Back Sentrale Moondhede Afrikaans قوى المركز Arabic İttifaq dövlətləri Azerbaijani اتفاق دؤولتلری AZB Цэнтральныя дзяржавы Byelorussian Цэнтральныя дзяржавы BE-X-OLD Централни сили Bulgarian কেন্দ্রীয় শক্তি Bengali/Bangla Galloudoù kreiz Breton Centralne sile BS
Central Powers | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1914–1918 | |||||||||||||
 The Central Powers as of 14 October 1915 | |||||||||||||
| Status | Military alliance | ||||||||||||
| Membership |
| ||||||||||||
| Historical era | World War I | ||||||||||||
• Established | 1914 | ||||||||||||
• Dissolved | 1918 | ||||||||||||
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- 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 Central Powers, also known as the Central Empires,[1][notes 1] were one of the two main coalitions that fought in World War I (1914–1918). It consisted of the German Empire, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria; this was also known as the Quadruple Alliance.[2][notes 2]
The Central Powers' origin was the alliance of Germany and Austria-Hungary in 1879. Despite having nominally joined the Triple Alliance before, Italy did not take part in World War I on the side of the Central Powers and later joined on the side of the Allied Powers. 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.
- ^ Harris, Luke (2015). Britain and the Olympic Games, 1908–1920: Perspectives on Participation and Identity. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-1-137-49861-8.
- ^ Hindenburg, Paul von (1920). Out of My Life. London: Cassell. p. 113 – via Internet Archive.
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