Military General Government of Lublin

Military General Government of Lublin Generalne Gubernatorstwo Lubelskie (Polish) Generalgouvernement Lublin (German)
1915–1918
Coat of arms (1915–1918) (see also Flags of Austria-Hungary)
The Military Government of Lublin, depicted in light green
Capital	Kielce (1915) Lublin (1915–1917)
Common languages	German, Polish
Government	Occupation authority
Governors-General
• 1915–1916	Erich von Diller
• 1916–1917	Karl Kuk
• 1917–1918	Stanisław Szeptycki
• 1918	Anton Lipošćak
History
• Established	1 September 1915
• Armistice, withdrawal of German forces	3 November 1918
Currency	Russian ruble, Austro-Hungarian krone
Preceded by Succeeded by Vistula Land Second Polish Republic
Today part of	Poland

The Military General Government of Poland, also known as the Military General Government of Lublin, was a military administration of an area of the Russian Empire under the occupation of Austria-Hungary, during the World War I, that existed from 1915 to 1917. It was administered under the command of Governors-General, with the seat of government originally based in Kielce, and in October 1915, moved to Lublin.

History

Governor-General of Warsaw Hans Hartwig von Beseler (1st left) with Governor-General of Lublin Karl Kuk (2nd left) in Lublin, 1916

On August 25, 1915, the Imperial and Royal Army formed the General Government of Kielce, which was called the General Government of Lublin from October 1, 1915. It covered the southern parts of Russian Poland. On October 10, 1916, the German Chancellor Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg demanded the eviction of the Austrian General Government of Lublin and the creation of a joint administration with the German General Government of Warsaw. However, this was done by the Austrian-Hungarian Foreign Minister Stephan Burián von Rajecz, who declined. On October 18, 1916, an agreement was reached on the uniform legislation and administration of the General Governorates of Warsaw and Lublin. As a result of the proclamation of the Kingdom of Poland on November 5, 1916, the gradual transfer of administration to Poland was planned. Due to different ideas from the German and Austrian-Hungarian side regarding the future role of Poland and Polish independence efforts, the establishment of Polish state organs has stalled several times. It was only in the summer of 1917 that the first parts of the judiciary and the teaching system were released from the direct management of the occupation administration. Interventions by the Governor-General continued to take place.

Governors-General

No.	Portrait	Name	Term	Notes
1		Major General Freiherr Erich von Diller	October 1915 – May 1916	Governor-general based in Kielce from August to October 1915 and Lublin for the remainder of his term.
2		General of the Artillery Karl Kuk	May 1916 – April 1917	Along with his German counterpart, Governor-General of Warsaw Hans Hartwig von Beseler, he established a nominally independent Kingdom of Poland in December 1916. Removed from his post by Emperor Karl I.
3		Major General Count Stanisław Szeptycki	April 1917 – February 1918	Resigned in protest of the transfer of the Chełm region to Ukraine as part of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (Ukraine–Central Powers).
4		General of the Infantry Anton Lipošćak	March 1918 – November 1918	Notable for having saved the Piotrków Trybunalski Royal Castle from pillage by the Austro-Hungarian Army. He resigned from his post November 2, 1918 following the dissolution of Austria-Hungary.

See also

• Imperial German General Government of Belgium
• Kreuznach Conference (August 9, 1917)
• Government General of Warsaw

Literature

• Gerhard Hirschfeld / Gerd Krumeich / Irina Renz (ed.): Encyclopedia First World War, keyword: "Generalgouvernement", Paderborn 2004, p. 524 f.
• Stephan Lehnstaedt: The Military General Government of Lublin. The "utilization" of Poland by Austria-Hungary in the First World War; Journal of East Central Europe Research, 2012, digitized (PDF; 0.6 MB)