Dr Karine Varley
Lecturer
French
Area of Expertise
- Nineteenth and twentieth century French History
- Second World War, especially Vichy France, French-Italian relations and relations between Britain and France
- Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871
- Corsican nationalism and identity
Prize And Awards
- Treasurer of the Society for the Study of French History
- Recipient
- 2015
- Fellow of the Royal Historical Society
- Recipient
- 2010
Publications
- Vichy's Double Bind : French Collaboration between Hitler and Mussolini during the Second World War
- Varley Karine
- New Studies in European History New Studies in European History (2023)
- Legitimising violence in the British attack on the French fleet at Mers-el-Kébir
- Varley Karine
- Harfleur to Hamburg Five Centuries of English and British Violence in Europe (2023) (2023)
- Introduction : the Franco-Prussian War in French and German history
- Varley Karine
- French History (2021)
- https://doi.org/10.1093/fh/crab047
- Memories not yet formed : commemorating the Franco-Prussian War and the Paris Commune
- Varley Karine
- Journal of War and Culture Studies Vol 14, pp. 231-250 (2021)
- https://doi.org/10.1080/17526272.2020.1726008
- [Book Review] Alfred Kelly, Carl Rückert's memoirs of the Franco-Prussian war
- Varley Karine
- 51 (2021)
- A duel of nations: Germany, France, and the diplomacy of the war of 1870–1871
- Varley Karine
- National Identities (2021)
- https://doi.org/10.1080/14608944.2020.186412
Teaching
I teach the following undergraduate and postgraduate classes:
V1217 Modern Europe
V1303/V1440 France at War, 1870-1962
V1399/1706 Identity War and Revolution in Europe, 1789-1918
R1107/8 French Language 1a/1b
R1203/4 French Language 2a/2b
R1215 French Culture and History 2
R1315 French Culture and History 3
R1408 France since 1945
R1502 French Language (Interpreting)
R1506 French Studies 4 (Core Class)
History and French Dissertations
Postgraduate teaching:
V1977 War, Sacrifice and the Nation in Europe, 1789-1918
Research Interests
My research interests lie primarily in the following areas:
- Vichy France
- The Franco-Prussian War
- French-Italian relations in the Second World War
- Memory and commemoration of war
- Relations between Britain and France in the Second World War
- Corsican nationalism, history and politics
My second book, Vichy's Double Bind: French Collaboration between Hitler and Mussolini during the Second World War (Cambridge University Press, 2023) advances a significant new interpretation of French collaboration during the Second World War. Arguing that the path to collaboration involved not merely Nazi Germany but Fascist Italy, it suggests that the Vichy French government was caught in a double bind. On the one hand, many of the threats to France's territory, colonial empire and power came from Rome as well as Berlin. On the other, Vichy was caught between the irreconcilable yet inescapable positions of the two Axis governments. Unable to resolve the conflict, Vichy sought to play the two Axis powers against each other. By exploring French dealings with Italy at diplomatic, military and local levels in France and its colonial empire, this book reveals the multi-dimensional and multi-directional nature of Vichy's policy. It therefore challenges many enduring conceptions of collaboration with reference to Franco-German relations and offers a fresh perspective on debates about Vichy France and collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. This research was supported by grants from the British Academy and Carnegie Trust.
My new project, funded by the Royal Society of Edinburgh, is a case study designed to support a broader historical investigation of Franco-British violence towards ‘friendly populations’ during the Second World War in Europe and the French colonies.
Professional Activities
- France and the Second World War in Global Perspective, 1919-45
- Organiser
- 2/7/2015
- Modern and Contemporary France (Journal)
- Editorial board member
- 2013
- War commemorations and politics: Lessons from the nineteenth century
- Contributor
- 13/1/2014
- Society for the Study of French History 28th Annual Conference 2014
- Organiser
- 10/7/2014
- L'Europe des merveilles. Le Sacré-Coeur, une chimère devenue réalité Television series
- Interviewee
- 12/2023
- IHR Modern French History seminar
- Invited speaker
- 20/11/2023
Projects
- Relations between Britain and France in World War Two
- Pastor-Castro, Rogelia (Principal Investigator) Varley, Karine (Co-investigator)
- 01-Jan-2016 - 31-Jan-2018