who made up the central powers in world war i
The Central Powers (German: Mittelmächte; Hungarian: Központi hatalmak; Turkish: İttifak Devletleri / Bağlaşma Devletleri; Bulgarian: Централни сили, translit. Tsentralni sili), consisting of Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria -- hence also known as the Quadruple Alliance (German: Vierbund) -- was one of the two main factions during World War I (1914 -- 18). It faced and was defeated by the Allied Powers that had formed around the Triple Entente. The Powers' origin was the alliance of Germany and Austria-Hungary in 1879. The Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria did not join until after World War I had begun, although the Ottoman Empire retained close relations with both Germany and Austria-Hungary since the beginning of the 20th century.