The Life of Marie Antoinette

Have you heard of a royal person who was killed by the citizens? In history, there was a time when kings and queens ruled the whole world. These monarchs were very powerful, and people had to follow them. However, there is a queen who was killed by the people. Her name is Marie Antoinette.

Marie Antoinette was born in Austria. She was an Austrian princess. She was Maria Theresia and Francis I’s fifteenth child. When Marie was only two years old, she caught smallpox. But luckily, it did not cause much harm to her. Marie had good times in the Austrian kingdom when she was young. The rules weren’t so strict, and there was a big garden to play in. However, according to her teacher, Marie Antoinette was not much of a bright student. She was not good at paying attention, and she especially struggled with the French language. She had a hard time in France because she was not very fluent in French.

When Marie Antoinette was fourteen years old, she had to marry Louis XVI, the French prince. Back then, France and Austria were not close to each other. A marriage between an Austrian princess and a French prince was not for love. It was just a political alliance to let France and Austria become close. The two royal people only saw each other in pictures before the actual marriage. Unfortunately, Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI had opposite personalities. Marie was cheerful, but Louis XVI was very quiet and chubby. Nevertheless, they were married and had four children- two sons and two daughters.

When the royal family was having a good time in the castle, the mood of the people outside was full of anger. The French government did not have much money because of the royal people’s luxurious lives and the war against America. So, the government asked for more and more tax. Citizens did not have any money left. They were hungry. People were starving to death, but the royal family still lived in luxuries. The citizens’ frustration exploded—they started a revolution. This revolution is called the French Revolution. The people locked the royals in the castle. Marie Antoinette tried to run away to Austria, but she got caught. The citizens thought that the royal family betrayed the country. They became angrier than before. In the end, Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI were killed by the citizens.

Contrary to the assumptions, Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI did not use a lot of money compared to the other royal families. The real reason why the French government was bankrupt was because of the war against America and the long luxurious lives of many French royals. One could say that Marie Antoinette was hated by the citizens mainly because she was an Austrian woman.