Central Powers (Central Victory)

The Central Powers (German: "Mittelmächte"; Hungarian: "Központi hatalmak"; Turkish: "İttifak Devletleri" or "Bağlaşma Devletleri"; Bulgarian: "Централни сили") was one of the two sides that participated in World War I, the other being the Entente (Allied) Powers.

Member states
The Central Powers consisted of the German Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Ottoman Empire and the Kingdom of 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 the French Third Republic and the United Kingdom in the west. The alliances made between these four nations were a result of Germany's inability to gain power on the "world stage". The Germans then decided to focus on creating an alliance of Mitteleuropa, i.e., Central Europe. The Balkans were originally desired as members of this alliance, but as the Balkans formed separate, autonomous states this was deemed impossible.

The Central Powers were composed of these nations:
 * Austro-Hungarian Empire
 * German Empire (including German colonial forces)
 * Ottoman Empire
 * Kingdom of Bulgaria

Italy
On October 7, 1879, Germany and Austria-Hungary became allies and formed the Dual Alliance. On May 20, 1882, they were joined by the Kingdom of Italy in what was known as the Triple Alliance. This alliance was intended to be limited 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 the Kingdom of 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, because of the land promised them in the Treaty of London made with France and Britain. This treaty promised Italy the Italian lands of the Habsburg Empire and territories in Asia Minor, Africa and the Balkans.

Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria
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
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". In 1914 Józef Piłsudski was permitted by the Austrians to form independent 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.