Central Powers facts for kids

European military alliances in 1914. The Central Powers are shown in purple, the Allies in gray and neutral countries in yellow

The Central Powers were a group of nations fighting against the Allied Powers during World War I.

The members included Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, Bulgaria and their territories. In 1918 the breakaway republics of Azerbaijan, Finland and Lithuania also supported them. The Central Powers lost the war. The Allied Forces included Great Britain, Canada, Newfoundland, Russia, France, later the United States of America, Greece, Portugal, Brazil, Georgia, Armenia, Australia, Japan and Italy.

Images for kids

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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"
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  • Allied and Central Powers during World War I
  •      Allied Powers
  •      Allied colonies, dominions, territories or occupations
  •      Central Powers
  •      Central Powers' colonies or occupations
  •      Neutral countries
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  Europe in 1914

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  German soldiers in the battlefield in August 1914 on the Western Front shortly after the outbreak of war

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  German cavalry entering Warsaw in 1915

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  German battlecruiser SMS Seydlitz heavily damaged after the Battle of Jutland

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  German Fokker Dr.I fighter aircraft of Jasta 26 at Erchin in German-occupied territory of France

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  Austro-Hungarian soldiers in a trench on the Italian front

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  Austro-Hungarian soldiers marching up Mount Zion in Jerusalem in the Ottoman Empire, during the Middle Eastern campaign

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  Ottoman soldiers in military preparations for an assault on the Suez Canal in 1914

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  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

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  Bulgarian soldiers firing at incoming aircraft

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  Lij Iyasu, ruler of Ethiopia until 1916 pictured in his Ottoman-style turban

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  Poster for a 1916 charity bazaar raising funds for widows and orphans of the Central Power states.

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  A postcard depicting the flags of the Central Powers' countries

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  The collapse of the Central Powers in 1918

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  The leaders of the Central Powers in 1914