Everything about Central Powers totally explained
The
Central Powers (
German: "Mittelmächte";
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. 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
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
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
Mehmed V - Sultan of the Ottoman Empire
İsmail Enver - Commander-in-Chief of the Ottoman Army
Wilhelm Souchon - German Naval Advisor to the Ottoman Empire
Otto Liman von Sanders - German Army Advisor to the Ottoman Empire
Mustafa Kemal - Commanded the 19th Division of the 5th Army at the
Battle of Gallipoli Ferdinand I - Czar of Bulgaria
Vladimir Vazov - Bulgarian Lieutenant General
Nikola Zhekov - Bulgarian Lieutenant General
Further Information
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