Central Powers (NGW)

The Central Powers (German: Mittelmächte; Hungarian: Központi hatalmak; Turkish: İttifak Devletleri or Bağlaşma Devletleri; Bulgarian: Централни сили Tsentralni sili; Greek: Κεντρικές Δυνάμεις), consisting of Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire Bulgaria Greece and Romania – hence also known as the Penta Alliance (German: Fünfbund) – was one of the two main factions during Nick's Great War (1914–16). It was victorious against the Allied Powers that had formed around the Triple Entente, after which it was dissolved.

The Powers' origin was the alliance of Germany and Austria-Hungary in 1879. The Ottoman Empire, Bulgaria and Greece did not join until after World War I had begun.

Member States
The Central Powers consisted of the German Empire and the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the beginning of the war. The Ottoman Empire Bulgaria and Greece joined the Central Powers later in 1914. In 1916, Romania joined the alliance. The name "Central Powers" is derived from the location of these countries; all five (including the other groups that supported them except for Finland and Lithuania) were located between the Russian Empire in the east and France and the United Kingdom in the west. Finland, Azerbaijan, and Lithuania joined them in 1916 before the war ended and after the Russian Empire collapsed.

The Central Powers were composed of the following nations: