Pertanyaan

Read the text and answer the question! King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette ruled France from 1774 to 1789, a time when the country was fighting bankruptcy. However, the royal couple did not let the situation limit their excessive spending. Even though the minister of finance repeatedly warned them not to waste money, they continued to spend great fortunes on their personal pleasure. This lavish spending greatly enraged the people of France. They felt that the royal couple bought its luxurious lifestyle at the poor people’s expense. Marie Antoinette seemed uncaring about her subjects’ misery. While French citizens begged for lower taxes, the queen embellished her palace with extravagant works of art. She also surrounded herself with artists, writers, and musicians, who encouraged the queen to spend even more money. While the king and queen liked to have huge feasts at the royal table, many people in France were starving. The French government obliged the citizens to pay high taxes. When the minister of finance tried to stop these royal spendthrifts, the queen replaced him. The intense hatred that the people felt for Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette kept building until it led to the French Revolution. During this time of struggle and violence (1789-1799), thousands of aristocrats, as well as the king and queen themselves, lost their lives at the guillotine. Perhaps, if Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette had reined in their extravagant spending, the events that rocked France would not have occurred. The text above mostly discusses ....