Generalgouvernement Warsaw (1915-1918)

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German (light blue) and Austrian (light green) zones of occupation in the former Russian part of Poland

The imperial German Generalgouvernement Warsaw ( Polish : Cesarsko-Niemieckie Generalne Gubernatorstwo Warszawskie ) was the name for the part of what was until then Russian part of Poland occupied by the Germans during the First World War between 1915 and 1918.

Origin and structure

By the fall of 1915, the conquered allied German and Austro-Hungarian troops on the Eastern Front , the Russian Poland , Lithuania , Courland and parts of Belarus . Erich Ludendorff's attempt to place the entire conquered area under military control failed because of Erich von Falkenhayn's opposition . Therefore different occupation zones were created.

In Russian Poland, the Germans established the civilly administered Generalgouvernement Warsaw. This had about 6.4 million inhabitants on 62,000 km². With Warsaw and Łódź, the most important industrial centers of the occupied area were located in this area. The German Empire agreed with Austria-Hungary in the Treaty of Teschen on a division of the entire area. In the south, Austria-Hungary established the General Government of Lublin . The Austrian area was 43,000 km² and had a population of around 3.5 million.

The majority of the population consisted of Poles . But there were also considerable minorities, including German-speaking residents. Particularly numerous was the Jewish population , which to a large extent Yiddish language and the Orthodox Judaism was attributable. Before the war, Jews made up about fifteen percent of the population in Russian Poland.

The Baltic States and the areas east of the General Government remained a military-administered area of ​​occupation. This area was under the command of the East and was therefore referred to as Upper East .

General von Beseler; Postcard (1914)

In August 1915, Colonel General Hans von Beseler became Governor General in Warsaw . The civil administration was led by the head of administration Wolfgang von Kries (October 18, 1915 to November 26, 1917) and then by Otto von Steinmeister (November 26, 1917 to October 6, 1918). The administration consisted of members of the military administration and civil officials. Below the central level there were military governors, civilian district chiefs, and police chiefs. The military governor general was directly subordinate to the emperor. The Reich Office of the Interior, on the other hand, insisted that civil servants be subordinate to the civil government. Although there were competence problems, the cooperation between von Kries and von Beseler worked relatively smoothly.

Occupation policy

The Polish mark was the currency of the German occupation zone.

The two occupation regimes in the General Government and in Upper East differed significantly. A strongly centralized and rigid military administration was established in Upper East. Supported by the civil administration, Beseler took a more moderate course in Warsaw and tried to involve the Polish population more closely. In both occupation zones there was considerable leeway for the local actors.

The policy of the German occupiers was contradictory. On the one hand, the area was exploited for German purposes. The production facilities were systematically dismantled, which led to extensive de-industrialization. The result was high unemployment. The establishment of labor battalions and the attempt to introduce real forced labor at the end of 1916 were particularly hated by the population . On the other hand, the occupation authorities tried to repair the war damage of 1915. In addition, new roads and railways were built. The Vistula as a traffic route was expanded. Behind this was the goal of an economic development, which should be reflected in higher deliveries in favor of the Central Powers.

In addition to the economic development, public order also had to be restored. To do this, cooperation with the Polish political forces was necessary to a certain extent. While the political debates were subject to the control of the occupying forces and there was censorship, they could take place more freely than under Russian rule.

Against this background, a number of reform measures were taken. This included the expansion of the school system. While there were 34 students per 1,000 inhabitants in the pre-war period, under the rule of the Central Powers there were 76 to 1,000. Classes were held in Polish and the Polish language was also the official language, for example in court. A university and a technical college have been established in Warsaw. The educational measures also aimed to give the Poles a minimum of autonomy in order to gain their support.

There were even elections for municipal representative bodies in 1916. In material terms, however, there was hardly any question of economic development, since the occupied area was primarily exploited for the benefit of the German war economy.

Establishment of the Kingdom of Poland

The Polish political groups were already divided before the war. The right-wing parties refused to join forces with the Central Powers and the “Supreme National Committee” in Krakow, which wanted to lean on Austria-Hungary to solve the Polish question. The more activist groups fell apart in different directions. While some advocated merging with Austria-Hungary, others wanted to work with Germany. Józef Piłsudski acted independently with his Polish military organization .

The future of Poland remained controversial between the Central Powers. At first it seemed as if Germany would support an Austro-Polish solution, but soon the desire for a stronger German weight grew. After negotiations between Vienna and Berlin, the reign of Poland was proclaimed by the governors general on November 5, 1916 .

The new state structure remained de facto under the control of the Central Powers and the governors-general remained in office until the collapse at the end of the war.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Jesse Curtis Kauffman: Sovereignty and the Search for Order in German-occupied Poland, 1915-1918 , Diss., Stanford, 2008, p. 30.
  2. ↑ Christian Westerhoff: Forced Labor in the First World War? , in: Dieter Bingen, Peter Oliver Loew, Nikolaus Wolf (ed.): Interest and conflict. On the political economy of German-Polish relations 1900–2007 , Wiesbaden 2008, pp. 144 f .; Manfred Alexander: Small History of Poland , Bonn 2005, p. 262; Jesse Curtis Kauffman: Sovereignty and the Search for Order in German-occupied Poland, 1915-1918 , Diss., Stanford, 2008, p. 32 f.
  3. ^ Jesse Curtis Kauffman: Sovereignty and the Search for Order in German-occupied Poland, 1915-1918 , Diss., Stanford, 2008, p. 31; Jesse Curtis Kauffman: Schools, State Building and national conflict in German occupied Poland , in: Finding Common Ground: New Directions in First World War Studies , Leiden 2011, p. 113.
  4. ↑ Jesse Curtis Kauffman: Sovereignty and the Search for Order in German-occupied Poland, 1915-1918 , Diss. Stanford, 2008, p. 32.
  5. ↑ Jörn Leonhard: The Pandora's Box , Munich 2014, p. 286 f.
  6. ^ Włodzimierz Borodziej: History of Poland in the 20th Century , Munich 2010, p. 80.
  7. ↑ Manfred Alexander: Kleine Geschichte Polens , Bonn 2005, p. 262 f.
  8. ^ Włodzimierz Borodziej: History of Poland in the 20th Century , Munich 2010, p. 82.
  9. ↑ Manfred Alexander: Kleine Geschichte Polens , Bonn 2005, p. 263; see: Jesse Curtis Kauffman: Schools, State Building and national conflict in German occupied Poland , in: Finding Common Ground: New Directions in First World War Studies , Leiden 2011, pp. 113-138.
  10. ↑ Manfred Alexander: Kleine Geschichte Polens , Bonn 2005, p. 263.
  11. ↑ Manfred Alexander: Kleine Geschichte Polens , Bonn 2005, p. 264 f.
  12. ↑ Manfred Alexander: Kleine Geschichte Polens , Bonn 2005, p. 264 f.

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