Editing Central Powers (section)

=== German Empire ===
{{Main|German entry into World War I|History of Germany during World War I|German Empire}}
{{see also|German occupation of Belgium during World War I|German occupation of Luxembourg during World War I|German occupation of Estonia during World War I|German occupation of north-east France during World War I|General Government of Belgium|Government General of Warsaw|German occupation of Byelorussia during World War I}}

==== War justifications ====
[[File:German infantry 1914 HD-SN-99-02296.JPEG|thumb|German soldiers on the battlefield in August 1914 on the Western Front, shortly after the outbreak of war|alt=A black and white image of numerous soldiers charging to the left]]
[[File:Warschau unter Deutscher Besetzung 1915 - einzug deutscher Kavallerie (75299019) (cropped).jpg|thumb|German cavalry entering [[Warsaw]] in 1915|alt=A black and white image of soldiers on horseback with children watching on either side of them]]
[[File:SMS Seydlitz damage.jpg|thumb|German battlecruiser {{SMS|Seydlitz}} heavily damaged after the [[Battle of Jutland]]|alt=A black and white image of a heavily damaged German naval ship]]
[[File:Fordi-2.jpg|thumb|German [[Fokker Dr.I]] fighter aircraft of ''[[Jasta]]'' 26 at [[Erchin]] in [[German occupation of north-east France during World War I|German-occupied France]]|alt=A black and white image of triplanes lined up on grass a black Iron Cross on the back of each of them with many people behind them]]
In early July 1914, in the aftermath of the assassination of Austro-Hungarian [[Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria|Archduke Franz Ferdinand]] and faced with the prospect of war between Austria-Hungary and [[Kingdom of Serbia|Serbia]], [[Kaiser]] [[Wilhelm II]] and the German government informed the Austro-Hungarian government that Germany would uphold its alliance with Austria-Hungary and defend it from possible Russian intervention if a war between Austria-Hungary and Serbia took place.<ref name="Cashman, Greg 2007. P57">{{Cite book |last1=Cashman |first1=Greg |title=An Introduction to the Causes of War: Patterns of Interstate Conflict from World War I to Iraq. |last2=Robinson |first2=Leonard C |date=2007 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-0-7425-5510-5 |page=}}</ref> When Russia enacted a [[general mobilization]], Germany viewed the act as provocative.<ref name=":6">{{Cite book |last=Meyer |first=G. J. |title=A World Undone: The Story of the Great War, 1914 to 1918 |publisher=[[Delacorte Press]] |year=2006 |isbn=978-0553803549}}</ref>{{RP|39}} The Russian government promised Germany that its general mobilization did not mean preparation for war with Germany but was a reaction to the tensions between Austria-Hungary and Serbia.<ref name=":6" />{{RP|39}} The German government regarded the Russian promise of no war with Germany to be nonsense in light of its general mobilization, and Germany, in turn, mobilized for war.<ref name=":6" />{{RP|39}} On 1 August, Germany sent an ultimatum to [[Russian Empire|Russia]] stating that since both Germany and Russia were in a state of military mobilization, an effective state of war existed between the two countries.<ref name=":6" />{{RP|95}} Later that day, [[French Third Republic|France]], an ally of Russia, declared a state of general mobilization.<ref name=":6" />{{RP|95}}

In August 1914, Germany attacked Russia, citing Russian aggression as demonstrated by the mobilization of the Russian army, which had resulted in Germany mobilizing in response.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hagen |first=William W. |url=https://archive.org/details/germanhistoryinm0000hage |title=German History in Modern Times: Four Lives of the Nation |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |year=2012 |isbn=978-0521191906 |page=228}}</ref>

After Germany declared war on Russia, France, with its alliance with Russia, prepared a general mobilization in expectation of war. On 3 August 1914, Germany responded to this action by declaring war on France.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Tucker |first=Spencer C |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h5_tSnygvbIC |title=Global Chronology of Conflict: From the Ancient World to the Modern Middle East |publisher=[[ABC-CLIO]] |year=2009 |isbn=978-1851096725 |page=1556}}</ref> Germany, facing a two-front war, enacted what was known as the [[Schlieffen Plan]], which involved German armed forces moving through [[Belgium]] and swinging south into France and towards the French capital of [[Paris]]. This plan was hoped to quickly gain victory against the French and allow German forces to concentrate on the Eastern Front. Belgium was a neutral country and would not accept German forces crossing its territory. Germany disregarded Belgian neutrality and invaded the country to launch an offensive towards Paris. This caused [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|Great Britain]] to declare war against the German Empire, as the action violated the [[Treaty of London (1839)|Treaty of London]] that both nations signed in 1839 guaranteeing Belgian neutrality.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kossmann |first=E. H. |url=https://archive.org/details/lowcountries17800000koss |title=The Low Countries, 1780–1940 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=1978|isbn=978-0-19-822108-1 }}</ref>

Subsequently, several states declared war on Germany in late August 1914, with [[Kingdom of Italy|Italy]] declaring war on Germany in August 1916,<ref>{{cite web |date=6 March 2015 |title=Il 1861 e le quattro Guerre per l'Indipendenza (1848–1918) |url=http://www.piacenzaprimogenita150.it/index.php?it%2F176%2Fil-1861-e-le-quattro-guerre-per-lindipendenza-1848-1918 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220319075828/http://www.piacenzaprimogenita150.it/index.php?it%2F176%2Fil-1861-e-le-quattro-guerre-per-lindipendenza-1848-1918 |archive-date=19 March 2022 |access-date=12 March 2021 |language=it}}</ref> the [[United States]] in April 1917,<ref>McDuffie, Jerome; Piggrem, Gary Wayne; Woodworth, Steven E. (2005). ''U.S. History Super Review''. Piscataway, NJ: Research & Education Association. p. 418. {{ISBN|978-0-7386-0070-3}}.</ref> and [[Kingdom of Greece (Glücksburg)|Greece]] in July 1917.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Leon |first=George B. |title=Greece and the First World War: From Neutrality to Intervention, 1917–1918 |publisher=East European Monographs |year=1990 |isbn=9780880331814}}</ref>

==== Colonies and dependencies ====
{{Main|German colonial empire}}

=====Europe=====
The German Empire had incorporated the province of [[Alsace–Lorraine|Alsace-Lorraine]], after successfully defeating France in the [[Franco-Prussian War]]. However, the province was still claimed by French [[Revanchism|revanchists]],<ref>Seager, Frederic H. (1969). "The Alsace-Lorraine Question in France, 1871–1914". in Charles K. Warner, ed., ''From the Ancien Régime to the Popular Front'', pp. 111–126.</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Jay |first=Robert |date=January 1984 |title=Alphonse de Neuville's 'The Spy' and the Legacy of the Franco-Prussian War |url=https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.2307/1512817 |journal=Metropolitan Museum Journal |language=en |volume=19/20 |pages=151–162 |doi=10.2307/1512817 |jstor=1512817 |s2cid=193058659 |issn=0077-8958}}</ref> leading to its return to France at the Treaty of Versailles.<ref name="Grandhomme-2008-11-retour">{{cite journal |last=Grandhomme |first=Jean-Noël |date=November 2008 |title=Le retour de l'Alsace–Lorraine |journal=L'Histoire |number=336 |language=fr}}</ref>

=====Africa=====
The German Empire was late to colonization, only beginning overseas expansion in the 1870s and 1880s. Colonization was opposed by much of the government, including chancellor [[Otto von Bismarck]], but it became a colonial power after participating in the [[Berlin Conference]]. Then, private companies were founded and began settling parts of Africa, the Pacific, and China. Later these groups became German protectorates and colonies.<ref>{{Cite book |last=von Washausen |first=Helmut |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vdM_AAAAYAAJ |title=Hamburg und die Kolonialpolitik des Deutschen Reiches |publisher=H. Christians |year=1968 |page=116}}</ref>

[[Kamerun|Cameroon]] was a German colony existing from 1884 until its complete occupation in 1915. It was ceded to France as a [[League of Nations mandate|League of Nations Mandate]] at the war's end.<ref name=":7">{{Cite journal |last=Elango |first=Lovett |date=1985 |title=The Anglo-French 'Condominium' in Cameroon, 1914–1916: The Myth and the Reality |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/218801 |journal=The International Journal of African Historical Studies |volume=18 |issue=4 |pages=657–673 |doi=10.2307/218801 |issn=0361-7882 |jstor=218801}}</ref>

[[German East Africa]] was founded in 1885 and expanded to include modern-day [[Tanzania]] (except [[Zanzibar]]), [[Rwanda]], [[Burundi]], and parts of [[Mozambique]]. It was the only German colony to not be fully conquered during the war, with resistance by commander [[Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck]] lasting until November 1918. Later it was surrendered to the Allies in 1919 and split between the [[Belgian Congo]], [[Portuguese Mozambique]], and the newly founded colony of [[Tanganyika Territory|Tanganyika]].<ref name="Ends">{{cite book |last=Louis |first=William Roger |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NQnpQNKeKKAC&pg=PA246 |title=Ends of British Imperialism: The Scramble for Empire, Suez, and Decolonization |publisher=[[I.B. Tauris]] |year=2006 |isbn=978-1-84511347-6 |access-date=19 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200611044443/https://books.google.com/books?id=NQnpQNKeKKAC&pg=PA246 |archive-date=11 June 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref>

[[German South West Africa|South West Africa]], modern-day [[Namibia]], came under German rule in 1885 and was absorbed into [[South Africa]] following its invasion in 1915.<ref>{{Cite web |title=German South West Africa |url=https://awayfromthewesternfront.org/campaigns/africa/german-south-west-africa/ |access-date=2023-05-13 |website=Away from the Western Front |language=en-GB}}</ref>

[[Togoland]], now part of [[Ghana]], was made a German protectorate in 1884. However, after a swift [[Togoland campaign|campaign]], it was occupied by the [[Allies of World War I|Allies]] in 1915 and divided between [[French Togoland]] and [[British Togoland]].<ref name="Martin">{{cite book |last=Martin |first=Lawrence |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jtyOqiwiDLYC&pg=PR15 |title=The Treaties of Peace, 1919–1923 |publisher=The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd. |year=2007 |isbn=978-1-58477-708-3 |volume=2 |page=15 |access-date=19 July 2011}}</ref>

=====Asia=====

The [[Jiaozhou Bay Leased Territory]] was a German dependency in East Asia leased from China in 1898.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gottschall |first=Terrell |title=By Order of the Kaiser: Otto von Diederichs and the Rise of the Imperial German Navy, 1865–1902 |publisher=[[Naval Institute Press]] |year=2003 |isbn=978-1557503091 |page=117}}</ref> Japanese forces occupied it following the [[Siege of Tsingtao]].<ref>{{Cite journal |author1=刘平 |author2=江林泽 |date=2014 |title=第一次世界大战中的远东战场———青岛之战述评 |trans-title=The Far Eastern Theatre in the First World War – A Review of the Battle of Tsingtao |journal=军事历史研究 |language=zh |issue=4 |page=52 |issn=1009-3451}}</ref>

The Austrian Empire had a [[Foreign concessions in Tianjin|foreign concession in Tianjin]] which was swiftly invaded by China in 1917. The German concessions in [[Tianjin]] and [[Hankou]] were also invaded.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Singerton |first=Jonathan |date=May 2024 |title=Michael Falser. Habsburgs Going Global: The Austro-Hungarian Concession in Tientsin/Tianjin in China (1901–1917) Vienna: Austrian Academy of Sciences Press, 2022. Pp. 286. |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/austrian-history-yearbook/article/michael-falser-habsburgs-going-global-the-austrohungarian-concession-in-tientsintianjin-in-china-19011917-vienna-austrian-academy-of-sciences-press-2022-pp-286/DDDEA15B740CA4E4A49C927DCE4E5EF5 |journal=Austrian History Yearbook |language=en |volume=55 |pages=463–465 |doi=10.1017/S0067237823000851 |issn=0067-2378}}</ref>

=====Pacific=====

[[German New Guinea]] was a German protectorate in the Pacific. It was occupied by Australian forces in 1914.<ref>{{Cite web |title=British and German New Guinea. |url=https://www.loc.gov/item/2021668665/#:~:text=When%20World%20War%20I%20broke,the%20territory%20of%20New%20Guinea. |access-date=2024-09-30 |website=Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.}}</ref>

[[German Samoa]] had been a German protectorate since the [[Tripartite Convention]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ryden |first=George Herbert |title=The Foreign Policy of the United States in Relation to Samoa |publisher=[[Octagon Books]] |year=1975 |pages=574}}</ref> It was [[Occupation of German Samoa|occupied]] by the New Zealand Expeditionary Force in 1914.<ref>{{cite book|last=Smith|first=Stephen John|year=1924|title=The Samoa (N.Z.) Expeditionary Force 1914–1915|url=http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-WH1-Samo.html|publisher=Ferguson & Osborn|location=Wellington, New Zealand|oclc=8950668}}</ref>