... general, took over the government. Background. Various social, political, and economic conditions led to the revolution in France. These conditions included much dissatisfaction among the lower and middle classes, interest in new ideas about government, and financial problems caused by the costs of wars. Legal divisions among social groups that had existed for hundreds of years created much discontent. According to the law, French society consisted of three groups called estates. Members of the clergy made up the first estate, nobles the second, and the rest of the people the third. The peasants, who earned very little, formed the largest group in the third estate. The third estate also included the working people of the cities and a large and prosperous middle class made up chiefly of merchants, lawyers, and government officials. The third estate resented certain advantages of the first two estates. The clergy and nobles did not have ...

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