Central Powers

The Central Powers were composed of the following nations

•  Austro -Hungarian  Empire : entered the war on 28 July 1914
•  German Empire  (including German colonial forces): 1 August 1914
•  Ottoman  Empire : secretly 2 August 1914; openly 29 October 1914
•  Kingdom of bulgaria: 14 October 1915

 The Central Powers Alliance was described from the German and Austrian side as a "Bund", an association. Austria-Hungary precipitated World War 1 and was the first to go to war on July 28th, 1914 with its declaration against the Kingdom of Serbia.

Between August 1st and 4th the German Empire, which had given Austria-Hungary a "blank check" in relation to Serbia, in rapid succession declared war against Russia, France and Belgium. For the first three months of the war Germany and Austria-Hungary constituted the Central Power belligerents. From August 1 through October 1914 the alliance was therefore known as "der Zweibund", the Association of Two.  On November 10th they were joined by the Ottoman Empire (Turkey) which officially enjoined hostilities against Russia, Great Britain and France. The alliance became "derDreibund", The Association of Three.The Central Powers reached what was to be their full strength on October 14, 1915 with Bulgaria's opportunistic entry into the war against Serbia as massed German and Austro-Hungarian armies attacked from the north. The alliance therefore became "der Vierbund", The Association of Four, which was to remain until the disintegration of late 1918 as each of the Centrals sought armistice and peace in turn.

empire11,000,0001,808,5464,247,1431,152,8007,208,48966%
Austro -Hungarian  Empire7,800,000922,5003,620,0002,200,0006,742,50086%Ottoman  Empire2,850,000325,000400,000250,000975,00034%
Kingdom ofbulgaria1,200,00075,844153,39027,029255,26321%
Central PowersTotal22,850,0003,131,8908,419,5333,629,82915,181,25266%

German Empire (plus colonies), 191467.0m (77.7m)0.5m km² (3.5m km²⁾$244.3b ($250.7b)
Austro -Hungarian  Empire, 191450.6m0.6m km²$100.5b
Ottoman  Empire 191423.0m1.8m km²$25.3bKingdom of bulgaria 19154.8m0.1m km²$7.4b
Central Powers Total in 1914151.3m5.9m km²$376.6b