Marie Antoinette was born in 1755, during the Seven Years' War, a global conflict that involved Austria, France, and their allies against Britain, Prussia, and their allies. The war ended in 1763, with significant territorial losses for France and Austria in North America and India. Marie Antoinette's marriage to Louis-Auguste in 1770 was part of an alliance between Austria and France to end their long-standing rivalry and to counter the rising power of Britain and Prussia.
Marie Antoinette was the queen of France when the American Revolution broke out in 1775, a rebellion of the British colonies in North America against the British rule. France supported the American cause diplomatically, financially, and militarily, hoping to weaken Britain and to regain some of its lost territories. The involvement of France in the American Revolution increased the financial and political difficulties of the French monarchy, and contributed to the discontent of the French people with the royal court and the aristocracy.
Marie Antoinette was the victim of a scandal in 1785, when a group of con artists and forgers managed to obtain a very expensive diamond necklace by pretending to act on her behalf. The affair tarnished the reputation of the queen, who was accused of extravagance, corruption, and adultery, and fueled the propaganda of her enemies. The affair also exposed the weakness and incompetence of the royal administration and the judiciary, and eroded the public trust in the monarchy.
The Diamond Necklace Affair
Marie Antoinette was the last queen of France before the French Revolution, a period of radical social and political upheaval that started in 1789 and ended in 1799. The revolution was driven by the demands of the Third Estate, the commoners, for more rights and representation, and by the influence of the Enlightenment ideas of liberty, equality, and fraternity. The revolution abolished the monarchy, the feudal system, the privileges of the nobility and the clergy, and established a republic based on the principles of citizenship and human rights. The revolution also involved a series of violent conflicts, such as the Storming of the Bastille, the Great Fear, the August Insurrections, the September Massacres, the Reign of Terror, and the Thermidorian Reaction. Marie Antoinette was considered as a symbol of the tyranny and corruption of the old regime, and was reviled and attacked by the revolutionaries. She and her husband were imprisoned, put on trial, and executed by guillotine in 1793.
