Languages German, Polish Established 18 October 1915 Preceded by Succeeded by Capital Warsaw | Government Occupation authority Armistice, withdrawal of German forces 11 November 1918 Founded 1915 | |
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1914 Hans Hartwig von Beseler | ||
The General Government of Warsaw (German: Generalgouvernement Warschau) was an administrative civil district created by the German Empire in World War I. It encompassed the north-western half of the erstwhile Russian-ruled Vistula Land (Congress Poland).
Although the territory initially formed a part of the Ober Ost military command under the authority of general Erich Ludendorff, after the military advances of the Central Powers in the fall offensive of 1915 the territory came under a separate administration in October. It continued to exist even after the later establishment of a rump Kingdom of Poland, a Central Powers puppet state. Its governor-general, Hans Hartwig von Beseler, held his office for the entire duration of the region's existence. The headquarters of the General Government operated in the Royal Castle, Warsaw, while the governor-general's seat was in the Belvedere palace, Warsaw.
To the south of the General Government lay an Austro-Hungarian-controlled counterpart called the Military Government of Lublin.
On 18 October 1916 a joint administration was introduced for both districts of the former Congress Poland, with a German civil-servant, Wolfgang von Kries, appointed as the first chief of the intended administration. On 9 December, Kries founded a Polish central bank, which issued a new currency, the Polish mark (Marka polska).
During the occupation German authorities drafted Poles into forced labor to replace German workers drafted into the army.
Chiefs of Joint Administration: