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.

On 10 October 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 18 October 1916, an agreement was reached on the uniform legislation and administration of the General Governorates of Warsaw and Lublin.

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.