The Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany following the invasion of Poland at the beginning of World War II—nearly a quarter of the entire territory of the Second Polish Republic—were placed directly under the German civil administration. The official term used by the Nazi authorities for these areas was the "incorporated Eastern territories" (German: Eingegliederte Ostgebiete).[1] They planned for a complete Germanization of the annexed territories, considering them part of their lebensraum.[2]