XX ст |date=1995 |publisher=Вид-во "Україна" |isbn=978-5-319-00882-4 |page=222 |language=uk}}</ref>
|[[Hetman of all Ukraine|Hetman of Ukraine]]
|1918–1918
|}

== Statistics ==
[[File:WorldWarI-MilitaryDeaths-CentralPowers-Piechart.svg|thumb|Proportions of Central Powers' fatalities]]
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+Economic statistics of the Central Powers&nbsp;<ref group="notes">All figures presented are for the year 1913.</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=Y9GP9gtGlkgC S.N. Broadberry, Mark Harrison. The Economics of World War I]. illustrated ed. Cambridge University Press, 2005, pp. 9–10.</ref>
! colspan="2" |Country
!Population<br />(millions)
!Area<br />(million km<sup>2</sup>)
!GDP<br />($ billion)
!GDP per<br>capita<br />($)
|-
|rowspan=3|{{flag|German Empire|name=Germany}} (1914)
|Mainland
|align="right"|67.0
|align="right"|0.5
|align="right"|244.3
|align="right"|3,648
|-
|[[German colonial empire|Colonies]]
|align="right"|10.7
|align="right"|3.0
|align="right"|6.4
|align="right"|601
|-
|'''Total'''
|align="right"|77.7
|align="right"|3.5
|align="right"|250.7
|align="right"|3,227
|-
|colspan=2|{{flagicon|Austro-Hungarian Empire}} [[Austria-Hungary]] (1914)
|align="right"|50.6
|align="right"|0.6
|align="right"|100.5
|align="right"|1,980
|-
|colspan=2|{{flag|Ottoman Empire}} (1914)
|align="right"|23.0
|align="right"|1.8
|align="right"|25.3
|align="right"|1,100
|-
|colspan=2| {{flag|Kingdom of Bulgaria|name=Bulgaria}} (1915)
|align="right"|4.8
|align="right"|0.1
|align="right"|7.4
|align="right"|1,527
|- style="background:#eee;"
|colspan=2| '''Total'''
|align="right"|156.1
|align="right"|6.0
|align="right"|383.9
|align="right"|2,459
|-
|colspan=2| '''[[Allies of World War I#Statistics|Allies]]''', total, November 1914
|align="right"|793.3
|align="right"|67.5
|align="right"|1,096.5
|
|-
|colspan=2| UK, France and Russia only
|align="right"|259.0
|align="right"|22.6
|align="right"|622.8
|
|}

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:right;"
|+ Military statistics of the Central Powers&nbsp;<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EHI3PCjDtsUC&q=Direct+and+Indirect+Costs+of+the+Great+World+War&pg=PA172|title=The European Powers in the First World War|author=Spencer Tucker|year=1996|page=173|publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-0-8153-0399-2}}</ref>
!class="unsortable"|Country
!Mobilized
!Killed in action
!Wounded
!Missing<br>in action
!Total<br>casualties
!Casualties<br>as % of<br> total force<br>mobilized
|-
|align="left"| {{flag|German Empire|name=Germany}}|| 13,250,000 || 2,037,000 (13.65%)|| 6,267,143 || 1,152,800 ||  9,456,943 || 71%
|-
|align="left"|{{flag|Austria-Hungary}}  ||  7,800,000 ||   1,494,200 (11.82%)|| 3,620,000 || 2,200,000 ||  7,314,200 || 94%
|-
|align="left"| {{flag|Ottoman Empire}}      ||  3,056,000 ||   771,884 (10.84%) ||   763,163 ||   250,000 ||    1,785,000 || 60%
|-
|align="left"| {{flag|Kingdom of Bulgaria|name=Bulgaria}}||  1,200,000 ||    75,844 (6.32%)||   153,390 ||    27,029 ||    255,263 || 21%
|- style="background:#eee;"
|align="left"| '''Total'''|| 25,257,321 || 4,378,928|| 10,803,533 || 3,629,829 || 18,812,290 || 75%
|}

== Disintegration ==

=== Waning solidarity ===
As the war lasted longer than expected, Germany’s allies gradually sought to remove themselves from its sphere of its influence. Thus, the death of [[Francis Joseph I of Austria|Francis Joseph]] and the accession of his successor [[Charles I of Austria|Charles]] marked a paradigm shift in relations between Germany and the Dual Monarchy. Indeed, the young emperor quickly sought to distance himself from the policy pursued in Germany: this distancing was materialized by the transfer of the Austro-Hungarian Armeeoberkommando, the high command, from [[Cieszyn|Teschen]], near Pless, the seat of the OHL, to Baden, near [[Vienna]]; this move was intended, according to its architects, to loosen Germany’s grip on the Dual Monarchy.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bled |first=Jean-Paul |title=L'agonie d'une monarchie |publisher=Tallandier |year=2014 |isbn=979-10-210-0440-5 |location=Paris |pages=464 |language=fr |trans-title=The agony of a monarchy}}</ref>

Moreover, from 1916, Dual Monarchy leaders sought to exit the conflict at all costs, aware of the risks of disintegration if the war continued.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lacroix-Riz |first=Annie |author-link=Annie Lacroix-Riz |title=Le Vatican, l'Europe et le Reich |publisher=[[Armand Colin]] |year=1996 |isbn=2-200-21641-6 |location=Paris |pages=539 |language=fr |trans-title=The Vatican, Europe, and the Reich |orig-year=2010}}</ref>

Finally, the peace treaties of early 1918 led to the fall of the Bulgarian government of [[Vasil Radoslavov]] and its replacement by [[Aleksandar Malinov]], less loyal to the 1915 alliance. Feeling cheated by the division of the 1915 and 1916 conquests, Bulgarian leaders fueled discontent with the conflict, funding press campaigns unfavorable to Germany and the Dual Monarchy.<ref name=":12">{{Cite book |last=Renouvin |first=Pierre |author-link=Pierre Renouvin |title=La Crise européenne et la Première Guerre mondiale |publisher=[[Presses universitaires de France]] |year=1934 |location=Paris |pages=779 |language=fr |trans-title=The European Crisis and the First World War |number=19}}</ref>

=== Bulgarian defection ===
{{Main|Battle of Doiran (1918)}}

Under the command of [[Louis Franchet d'Espèrey]], Franco-Serbian troops launched a [[Liberation of Serbia, Albania and Montenegro (1918)|breakthrough offensive]] against Bulgarian units weakened by privations, plagued by desertions, pacifist propaganda,<ref name=":12" /> and exhausted by three years of positional warfare in [[Macedonia (region)|Macedonia]].<ref name=":12" /> This breakthrough quickly shattered the Macedonian front and dismantled the Bulgarian position through the {{ILL|Maneuver of Uskub|it|Manœuvre d'Uskub}} by Franco-Serbian troops.<ref name=":12" />

Faced with this alarming situation, the German high command ordered the deployment of occupation troops from [[Ukrainian People's Republic|Ukraine]] to the Balkans and the organization of a front south of Niš.<ref name=":12" /> Moreover, on {{date|28 September 1918|world war}}, [[Erich Ludendorff]] ordered the commander of the few German divisions positioned in the Balkans to redeploy around Sofia to ensure Bulgaria’s continued commitment alongside its Quadruple Alliance partners; this attempt to counter Bulgaria’s unilateral initiative failed immediately due to the speed of the armistice negotiations between Allied plenipotentiaries and Bulgarian representatives.<ref name=":12" />

== See also ==
* [[Central Powers intervention in the Russian Civil War]]
* [[Color books]], transcripts of official documents released by each nation early in the war
* [[Diplomatic history of World War I]]
* [[Home front during World War I]] covering all major countries
* [[International relations (1814–1919)]]
* [[Axis powers]]
* [[Kaiserreich (disambiguation)]]
* [[Spa Conferences (First World War)]]

== Footnotes ==
{{reflist|group=notes}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== Further reading ==
* Akin, Yigit. ''When the War Came Home: The Ottomans' Great War and the Devastation of an Empire'' (2018)
* Aksakal, Mustafa. ''The Ottoman Road to War in 1914: The Ottoman Empire and the First World War'' (2010).
* Brandenburg, Erich. (1927) ''From Bismarck to the World War: A History of German Foreign Policy 1870–1914'' (1927) [https://web.archive.org/web/20170315175229/http://www.dli.ernet.in/handle/2015/12322 online].
* Clark, Christopher. ''The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went to War in 1914'' (2013)
* Craig, Gordon A. "[https://www.jstor.org/stable/1875406 The World War I alliance of the Central Powers in retrospect: The military cohesion of the alliance]". ''Journal of Modern History'' 37.3 (1965): 336–344.
* Dedijer, Vladimir. ''The Road to Sarajevo'', comprehensive history of the assassination with detailed material on the Austrian Empire and Serbia. (1966)
* Fay, Sidney B. ''The Origins of the World War'' (2 vols in one. 2nd ed. 1930). [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.499097 online], passim
* {{cite book |first1=Fritz |last1=Fischer |editor1=Fritz Fischer (historien) |translator=Geneviève Migeon et Henri Thiès |title=Les Buts de guerre de l'Allemagne impériale (1914-1918) |language=fr |location=Paris |publisher=Éditions de Trévise |year=1970 }}{{BnF|35255571j}} <!-- this work was translated from German (with the title "Griff nach der Weltmacht" to French -->
* Gooch, G. P. ''[[iarchive:in.ernet.dli.2015.278612|Before The War Vol II]]'' pp.&nbsp;373–447 on Berchtold (1939)
* Hall, Richard C. "Bulgaria in the First World War". ''Historian'' 73.2 (2011): 300–315. [https://www.questia.com/library/journal/1G1-260060597/bulgaria-in-the-first-world-war online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200727185657/https://www.questia.com/library/journal/1G1-260060597/bulgaria-in-the-first-world-war |date=27 July 2020 }}
* Hamilton, Richard F. and Holger H. Herwig, eds. ''Decisions for War, 1914–1917'' (2004), scholarly essays on Serbia, Austria-Hungary, Germany, Russia, France, Britain, Japan, Ottoman Empire, Italy, United States, Bulgaria, Romania, and Greece.
* Herweg, Holger H. ''The First World War: Germany and Austria-Hungary 1914–1918'' (2009).
* Herweg, Holger H., and Neil Heyman. ''Biographical Dictionary of World War I'' (1982).
* Hubatsch, Walther. ''Germany and the Central Powers in the World War, 1914– 1918'' (1963) [https://www.questia.com/library/107552/germany-and-the-central-powers-in-the-world-war-1914 online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201116102820/https://www.questia.com/library/107552/germany-and-the-central-powers-in-the-world-war-1914 |date=16 November 2020 }}
* Jarausch, Konrad Hugo. "Revising German History: Bethmann-Hollweg Revisited". ''Central European History'' 21#3 (1988): 224–243, historiography {{JSTOR|4546122}}
* {{cite book |language=fr |first1=Jean-Claude |last1=Laparra |first2=Pascal |last2=Hesse |title=L'envers des parades: Le commandement de l'armée allemande: réalités et destins croisés 1914-1918 |trans-title=Behind the Parades: The Command of the German Army: Intersecting Realities and Destinies 1914-1918 |location=Paris |publisher=((14-18 éditions)) |year=2011 |isbn=978-2-916385-77-8}}
* Pribram, A. F. ''Austrian Foreign Policy, 1908–18'' (1923) pp 68–128.
* Rich, Norman. ''Great Power Diplomacy: 1814–1914'' (1991), comprehensive survey
* Schmitt, Bernadotte E. ''The coming of the war, 1914'' (2 vol 1930) comprehensive history [https://archive.org/details/comingofwar191401bern online vol 1]; [https://archive.org/details/comingofwar191402bern online vol 2], esp vol 2 ch 20 pp 334–382
* Strachan, Hew. ''The First World War: Volume I: To Arms'' (2003).
* Tucker, Spencer C., ed. ''The European Powers in the First World War: An Encyclopedia'' (1996) 816pp
* Watson, Alexander. ''Ring of Steel: Germany and Austria-Hungary in World War I'' (2014)
* Wawro, Geoffrey. ''A Mad Catastrophe: The Outbreak of World War I and the Collapse of the Habsburg Empire'' (2014)
* Williamson, Samuel R. ''Austria-Hungary and the Origins of the First World War'' (1991)
* Zametica, John. ''Folly and malice: the Habsburg empire, the Balkans and the start of World War One'' (London: Shepheard–Walwyn, 2017). 416 pp.

{{World War I}}
{{WWI history by nation}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Central Powers| ]]
[[Category:1914 establishments in Bulgaria]]
[[Category:1914 establishments in the Ottoman Empire]]
[[Category:1918 disestablishments in Austria-Hungary]]
[[Category:1918 disestablishments in Bulgaria]]
[[Category:1918 disestablishments in the Ottoman Empire]]
[[Category:20th century in international relations]]
[[Category:Austria-Hungary in World War I|.]]
[[Category:Bulgaria in World War I|.]]
[[Category:German Empire in World War I]]
[[Category:Ottoman Empire in World War I|.]]
[[Category:Military alliances involving Austria-Hungary]]
[[Category:Military alliances involving Bulgaria]]
[[Category:Military alliances involving the German Empire]]
[[Category:Military alliances involving the Ottoman Empire]]
[[Category:20th-century military alliances]]