Central Powers

The Central Powers were the countries that opposed the Allied Powers during World War I.

• Germany
• Austria-Hungary
• Bulgaria
• Ottoman Empire

Germany

The strongest of the Central Powers, Germany bore the brunt of the fighting and lent military aid to all the others. It was the last to surrender. Germany lost the Polish Corridor and Alsace-Lorraine, but otherwise emerged from the war intact.

Austria-Hungary

Austria-Hungary's conflict with Serbia ignited the war. It fought hard in some enormous battles on the eastern front, often centering around Przemysl, that pretty much tore the heart out of the army by 1916. Austria-Hungary hung in and scored some later victories against Italy, such as at the Battle of Caporetto. By the end of the war, the multiethnic nature of the empire turned against it and the constituent parts declared independence from Vienna and Budapest.

Bulgaria

Smaller than the others, but it fought savagely and suffered terrible famine. Very high percentage of soldiers killed in action.

Ottoman Empire

Thought to be weak and finished, the Turks revived somewhat and their national pride reignited. With inferior equipment, they held on and scored a victory against Great Britain and France in Gallipoli. They also fought successful delaying actions in Palestine until beginning to cave in 1917. During the war, the Ottoman Empire killed around a million Armenians in the first case of genocide in the modern era. Following the war it fought a smaller war against Greece, renegotiated its peace treaty with the Allies, and expelled its Greek citizens.