12. Marie Antoinette helped persuade the French King to intervene on behalf of the Americans during the Revolutionary War
The role of Marie Antoinette during the American Revolution is usually disregarded. She used her influence, both with her husband and in his court, to encourage broadening French intervention in supporting the Americans against Great Britain. Marie’s interests in politics were shaped by her having been born into the ruling family of Austria. Intrigues in the French court over the geopolitical situation in Europe and the Indies factored into all French royal decisions. Nor was she officially consulted by the Ministers of the King. Nonetheless, she was an early and fervent supporter of the American cause, chiefly as a means of weakening the position of France’s ancient enemy, Britain.
Marie Antoinette was by no means the only French woman who actively lobbied for French intervention in the American Revolution. The wily Benjamin Franklin cultivated relationships with several, in the process securing donations of money sent to America, and the support of their husbands among the French ministers. Most of the women who supported the American cause in France lost their fortunes, homes, and many of their lives during the subsequent French Revolution. Among them, and perhaps most famously, was Marie Antoinette, who died after the French revolutionaries beheaded the King who had been persuaded to aid America.