General Government of Belgium

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The Imperial German General Government of Belgium was created after the occupation of large parts of Belgium by German troops in the First World War with the highest cabinet order of August 26, 1914 to administer the occupied Belgian territories and existed until autumn 1918.

organization

The general government was headed by a general governor who was directly subordinate to the emperor . It initially comprised the nine Belgian provinces with the exception of parts of West Flanders, as well as the French parts of the country around Maubeuge and Givet, which cut into Belgian territory . After the transition to trench warfare in autumn 1914, West and East Flanders , the Tournai district and the area around Maubeuge were returned to the stage . From July 1, 1917, the administration was separated into Flemish and Walloon provinces.

tasks

The governor general had to ensure both the military security and the civil administration of the country. On the military side he was supported by the chief of the general staff, on the civil side by the chief of civil administration, Max von Sandt . The press in the occupied parts of Belgium was only allowed to appear to a limited extent. To remedy the labor shortage in the German Reich, forced labor measures were introduced in 1916/17 . These were soon discontinued after international criticism and because they proved to be ineffective.

Governors General

Seat of the military government in Brussels
Seal of the head of administration at the governor general in Belgium

On August 26th, the German Kaiser appointed Generalfeldmarschall Freiherr von der Goltz to be the Governor General with his seat in Brussels , but he gave up this post on November 28th 1914 due to differences over the treatment of the Belgians. He was followed by Colonel General Moritz von Bissing from the end of 1914 until his death in 1917 and, after his death in 1917, Colonel General Ludwig von Falkenhausen . The heads of civil administration were Max von Sandt and Tilo von Wilmowsky .

literature

  • Sebastian Bischoff: Belgium as a war target. Debates on annexation and national enemy images in the German public, 1914–1918. Waxmann Verlag, Münster 2018 ( review by Ulrich Wyrwa).
  • Alan Kramer: Occupation (west). In: Gerhard Hirschfeld , Gerd Krumeich , Irina Renz (eds.): Encyclopedia First World War. Ferdinand Schöningh, Paderborn 2009, ISBN 978-3-506-76578-9 , p. 381 ff.
  • Jens Thiel: "Any concerns about international law must not prevent us." Forced labor and deportation in Belgium during the First World War. In: Timm C. Richter (Ed.): War and crime. Situation and intention: case studies (=  Villa Ten Hompel Aktuell. Volume 9). Martin Meidenbauer Verlagbuchhandlung, Munich 2006, ISBN 3-89975-080-2 , pp. 21-30.
  • Jens Thiel: "People basin Belgium". Recruitment, deportation and forced labor in the First World War (=  Writings of the Library for Contemporary History NF Vol. 20). Klartext, Essen 2007, ISBN 978-3-89861-563-1 .

Web links

Commons : German occupation of Belgium  - collection of images, videos and audio files