The cause of the peloponnesian war that lasted for more than twenty years.

The cause of the peloponnesian war that lasted for more than twenty years.

The cause of the Peloponnesian War is generally considered to be the contradiction between politics and economy. But obviously, this expression is too vague. Such a rough description does not give any practical answer, so what is the cause of the Baltic-Pennisetum War?

Here I will briefly introduce two popular sayings to you.

The first view comes from the famous Thucydides, which has been recognized in official history for thousands of years. According to Hugh's extremely neutral account, the real cause of the war was completely covered up by many superficial illusions. In order to defend the distant but powerful Persian empire, the leaders of Athens tried their best to unite the surrounding city-states to form the so-called Tyrol Union. But in fact, this alliance didn't play a role against Persia, but gradually came under the control of the Athenians, and later it even became Depth Charge with its maritime expansion. Therefore, it has aroused the sense of crisis of other non-union maritime countries. Moreover, in Hugh's neutral expression, there is a vague feeling between the lines: the Athenians are quietly devouring the sovereignty of other city-states in the alliance. So this is a war that no one wants to happen, but it is imperative. Sparta was forced to declare war.

The second view is relatively more unofficial history. This argument claims that a woman from Persia, Pericles's second wife, is behind the war. His lover, to be exact. Because according to the relevant laws of Athens, their marriage is not protected by law. This woman runs a brothel called "Happy House" and has a dispute with other city-state brothels 70 kilometers away. For these trivial matters, she instructed her husband to publicly denounce other sovereign city-states in the alliance, which led to the intensification of contradictions among all parties and eventually the outbreak of war.

These are the two main viewpoints about the causes of the Peloponnesian War at present.

The peloponnesian war process

The peloponnesian war began in 43 BC1year and ended in 27 years. This is a war between the allies and the hostile allies in Athens, Europe. The war lasted intermittently for more than twenty years, and finally the allies led by Sparta defeated Athens and won.

During this period, Greece experienced reforms and was in an era of democratic development. The development of Athens once reached its peak. But this protracted war consumed the power of the country and Athens began to decline. The Peloponnesian War was also the turning point of Athens from prosperity to decline. The scale of the war was unprecedented, almost all Greek cities were involved in the war, and the battlefield spread to all Greek-speaking countries. Therefore, it is also called the European War. This was the first time that it was recorded in detail and objectively, which had a far-reaching impact on Greece. After this war, the model of democratic political reform in Greece was also replaced by the Roman Empire.

There are always two stages in the process of the Peloponnesian War. In the first stage, the Athens League and the Spartan League were in the confrontation stage, and the two sides signed a contract. In the second stage, the main battlefield of the war became Sicily, and Sparta formed an alliance with Persia. Although Athens defeated this alliance, the subsequent defeat exposed the economic recession of Athens. In the final struggle, Athens, which has always been famous for its powerful navy, lost in the battle of Yanghe, and Sparta succeeded in dominating the Greek world.

Because of the huge scale of the war at that time, every member country had to choose to join one side. The scene of the war was fierce, and all the participants tried their best to join the war. War has affected the whole human society in a sense.

The result of the peloponnesian war

The end of the democratic political system represented by the Athens city-state was one of the results of the Polo-Benessa War. The hegemony of Macedonians in this land is the result of all forces, including the distant Persians. Next, the author will briefly introduce some other information about the outcome of the Peloponnesian War for readers.

Within Athens and its allied city-states, the most direct result of the war was a sharp decline in the number of citizens and a depression in political participation. According to the revised city-state law, only adult men in the state are eligible to become citizens. Specifically, only when both parents were born in the polis can a father become a citizen. Once the qualifications are established, while enjoying various rights, they must also undertake obligations such as military service, participation in politics, and voting.

The city-states have been fighting for more than 20 years. Under the civil service system in Athens, the citizens must suffer the most. It is possible to stimulate or make up for it in other ways in a short time, but for such a long time, the Athenians have no time to recuperate and regain their energy. Thus, the emergence of professional soldiers was born. Although this temporarily solved the problem of Athenians' lack of manpower on the battlefield, the contradictions within the polis still exist.

It takes time to train a qualified citizen. The training results under the circumstances of internal troubles and foreign invasion are inevitably not as good as the usual careful teaching. However, the actual environment is completely contrary to the education received by the new generation of citizens. Under democratic politics, people have not lived a peaceful and prosperous life, but have been fighting for years and losing ground. This will inevitably dampen the enthusiasm of the new generation of citizens for participating in politics.

Finally, the polarization between the rich and the poor in Athens was unprecedented at that time, and many former citizens had to become slaves in order to make a living.

These are the results of the Peloponnesian War.

The influence of the Peloponnesian War

The influence of the Peloponnesian War is complex and far-reaching. Here, the author does not intend to make a macro exposition of it, but intends to make a micro but concrete mapping from the military aspect. Provide you with a new cross-section to see the leopard in the tube and figure out its great influence.

Before the war, both sides had their own strengths in military technology. One is a typical land country. Although he has strong army strength and land experience, he knows nothing about naval warfare. Not only does it not have its own warship, but it can't even sail in the wind and waves.

One is a typical maritime country, with a large number of technologically advanced warships and rich experience in maritime operations. But Sparta came from behind and was defeated at sea.

In military strategy, the means of both sides emerge one after another. Athens carried out a large number of military immigrants in advance and preserved land, personnel and other equipment, which was a strategic reserve of materials. Sparta, on the other hand, played hard to get, gained the upper hand in public opinion and launched a war under the slogan of democracy and freedom.

As far as strategy is concerned, neither side has put forward a particularly influential war theory. More is the innovation of tactics and tactics. For example, digging rivers, flooding cities with seawater, burning cities and digging tunnels are all new tactics in this war. During this period, many famous cases appeared. For example, Persia and Athens used cipher communication, but it was deciphered by Spartans.

In addition, due to the decades-long war, on the one hand, soldiers were badly consumed and needed to be replenished, on the other hand, citizens suffered huge losses, and the civil service system in Athens could not be continued, leading to the emergence of professional soldiers.

Finally, Persia is the biggest winner of this war. Only because of its internal reasons, Macedonia finally dominated the region.