Pre-Revolution France was dominated by an extremely powerful clergy and monarchical governments led by kings and aristocrats. This stranglehold on power, as well as this total control over economic assets, allowed the upper classes to prosper and prosper, even as the masses suffered from poor harvests and the after-effects of war (both "the war of Seven Years” and “the Seven Years’ War”). “American Revolution” had enormous economic impacts on France). Growing resentment among French citizens, coupled with a desire for equality and the ability to do more than survive, opened the door for the Social Contract to influence society.