The German-occupied territory of Serbia, an area of Yugoslavia roughly corresponding to the borders of the pre-1912 Kingdom of Serbia, had been retained under military administration following the April 1941 German-led Axis invasion of Yugoslavia. The German military administration supervised a Serbian puppet regime known as the Government of National Salvation, led by the former Yugoslav Minister of War, Milan Nedić. The appointment of a HSSPF had not been planned and this initially accorded with the preferences of the Wehrmacht commander in the territory. A communist-led uprising had erupted in mid-1941 and while it had been brutally suppressed during Operation Uzice in December, it was expected to return in early 1942. To address this, Himmler decided to appoint a HSSPF for the occupied territory, as he considered the existing occupation regime was not being sufficiently harsh with the Serbs. Meyszner was chosen for the new position, despite the fact that few HSSPF were selected from the Orpo. At 55 years old, Meyszner was also the oldest HSSPF appointed.