With her hands tied, the girl sat in an open cart, enduring the insults of the crowd and accepting the objects thrown at her. She remained calm even though she knew that her life would not be long.
When the cart carrying the girl was almost there, she realized: her death was inevitable. She could not escape.
Finally, this girl was killed on October 16, 1793, at the height of the French Revolution.
It all happened because of four words:
"Let them eat cake."
This is a lie.
Marie Antoinette was born in Vienna, Austria, as the daughter of the ruler of the Hapsburg Empire. To improve relations between France and the Austrian Empire after the Seven Years' War, her mother offered Marie's hand in marriage to Louis XVI.
He was still young, fourteen years old at that time.
The French people did not approve of the marriage—some opposed the alliance with Austria; others disliked Marie Antoinette for trivial reasons.
Because many French people were against it, the cumulative effect of even small things was obtained. Marie Antoinette had spent a lot of money. She finally got revenge from various parties, even though all the money was allocated for the common people. Populist propaganda exaggerated Marie's spending to ridiculous extremes. This made the people even more angry.
At the time of the executions, there was little sympathy among the French common people. They were thirsty for blood, and they got it.
People said that Marie Antoinette didn't care about the poor, that she was the worst excess of the French monarchy, quoting her famous line, "Let them eat cake." In fact, Marie never said those words. Rumors began to circulate throughout society, about different nobles from the late 1660s.
Despite popular misconceptions about Marie Antoinette, Marie certainly did not hate the common people. She had given charity freely, built a shelter for unwed mothers, visited poor families, and provided food and money. In addition, Marie was willing to sell royal objects. This was done to provide grain for poor families. Lastly, she had also adopted orphans.
This can all be overlooked when history books portray her as a foolish, indifferent queen. It might be easier to wish for the death of a selfish, heartless girl. Rather than a sympathetic, generous girl who spent a lot of money on the poor.
"Let them eat cake" were the words that sealed Marie's doom, which was not even hers. Standing on the guillotine , and prepared to die, Marie Antoinette finally had to accept her fate. Her white dress was blown by the gentle breeze; in that moment, she did not cry, protest, or scream. Without wasting any time, the guillotine blade was dropped.
And, with a sickening thud, the real reign of terror had begun.
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