Government General of Warsaw

{{Short description|1915–1918 German administrative division}}

{{distinguish|text=the World War II-era General Government}}

{{Infobox country

| native_name = {{native name|de|Generalgouvernement Warschau}}
{{native name|pl|Generalne Gubernatorstwo Warszawskie}}

| conventional_long_name = General Governorate of Warsaw

| common_name =

| era =

| status = Occupation authority|

| event_start = Established

| year_start = 1915

| date_start = 18 October

| event_end = Armistice, withdrawal of German forces

| year_end = 1918

| date_end = 11 November|

| p1 = Vistula Land

| flag_p1 = Flag of Russia.svg

| s1 = Second Polish Republic

| flag_s1 = Flag of Poland (1919–1928).svg

| image_flag = Flag of the German Empire.svg

| symbol =

| symbol_type =

| image_coat = Seal of the Government-General of Warsaw.svg

| image_map = OkupacjaKP1914-18.PNG

| image_map_caption = The Government General of Warsaw, depicted in light blue

| capital = Warsaw

| national_motto =

| common_languages = German, Polish

| religion =

| currency = |

| legislature =

| title_representative = Governor-General

| year_representative1 = 1915–1918

| representative1 = Hans Hartwig von Beseler

| title_deputy = Chief of Joint Administration

| year_deputy1 = 1915–1917

| deputy1 = Wolfgang von Kries

| year_deputy2 = 1917–1918

| deputy2 = Otto von Steinmeister

| house1 =

| house2 = |

| stat_year1 =

| stat_area1 =

| stat_pop1 =

| stat_year2 =

| stat_pop2 =

| today = Poland

| footnotes =

| demonym =

| area_km2 =

| area_rank =

| GDP_PPP =

| GDP_PPP_year =

| HDI =

| HDI_year =

| p2 = Ober Ost

| flag_p2 = War Ensign of Germany (1903–1919).svg

}}

The General Government of Warsaw ({{langx|de|Generalgouvernement Warschau}}) was an administrative civil district created by the German Empire in World War I.Liulevicius, Vejas G. (2000). War Land on the Eastern Front: Culture, Identity, and German Occupation in World War I. Cambridge University Press, p. 54. [https://books.google.com/books?id=tlrez-ylNUkC&pg=PA54]

It encompassed the north-western half of the former Russian-ruled 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.W. Głębocki, Pałace Warszawy, Warszawa 1991, s. 8. {{ISBN|83-217-2814-6}}

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{{by whom|date=October 2013}} for both districts of the former Congress Poland, with a German civil-servant, {{ILL|Wolfgang von Kries|de}}, 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 marka (Marka polska).

During the occupation, German authorities drafted Poles into forced labor to replace German workers drafted into the army.