The Tragic End of Marie Antoinette: The last queen of France
King
Louis XVI and the French Revolution
Louis XVI declared the Assembly null and
void and called out the army to restore order.Public dissension grew, and a
National Guard formed to resist the King's actions.By July 1789, he was forced
to acknowledge the National Assembly's authority.
For a time, it seemed that Louis XVI could soothe
the masses by saying that he would accept to their demands. However, he
accepted bad advice from the nobility's hard-line conservatives and his wife,
Marie Antoinette. He talked of reform but resisted demands for it
Escape
Attempt of Marie Antoinette
Execution
of Queen Marie Antoinette and King Louis XVI
Marie Antoinette (1755–93), was the last queen of France who
helped provoke the popular unrest that led to the French Revolution and to the
overthrow of the monarchy in August 1792.
She was
the youngest daughter of Holy Roman Emperor Francis I and Empress Maria
Theresa, born 1755.Marriage was arranged between Marie Antoinette and Louis
XV’s grandson to create and hold an alliance between Austria and France.
Marie Antoinette became a symbol of the
excesses of the monarchy and is often credited with the famous quote "Let them eat
cake," although there is no evidence she actually said it. As
consort to Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette was beheaded nine months after her
husband by order of the Revolutionary tribunal. She was 37 years old.
Marie soon became involved in the extravagance of French court
life, attending lavish balls and gambling. Her husband, however, shied away
from public affairs. The couple would not consummate their marriage until seven
years later – this became a popular matter of discussion and ridicule both at
court and among the public.
King Louis XV died on 10 May 1774 after
contracting smallpox. Marie, who was not yet 19 years old, became Queen of
France when her husband inherited the throne as King Louis XVI. Marie gave
birth to the couple’s first child, Marie Thérèse Charlotte, in December 1778.
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Marie Antoinette |
France experienced poor harvests during the
1780s, which consequently increased the price of grain, and the government faced
mounting financial difficulties. As a result, Marie’s lavish lifestyle at court
came under attack. Numerous pamphlets and satires were distributed across the
country demonstrating peoples’ disgust towards the queen’s extravagant
spending.
During the French Revolution, the monarchy
deteriorated and in 1789 the royal family was eventually imprisoned in their
own palace. Marie had planned to flee France with her family and return to her
birthplace of Austria, but they were captured during the attempt and taken
prisoner.
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King Luis xi of France |
The French Revolution completely changed the
social and political structure of France. It put an end to the French monarchy,
feudalism, and took political power from the Catholic Church.
It brought new ideas to Europe including
liberty and freedom for the commoner as well as the abolishment of slavery and
the rights of women.
Although
the revolution ended with the rise of Napoleon, the ideas and reforms did not
die. These new ideas continued to influence Europe and helped to shape many of
Europe's modern-day governments.
Louis XVI’s policy of not raising taxes and
taking out international loans, including funding the American Revolution,
increased France’s debt, setting in motion the French Revolution. By the
mid-1780s the country was near bankruptcy, which forced the king to support
radical fiscal reforms not favorable with the nobles or the people.
On July
14, riots broke out in Paris and crowds stormed the Bastille prison in a show
of defiance toward the King. The day is now commemorated in France as a
national holiday and the start of the French Revolution.
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| King Luis xi and Queen Marie Antoinette |
The royal family was forcibly transferred
from Versailles to Paris on October 6, 1789. Louis ignored advice from advisers
and refused to abdicate his responsibilities as king of France, agreeing to a
disastrous attempt to escape to the eastern frontier in June 1791. He and his
family were brought back to Paris, and he lost all credibility as a monarch.
Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were executed
for treason. Louis had failed to address France's financial problems,
instigating the French Revolution that eventually descended upon him.
He made matters worse by often escaping to
more pleasurable activities like hunting and locksmithing. Modern historians
attribute this behavior to a clinical depression that left him prone to
paralyzing indecisiveness.
On September 21, 1792, the Legislative
Assembly proclaimed the First French Republic. That November, proof of Louis
XVI's secret dealings and counter-revolutionary intrigues was discovered, and
he and his family were charged with treason. Louis was soon found guilty by the
National Assembly and condemned to death.
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Trail of Marie Antoinette |
Louis XVI
was guillotined in the Place de la Révolution on January 21, 1793. His wife,
Marie Antoinette, met the same fate nine months later, on October 16, 1793.
Their young son, Louis-Charles, died in prison where living conditions were
horrible. Daughter Marie-Thérèse was released from prison in December 1795 into
the custody of her family in Austria.
Note---this story “the
tragic end of marie antoinette: the last queen of France”,has been prepared
with help of various articles and photos available on net,with great thanks to
original writers.
The End
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