Peloponnesian War 431-404 BC - Essay Example

Peloponnesian war The war describes the rivalry and conflict thatexisted between Sparta and Athens. The conflict was so long that it lasted for almost three decades from (431-404 BC). The rivalry between Athens naval dominance and Sparta’s land dominance was a long standing issue. Athens led by Pericles since 445 BC had become a state of democracy with a foreign relations policy of occasionally intervening to assist local democrats. Sparta advocated for oligarchies and indeed was governed by it. Spartans resented the democracy, imperialism and cultural ascendancy of Athens. Division was evident especially due the two rival systems of alliances where neither could allow the other to be superior to the other. Sparta led the Peloponnesian league while Athens headed an empire of city-states Series of proceedings leading up to the war 454 BC, the Delian league treasury, was transferred to Athens. After two years, Athens which dominated the vast Mediterranean Sea naval alliance started treating the league members as subjects rather than partners. Sparta had initially rejected the proposal of formation of the league. Athens then began fighting short wars to force members who had any intentions of defecting from the league to stay and those who had already left to rejoin. 433 BC, Athens, signed a treaty with Corcyra (modern day Corfu) to provide mutual protection, the move was interpreted as an act of provocation by Sparta and its allies and the following year Sparta cancelled her treaty with Athens. 433 BC, Athens, banned trading activities with city-states allied to Sparta. Athens also introduced high taxes to other states that led to the weakening of the Delian league. Sparta then declared war to stop Athenian control and dominance. 431 BC, Spartans ally, Thebes, sent a contingent of soldiers to seize and control a town called Potidea. However, they failed and the soldiers were caught and imprisoned. The residents of Potidea put the advancing troop of 200 to death. A day later Athens sent a messenger to plead with the townspeople against such abrupt action but it was too late as it marked the beginning of a long battle, a war. According to Thucydides the immediate causes of the Peloponnesian war were the Corinthian opportunism. It all began when Corcyra and Corinth began disputing over Epidamnos; the dispute drew Athens and Sparta which lead to the formation of a powerful group of allies. As the initial dispute escalated another one sprung up over Potidea in northern Greece between Athens and Corinth. The squabbles began a free fall into deeper conflict. The Epidamnos and Potidea were referred as the short term causes of the war. There were also long term causes which led to the war and particularly, one was the growth of Athenian power. Athens impact and growing power worried the Spartans so much that they concluded the only way to tame Athens was to go to war and there was no other unusual other than war. By going to war, Athens and Sparta ended a 30 year peace period since the end of the undeclared war. Analyzing Thucydides account of the war, various conclusions can be drawn to light the way on the origin of Peloponnesian war. Most important was the issue of arbitration, Pericles stated clearly that the Spartans had refused to act upon Athens proposal to arbitrate their differences as advocated for by the 30 years of peace. Their refusal to come into concerted agreement would go ahead to indicate that indeed Sparta was provoking a war. The second factor was investigation, constantly, almost four times adversaries sent from Sparta tried to talk it out with Athens to find an amicable solution but the Athenians declined to negotiate. Thucydides was convinced that the war was inevitable and that the growth of Athenian power and the fear it inflicted on Sparta was the true cause of the war. Earlier, Athens and Sparta were powerful allies who had fought together during the Greco-Persian wars (499-449 B.C.). After the victory against the Persians (480-479 B.C), Athens and Sparta dispensed authority to the rest of the city states. The Athenians were not resting on the victory over Persia; they increased their fleet and started building an army. During the war, Athenian leader, Pericles depended on increased importation of foodstuffs into Piraeus port while sending the fleet to stabilize its maritime zone. Sparta’s strategy was ineffective; they did not succeed in drawing the Athenian soldiers out until they killed Pericles and nearly a quarter of his people. The Peloponnesian war was fought in several stages; the first stage was between (431-421 BC) and was known as the Archidamian war. Athens which was led by Pericles who would later be replaced by Nicias was successful until 424 BC. Athens carried out little raids on the Peloponnese by sea while Sparta destroyed sections in the countryside of Attica. The turning point was when Athens embarked on a raid into Boetia but was not successful. They also made errors and once again failed in their attempt to recapture Amphipolis in 422 BC. Athens then began to fear that allies would desert their camp due to their failed forays; this led them into talking their allies into signing a treaty that would allow her to keep her face, the treaty was, however, exempting two towns’ i.e. Plataea and Thrace. The treaty came to be known as Peace of Nicias. The second stage of the war was fought between (421- 413 BC). Athens formed a coalition with Corinth. However, Alcibiades stirred up trouble then betrayed Athens to Sparta and was subsequently exiled. Both Athens and Sparta tried to seek an alliance with Argos but after the battle of Mantinea where Argos lost most of her soldiers she no longer mattered although she finally joined the Athens camp. Another turning point was in (418 B.C.) when Athens attacked a neutral state in Aegean. The results of that aggressive raid led in the disastrous attack on Sicily (415-413 B.C.) where thousands of Athenian soldiers died. The leader of Sparta Brasidas outwitted the Athenians with expeditions in Northern Greece taking Athenian cities of Olynthus and Amphipolis. The battle was so intense where Sparta won, but Brasidas of Sparta and Cleon of Athens both died. The third stage was fought from (413-404 BC) and was known as the Decelean war. Alcibiades advised Sparta to invade Attica, which would result in them occupying the town of Decelea near Athens. Sparta established a permanent location at Decelea to encourage desertions and disruptions in trade. The Spartans took advantage of recent events and attacked Athens. Sparta was later joined by Persians who wanted to seek revenge. At this time, Athens continued to send ships and soldiers to Sicily to cut off Sparta’s food supply and to gain soldiers and resources to invade the Spartans. As a result, Athens lost her advantage in a naval battle to Corinthians and Syracuse. The lost dominance allowed Sparta to use gold from Cyrus to build her fleet and began to instigate trouble with allies of Athens in Ionia. In 405, BC Sparta’s leader Lysander ambushed and destroyed the Athenian taskforce at the battle of Aegospotami and in 404 BC Athens surrendered to Sparta unconditionally. The Spartans pulled down the walls of the city, destroyed their navy and prohibited them from ever having a naval force. Sparta had won the war of Peloponnesian. They also did away with democracy and replaced it with their own form of governance, oligarchy. Athens had fallen to Sparta. They exercised total control over the local and foreign issues of the Greek city states. The end of the war was the beginning of a new era known as the Spartan Hegemony, from (404-371 BC). During this time, many Athenians were killed and exiled. Sparta, in a bid, to exert dominance over Athens imprisoned Athens chief leaders replaced them with thirty tyrants. Exiled Athenian general, Thrasybulus overthrew the tyrants and took control of Athens. Those in power condemned fellow Athenians and confiscated their property. Democracy had been replaced with oligarchy. The war that lasted almost three decades left Athens bankrupt, exhausted and demoralized. Strife and unending battles among city-states fighting for power dominance plagued Athens. Families lost fathers, sons and brothers. The loss of people, effects of the plague and financial distress brought pain and suffering to Athenians. The loss of the war meant that most Athenians lost their overseas property since they conducted trade with other empires. They also lost income from tribute and taxes in excess of 1000 talents per year. In agriculture, the damage inflicted by the Spartans to farm stores and machinery during the invasion made the Athenian farms not to produce enough for its people. Animal husbandry suffered significantly during the war. However, olive production suffered only a small decline although the invaders cut down some trees that took long to replace since they grew slowly. During the civil wars of 403 BC, when various parties were trying to establish dominance in Athens, agriculture experienced noticeable disruptions. In this time, Athens imported more food than any other time in history. Economic loss was also felt when over 20,000 slaves deserted their masters and those that worked in the silver mines in the Attic. The mines did not regain their past glory. The collapse of the silver mines and the loss of preferential trade rights in the empire damaged the Athenian commercial interests. Lessons from the Peloponnesian war Self-interest first, and then appeal a sense of gratitude. Corinths condescending plea angered Athenians. They did not want to be held at ransom by old debts. Great tactics win you a war while good soldiers with poor tactics loose the battle. Pericles made poor decisions and employed poor tactics that led to the Athenians losing the war. Athenians had the best naval strength and did not capitalize on their capability towards weakening their opponent. Winning the first battle does not mean you have won the war. Despite the Athenians enjoying a good spell during the war (431-424 B.C.) they went on to lose the war. War victory comes with certain costs to governance and economy of the victor and the suppressed. Sparta reign was short lived, they failed to control and establish dominance of the empire when they were on top. They chose tyrants who steered Athens to its knees and they were weak to knowing that the power comes with responsibility. To win the battle, cohesion is paramount but to fight an opponent with all the stones at one place is disastrous. Pericles gave orders that farmers move into the city walls to guarantee safety. The congestion inside Athens became an easy target for the plague that killed Pericles and nearly a quarter of the citizens. References Donald K, New History of the Peloponnesian war, pp 364-365. Frankforter D, Spellman W, The west (2012), a narrative history, volume one, third edition Lawrence Trirtle (2004), The Peloponnesian war, pp.24-25. Souza de Phillips, The Peloponnesian War 431-404 BC, pp 19-28 Read More