diff --git a/src/app/core/data/relationship-data.service.ts b/src/app/core/data/relationship-data.service.ts
index 17d0fa6634..f0164b839d 100644
--- a/src/app/core/data/relationship-data.service.ts
+++ b/src/app/core/data/relationship-data.service.ts
@@ -155,8 +155,11 @@ export class RelationshipDataService extends IdentifiableDataService<Relationshi
    * @param id                    the ID of the relationship to delete
    * @param copyVirtualMetadata   whether to copy this relationship's virtual metadata to the related Items
    *                              accepted values: none, all, left, right, configured
+   * @param shouldRefresh         refresh the cache for the items in the relationship after creating
+   *                              it. Disable this if you want to add relationships in bulk, and
+   *                              want to refresh the cachemanually at the end
    */
-  deleteRelationship(id: string, copyVirtualMetadata: string): Observable<RemoteData<NoContent>> {
+  deleteRelationship(id: string, copyVirtualMetadata: string, shouldRefresh = true): Observable<RemoteData<NoContent>> {
     return this.getRelationshipEndpoint(id).pipe(
       isNotEmptyOperator(),
       take(1),
@@ -167,7 +170,11 @@ export class RelationshipDataService extends IdentifiableDataService<Relationshi
       sendRequest(this.requestService),
       switchMap((restRequest: RestRequest) => this.rdbService.buildFromRequestUUID(restRequest.uuid)),
       getFirstCompletedRemoteData(),
-      tap(() => this.refreshRelationshipItemsInCacheByRelationship(id)),
+      tap(() => {
+        if (shouldRefresh) {
+          this.refreshRelationshipItemsInCacheByRelationship(id);
+        }
+      }),
     );
   }
 
@@ -178,8 +185,11 @@ export class RelationshipDataService extends IdentifiableDataService<Relationshi
    * @param item2 The second item of the relationship
    * @param leftwardValue The leftward value of the relationship
    * @param rightwardValue The rightward value of the relationship
+   * @param shouldRefresh refresh the cache for the items in the relationship after creating it.
+   *                      Disable this if you want to add relationships in bulk, and want to refresh
+   *                      the cache manually at the end
    */
-  addRelationship(typeId: string, item1: Item, item2: Item, leftwardValue?: string, rightwardValue?: string): Observable<RemoteData<Relationship>> {
+  addRelationship(typeId: string, item1: Item, item2: Item, leftwardValue?: string, rightwardValue?: string, shouldRefresh = true): Observable<RemoteData<Relationship>> {
     const options: HttpOptions = Object.create({});
     let headers = new HttpHeaders();
     headers = headers.append('Content-Type', 'text/uri-list');
@@ -194,8 +204,12 @@ export class RelationshipDataService extends IdentifiableDataService<Relationshi
       sendRequest(this.requestService),
       switchMap((restRequest: RestRequest) => this.rdbService.buildFromRequestUUID(restRequest.uuid)),
       getFirstCompletedRemoteData(),
-      tap(() => this.refreshRelationshipItemsInCache(item1)),
-      tap(() => this.refreshRelationshipItemsInCache(item2)),
+      tap(() => {
+        if (shouldRefresh) {
+          this.refreshRelationshipItemsInCache(item1);
+          this.refreshRelationshipItemsInCache(item2);
+        }
+      }),
     ) as Observable<RemoteData<Relationship>>;
   }
 
diff --git a/src/app/item-page/edit-item-page/item-relationships/item-relationships.component.ts b/src/app/item-page/edit-item-page/item-relationships/item-relationships.component.ts
index ea9b571cd6..3cf6601f0e 100644
--- a/src/app/item-page/edit-item-page/item-relationships/item-relationships.component.ts
+++ b/src/app/item-page/edit-item-page/item-relationships/item-relationships.component.ts
@@ -17,16 +17,17 @@ import {
   TranslateService,
 } from '@ngx-translate/core';
 import {
+  BehaviorSubject,
   combineLatest as observableCombineLatest,
+  EMPTY,
   Observable,
-  of as observableOf,
-  zip as observableZip,
 } from 'rxjs';
 import {
+  concatMap,
   map,
-  startWith,
   switchMap,
   take,
+  toArray,
 } from 'rxjs/operators';
 
 import { ObjectCacheService } from '../../../core/cache/object-cache.service';
@@ -91,7 +92,7 @@ export class ItemRelationshipsComponent extends AbstractItemUpdateComponent {
   /**
    * The item's entity type as an observable
    */
-  entityType$: Observable<ItemType>;
+  entityType$: BehaviorSubject<ItemType> = new BehaviorSubject(undefined);
 
   constructor(
     public itemService: ItemDataService,
@@ -123,13 +124,13 @@ export class ItemRelationshipsComponent extends AbstractItemUpdateComponent {
           map((relationshipTypes: PaginatedList<RelationshipType>) => relationshipTypes.page),
         );
 
-      this.entityType$ = this.entityTypeService.getEntityTypeByLabel(label).pipe(
+      this.entityTypeService.getEntityTypeByLabel(label).pipe(
         getFirstSucceededRemoteData(),
         getRemoteDataPayload(),
-      );
+      ).subscribe((type) => this.entityType$.next(type));
 
     } else {
-      this.entityType$ = observableOf(undefined);
+      this.entityType$.next(undefined);
     }
   }
 
@@ -147,8 +148,7 @@ export class ItemRelationshipsComponent extends AbstractItemUpdateComponent {
   public submit(): void {
 
     // Get all the relationships that should be removed
-    const removedRelationshipIDs$: Observable<DeleteRelationship[]> = this.relationshipService.getItemRelationshipsArray(this.item).pipe(
-      startWith([]),
+    const removeUpdates$: Observable<FieldUpdate[]> = this.relationshipService.getItemRelationshipsArray(this.item).pipe(
       map((relationships: Relationship[]) => relationships.map((relationship) =>
         Object.assign(new Relationship(), relationship, { uuid: relationship.id }),
       )),
@@ -157,84 +157,113 @@ export class ItemRelationshipsComponent extends AbstractItemUpdateComponent {
       }),
       map((fieldUpdates: FieldUpdates) =>
         Object.values(fieldUpdates)
-          .filter((fieldUpdate: FieldUpdate) => fieldUpdate.changeType === FieldChangeType.REMOVE)
-          .map((fieldUpdate: FieldUpdate) => fieldUpdate.field as DeleteRelationship),
+          .filter((fieldUpdate: FieldUpdate) => fieldUpdate.changeType === FieldChangeType.REMOVE),
       ),
+      take(1),
     );
 
-    const addRelatedItems$: Observable<RelationshipIdentifiable[]> = this.objectUpdatesService.getFieldUpdates(this.url, []).pipe(
+    const addUpdates$: Observable<FieldUpdate[]> = this.objectUpdatesService.getFieldUpdates(this.url, []).pipe(
       map((fieldUpdates: FieldUpdates) =>
         Object.values(fieldUpdates)
           .filter((fieldUpdate: FieldUpdate) => hasValue(fieldUpdate))
-          .filter((fieldUpdate: FieldUpdate) => fieldUpdate.changeType === FieldChangeType.ADD)
-          .map((fieldUpdate: FieldUpdate) => fieldUpdate.field as RelationshipIdentifiable),
+          .filter((fieldUpdate: FieldUpdate) => fieldUpdate.changeType === FieldChangeType.ADD),
       ),
+      take(1),
     );
 
-    observableCombineLatest(
-      removedRelationshipIDs$,
-      addRelatedItems$,
-    ).pipe(
+    observableCombineLatest([
+      removeUpdates$,
+      addUpdates$,
+    ]).pipe(
       take(1),
-    ).subscribe(([removeRelationshipIDs, addRelatedItems]) => {
-      const actions = [
-        this.deleteRelationships(removeRelationshipIDs),
-        this.addRelationships(addRelatedItems),
-      ];
-      actions.forEach((action) =>
-        action.subscribe((response) => {
-          if (response.length > 0) {
-            this.initializeOriginalFields();
-            this.cdr.detectChanges();
-            this.displayNotifications(response);
-            this.modalService.dismissAll();
-          }
-        }),
-      );
+      switchMap(([removeUpdates, addUpdates]) => [...removeUpdates, ...addUpdates]),
+      concatMap((update: FieldUpdate) => {
+        if (update.changeType === FieldChangeType.REMOVE) {
+          return this.deleteRelationship(update.field as DeleteRelationship).pipe(take(1));
+        } else if (update.changeType === FieldChangeType.ADD) {
+          return this.addRelationship(update.field as RelationshipIdentifiable).pipe(
+            take(1),
+            switchMap((relationshipRD: RemoteData<Relationship>) => {
+              if (relationshipRD.hasSucceeded) {
+                // Set the newly related item to stale, so its relationships will update to include
+                // the new one. Only set the current item to stale at the very end so we only do it
+                // once
+                const { leftItem, rightItem } = relationshipRD.payload._links;
+                if (leftItem.href === this.item.self) {
+                  return this.itemService.invalidateByHref(rightItem.href).pipe(
+                    // when it's invalidated, emit the original relationshipRD for use in the pipe below
+                    map(() => relationshipRD),
+                  );
+                } else {
+                  return this.itemService.invalidateByHref(leftItem.href).pipe(
+                    // when it's invalidated, emit the original relationshipRD for use in the pipe below
+                    map(() => relationshipRD),
+                  );
+                }
+              } else {
+                return [relationshipRD];
+              }
+            }),
+          );
+        } else {
+          return EMPTY;
+        }
+      }),
+      toArray(),
+      switchMap((responses) => {
+        // once all relationships are made and all related items have been invalidated, invalidate
+        // the current item
+        return this.itemService.invalidateByHref(this.item.self).pipe(
+          map(() => responses),
+        );
+      }),
+    ).subscribe((responses) => {
+      if (responses.length > 0) {
+        this.initializeOriginalFields();
+        this.displayNotifications(responses);
+        this.modalService.dismissAll();
+      }
     });
   }
 
-  deleteRelationships(deleteRelationshipIDs: DeleteRelationship[]): Observable<RemoteData<NoContent>[]> {
-    return observableZip(...deleteRelationshipIDs.map((deleteRelationship) => {
-      let copyVirtualMetadata: string;
-      if (deleteRelationship.keepLeftVirtualMetadata && deleteRelationship.keepRightVirtualMetadata) {
-        copyVirtualMetadata = 'all';
-      } else if (deleteRelationship.keepLeftVirtualMetadata) {
-        copyVirtualMetadata = 'left';
-      } else if (deleteRelationship.keepRightVirtualMetadata) {
-        copyVirtualMetadata = 'right';
-      } else {
-        copyVirtualMetadata = 'none';
-      }
-      return this.relationshipService.deleteRelationship(deleteRelationship.uuid, copyVirtualMetadata);
-    },
-    ));
+  deleteRelationship(deleteRelationship: DeleteRelationship): Observable<RemoteData<NoContent>> {
+    let copyVirtualMetadata: string;
+    if (deleteRelationship.keepLeftVirtualMetadata && deleteRelationship.keepRightVirtualMetadata) {
+      copyVirtualMetadata = 'all';
+    } else if (deleteRelationship.keepLeftVirtualMetadata) {
+      copyVirtualMetadata = 'left';
+    } else if (deleteRelationship.keepRightVirtualMetadata) {
+      copyVirtualMetadata = 'right';
+    } else {
+      copyVirtualMetadata = 'none';
+    }
+
+    return this.relationshipService.deleteRelationship(deleteRelationship.uuid, copyVirtualMetadata, false);
   }
 
-  addRelationships(addRelatedItems: RelationshipIdentifiable[]): Observable<RemoteData<Relationship>[]> {
-    return observableZip(...addRelatedItems.map((addRelationship) =>
-      this.entityType$.pipe(
-        switchMap((entityType) => this.entityTypeService.isLeftType(addRelationship.type, entityType)),
-        switchMap((isLeftType) => {
-          let leftItem: Item;
-          let rightItem: Item;
-          let leftwardValue: string;
-          let rightwardValue: string;
-          if (isLeftType) {
-            leftItem = this.item;
-            rightItem = addRelationship.relatedItem;
-            leftwardValue = null;
-            rightwardValue = addRelationship.nameVariant;
-          } else {
-            leftItem = addRelationship.relatedItem;
-            rightItem = this.item;
-            leftwardValue = addRelationship.nameVariant;
-            rightwardValue = null;
-          }
-          return this.relationshipService.addRelationship(addRelationship.type.id, leftItem, rightItem, leftwardValue, rightwardValue);
-        }),
-      ),
-    ));
+  addRelationship(addRelationship: RelationshipIdentifiable): Observable<RemoteData<Relationship>> {
+    return this.entityType$.pipe(
+      switchMap((entityType) => this.entityTypeService.isLeftType(addRelationship.type, entityType)),
+      switchMap((isLeftType) => {
+        let leftItem: Item;
+        let rightItem: Item;
+        let leftwardValue: string;
+        let rightwardValue: string;
+        if (isLeftType) {
+          leftItem = this.item;
+          rightItem = addRelationship.relatedItem;
+          leftwardValue = null;
+          rightwardValue = addRelationship.nameVariant;
+        } else {
+          leftItem = addRelationship.relatedItem;
+          rightItem = this.item;
+          leftwardValue = addRelationship.nameVariant;
+          rightwardValue = null;
+        }
+        return this.relationshipService.addRelationship(addRelationship.type.id, leftItem, rightItem, leftwardValue, rightwardValue, false);
+      }),
+    );
+
   }
 
   /**