The General Government (GG, Polish: Generalne Gubernatorstwo) was a region in central Poland. This region was created by Nazi Germany in 1939 and declared semi-autonomous with local civil and military administration. The local authorities were staffed with Germans faithful to National Socialism.
The German Invasion of Poland (1939) on September 1 triggered World War II. Germany conquered Poland in just 18 days. In September 18, the Soviet Union, signatory party of the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact, also invaded Poland. Thus, Poland was divided into three main parts:
- The western part who was annexed directly in the Greater German Reich as Gau Wartheland.
- The eastern part was annexed by the Soviet Union. Unlike the territory taken by Germany, much of the occupied Polish territory remained in the Soviet Union after the war.
- The central part remained occupied by Germany. Hitler's decree of October 12, 1939, created the General Government.
At first, General Government was composed of four voivodeships of Poland: Warsaw, Radom, Lublin and Kraków. In August 1941, the General Government was enlarged, incorporating Galicia which was detached from the Soviet Union after Operation Barbarossa. Kraków was the capital.
