Could it be that Marie Antoinette’s lifestyle was the cause of her own downfall and execution at the hands of her people? She had a frivolous, lavish lifestyle where she could do whatever she wanted and spend all the money she desired. She did nothing to help the people of France, such as those suffering from poverty in the Third Estate. But some claim that she was a heroine to France. Marie Antoinette was not a heroine to the people of France but a traitor because she left her husband, Louis XVI, to handle all responsibilities of the country, had high controversy around her lifestyle choices, and all of her incompetency led to the French Revolution. If she had actually been responsible and had helped Louis XVI run the country, she may have …show more content…
Marie-Antoinette tried to fix the rapidly deteriorating position of the crown by having secret negotiations with Antoine Barnave, who was the leader of the constitutional monarchist section in the National Assembly.19 Barnave was the one who managed to coax Louis to sign the new constitution of France in 1791.20 But Marie undermined his position by trying to break off the revolution by secretly bringing her brother Leopold II into things.21 She encouraged him towards military intervention in French affairs, leading to a manifesto with Austria and Prussia promising to help the French monarchy in 1791.22 After the French people declared war on Austria in 1792 because of fears of invasion,23 Marie and Louis sided with Austria because they hoped it would crush the revolutionary forces and ideas of the people.24 But none of this helped because the royal family was involved with events too far out of their control. The people absolutely hated that she was supporting her brother’s invasion of France, rather than helping the French. The “Let them eat cake” rumor did not help her either, because it was helping fuel the people’s hatred of her by showing off her ignorance to how her people felt. There was also a thief who posed as Marie in 178525 who stole a 647-diamond necklace and it was taken to London to be sold in England.26 She was found to be not …show more content…
Could Marie have been a heroine to France? Probably not even though she may have been a pinnacle of fashion but no one outside the monarchy liked her partying and devious ways. It would also be hard to believe that Louis XVI appreciated that Marie left him to deal with running the country on his own. Just because she was queen and could have done whatever she pleased did not mean she should have been so oblivious to the problems of her country or making the problems of it worse. So with Marie being irresponsible and leaving Louis XVI to handle everything going on with France, her extravagant lifestyle that gave her a bad name, and her incompetency bringing the French revolution, there is no doubt she was a traitor to the people of
Marie Antoinette was the Archduchess of Austria, and became Dauphine of France after several years. Many French citizens dislike her because of her behaviors. Some citizens blamed on her that she was one of the reason to cause the French Revolution. Some of the people said that she was not a serious problem for forming the French Revolution. There were also some people said that those behaviors were came from Louis XVI or influenced to Marie Antoinette, and actually he was one of the reason that caused the French Revolution. So what is the truth as one of the cause of French Revolution? Was she really a cause of the French Revolution?
The French Revolution, beginning in 1789, was a lengthy process in which the people of France took over the government and instituted a Republic (Chambers). The overarching goal of the Revolution was to place the power of government in the hands of the people. For two years, whilst France was facing internal disorganization and external wartime threats, the government was run by a war dictatorship under Maximilien Robespierre, the head of the Committee of Public Safety (“Reign of Terror”). Amid much internal suspicion and fear, the Reign of Terror began. Much of France was politically divided, and Robespierre’s method for keeping the government stable in a time of crisis involved severe penalties for any suspected of plotting against the new government (Chambers). Soon the accusations began to fly and a handful of people convicted and killed for treason became thousands. Many of the cases turned into the accuser’s word versus the accused, and a government preoccupied with bigger issues often did not care to look into these cases, simply convicting the accused, supposedly to promote a sense of unity and control to the citizens of France, and to forewarn anyone who did attempt treasonous deeds (Chambers). Eventually, Marie Antoinette, guilty of no crime other than marrying the former king, was executed on the grounds of treason (“French Revolution: The Reign of Terror”). Many thought this was taking a step too far. The former Queen was well-respec...
Before the French Revolution, an inexperienced king, and an irresponsible queen ruled over the citizens of France. Food cost was high due to the poor crop season, and Antoinette gambled away what would be billions today.
In the book, Marie Antoinette: The Last Queen of France , the author, Evelyne Lever, paints a beautiful portrayal of the life of Marie Antoinette; from an Austrian princess to Queen of France to her untimely death at the end of a guillotine. Marie Antoinette was the fifteenth child born to the Empress Maria Theresa and Francis I, the Holy Roman Emperor. She lived a carefree childhood until she was strategically married and sent to France when she was fourteen years old. The marriage between Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI, the future King of France, was meant to bring Austria and France closer together politically. Unfortunately, that did not happen; instead the monarchy collapsed with Marie Antoinette managing to alienate and offend a vast
King Louis XVI was next in line for the throne in 1774 and gladly inherited it from Louis XIV to become the ruler over France. He drastically changed the whole country and put its people through ghastly conditions. There was not a soul left unharmed. In Paris, nearly half of its population in 1788 was unemployed. They produced no crops due to them not growing and had extremely high prices on food. With the whole nation already furious with his doings, he decided to marry Marie Antoinette who was foreign. They decided to blame her for their problems of their economy because they figured that King Louis was letting her make major decisions and control them. Together, Antoinette and Louis had a total of four children. Their oldest child lived to be seventy-three.
May 16th, 1770- Marie was married to Dauphin Louis-Auguste. Their Marriage sealed the alliance between France and Austria that was made by Marie Tereasa during the Severn Years War.
Marie Antoinette was the 15th child of Maria Theresa and Francis I. Marie Antoinette. She focused her education mainly on religious and she was the last queen of France. She helped exasperate the turbulence which led to the French Revolution and to the conquest of the throne in August 1792. She became a figure head to grant an audience to the monarchy. She was distinguished with the honors of saying “Let them eat cake” even though there was no proof that she literally said it.
Marie Antoinette Josèphe Jeanne de Habsbourg-Lorraine was born in the mid-eighteenth century as an archduchess and princess, to Maria Teresa, the Austrian Empress, at the very apex of the European hierarchal pyramid. She was an essential part to the oldest royal European house, as it became known that her sole duty in life was to unite the two great powers and long-term enemies of Austria-Hungary and France by marriage. She was brutally overthrown by her own starving people and portrayed to the world as a villain and abuser of power, whereas sympathy for the young queen should be shown.
Joan lived during a turbulent time in French history. The French and English states had been at war since 1337 over disputed territories in France and who could inherit the French throne. The English claimed that their king could inherit the French throne through shared royal bloodlines and also inherit vast territories in present-day southwestern France. By the time of Joan’s birth, the English had secured almost all of France and were poised to capture the French crown. The French heir to the throne, the Dauphin, was forced into hiding and Paris was under English control. It was under these dire circumstances that Joan emerged.
There are two takes on her life: One is that she is a villain. While the other depicts her as a heroine of her time. Both of these opinions are proof of how her life was symbolic to the downfall of European Monarchies in the face of revolution. Thomas Jefferson once said, predicting the way Marie Antoinette would be viewed by posterity, "I have ever believed that if there had been no queen, there would have been no Revolution."
Outside threats from foreign countries did in no way justify the acts of the Reign of Terror. Foreign countries such as Austria and Prussia had reason to act. If they didn’t access the situation quickly, the revolution would spread to their countries and their people would also rebel. Austria itself was worried about the safety of Louis XVI’s wife, Queen Marie Antoinette, who was a daughter in the Austrian royal family (Doc. B). They had reason to
During the eighteenth century, France was one of the richest and prosperous countries in Europe, but many of the peasants were not happy with the way France was being ruled. On July 14, 1789, peasants and soldiers stormed the Bastille and initiated the French Revolution. This essay will analyze the main causes of the French Revolution, specifically, the ineffectiveness of King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, the dissatisfaction of the Third Estate, and the Enlightenment. It will also be argued that the most significant factor that caused the French Revolution was the ineffective leadership of King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. The first and main reason for the French Revolution was the terrible leadership of King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette.
...roblems and turned a great number of people against the monarchy. These events lead to the resentment that was another key factor in beginning the French Revolution. The end of King Louis XIV’s rule was especially disastrous. After the death of his advisor Colbert, King Louis XIV made even more horrible and costly decisions. He further enlarged the military and entered into many wars in which he lost a great deal of her newly acquired territories and increased the national debt even more.
Marie Antoinette, Queen of France from 1770 to 1797 was despised by the people of France. Their hatred of her and the monarchy in general led to the French Revolution. Many issues led to the unpopularity of Queen Maria Antoinette, her vanity, her disregard for the people, but perhaps the most significant was the Affair of the Diamond Necklace.
The French Revolution, which occurred from 1789 to 1799, was a time where the monarchy was overthrown, a republic was formed, and limits were put on the church. The French Revolution ended with the rule of Napoleon Bonaparte in 1799. The French Revolution created France’s legislative assembly, which is still in place today. Many would argue that the Enlightment was a cause of the French Revolution, but the Enlightment was not one of the main drivers for the Revolution. The bad living conditions, France’s monarchy, and the involvement in the American Revolution and other wars caused the French Revolution.