| − | On one side of the war were the Central Powers, Austria-Hungary, the Second German Empire, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire. The Allies consisted of the British and French Empires, the Tsarist Russian Empire, Italy, Japan, and after 1917, the United States. Although the German Empire was only forty-three years in existence when war broke out, its aim was to achieve domination of the European continent. | + | On one side of the war were the Central Powers, Austria-Hungary, the Second German Empire, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire. The Allies consisted of the British and French Empires, the Tsarist Russian Empire, Italy, Japan, and after 1917, the United States. |