How Did Athens Cause The Peloponnesian War Essay

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Athenians Caused the War “It is a common mistake in going to war to begin at the wrong end, to act first, and wait for disasters to discuss the matter.”– Thucydides, Greek historian. “History of the Peloponnesian War” The Peloponnesian War took place between Athens and Sparta during 431-403 BCE. War remodeled the entire Greek state. The Athenian empire, which was considered the stronger side of the two, was reduced to a vulnerable slave of Sparta. After the war Sparta was over the state of Greece. The war destroyed the economies and brought sufferings to the state. Throughout the war many events like Athens growing in power, bullying of allies and neutral cities, and their refusal to negotiate with each other’s allies along with plague were to blame. Following the Golden age Athens increase in power alarmed Spartans. They feared allies would fall due to their power driven economy. Pericles persuaded Athens’s assembly to take hard line to Spartans demand on easing …show more content…

Spartans allies Corinth and Megara started to complain about Athens. Corinth tried to be convincing about attacking Athens but Sparta decided to try and negotiate first. Negotiating didn’t help because Athenians were to head strong and did want to back off of their authority. Athens naval power was also growing day-by-day endangering the bordering states. After Sparta’s attack the Athenians surprised them by launching a huge naval expedition against their allies in far-off Sicily. The Persian king then stepped in offering to help Spartans build a navy to defeat Athens. When they invaded Pericles advised a 2-pronged strategy to win. First use the navy to raid lands of Sparta and its allies and second to avoid large infantry battles with superior land forces of Spartans. Soon after plague struck in 430 BCE and killing Pericles the next year caused them to become weak and an easy

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