The status of WWII Poland as a German colony remains debated. While some scholars argue in favour of a so-called “colonial-imperial paradigm” others explicitly reject any connection between German...Show moreThe status of WWII Poland as a German colony remains debated. While some scholars argue in favour of a so-called “colonial-imperial paradigm” others explicitly reject any connection between German colonialism and Nazi-occupied Poland. Situating itself within this ongoing debate this thesis aims to provide a new perspective on German colonialism in Poland. By providing a comparative analysis of labour policies implemented in German South-West Africa (GSWA) and Nazi-occupied Poland this thesis hope to shed light on the controversial status of Poland as a German colony. Labour policies in particular pose an interesting lens through which to study the colonial-imperial paradigm as they touch upon a variety of dimensions that have been discussed at length within the wider literature. In particular, labour policy offers new insights into the role of ideology and violence in shaping economic relations in Germany’s colonies and Nazi-occupied Poland. As this thesis will show, the two cases show congruence in the fundamental motivations and structures of labour policy, however, at closer inspection, considerable differences can be observed. In particular, it will highlight the significant role of ideology in shaping Nazi labour practices and the unprecedented scale of violence experienced by Polish labourers. This research can be used as a starting point for further discussions about potential causal relations between German colonialism and the Nazi occupation of Poland as well as serving as a stepping stone to analysing the long-term economic consequences of the Nazi occupation of Poland.Show less