The Luxurious Lifestyle of The King and Queen As The Cause of The French Revolution

The French Revolution came about after the famine and the people’s resentment towards the King and Queen’s lavish lifestyle while they all were starving. France was in debt, harvests were poor, the people could not afford the rising cost of bread, all while the royal monarchy was living in a palace and ignoring the famine. According to Jocelyn Hunt, “from his accession in1774, Louis XVI had faced a worsening financial situation, compounded by the money and troops sent to assist the Americans in war against Britain. France failed to gain the expected benefits: the liberated colonists continued to trade mainly with Britain, and were slow to repay the French loans.

Turgot had warned that the first shot would drive France into bankruptcy, and he was proved right” (Hunt). It’s important to note that the wealthy did not pay as much in taxes as the people of France did. Because of the high taxes, inflation of bread, and famine the people of France revolted against the royal family. On July 14, 1789, approximately 900 people took the Bastille prison to take weapons, marking the beginning of the French Revolution. In the same year on October 6, roughly 10,000 people marched to the Palace of Versailles and called for the king and queen to be taken to Paris. The king did not know what to do so Marie quickly set up meetings with their advisors and “dispatched urgent letters to other European rulers, begging them to help save France’s monarchy” (Hunt).

They tried to flee Paris on June 1791, but were caught and returned to Paris. On September 1791, King Louis XVI agreed to sign a new constitution which was presented by the Constituent National Assembly. Her agree to sign it with conditions, that he would still keep represented power. However, in 1792, a radical leader named Maximilien de Robespierre asked for the removal of the king. In September of the same year the king and queen were arrested and their rule was abolished. According to Nancy Barker, “one of Marie Antoinette’s best friends, the Princesse de Lamballe, was dismembered in the street, and revolutionaries paraded her head and body parts through Paris” (Barker). King Louis XVI was put on trial for treason, and in January he was executed. On July 1793, Marie lost custody of her ten year old son, Louis Charles. He was forced into accusing her of sexual abuse and incest before an all male jury and they unanimously sentenced her to death. In October, she was executed by a guillotine at thirty-seven years old.

Some find the life and lifestyle of Marie Antoinette fascinating while others believe her to be the downfall of France. Whatever your feelings are of her, she definitely led an interesting and unapologetic life. While she was implanted in a different country as a teenager and married to build an alliance after the Seven Years War, she did not say, “let them eat cake.”

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