Iran-Iraq War Research Paper

The Byzantine-Sassanid War of 602-628 was the final and most destructive of the series of wars fought between the Byzantine Empire and the Sassanid Empire of Persia. The Iran-Iraq War of 1980-1988 was an eight year war between the republics of Iran and Iraq, making it the longest war in the 20th century. The Byzantine-Sassanid war and the Iran-Iraq war were fought over trade, because the warring governments handled the need for control over trade by fighting over the vital areas of the trade routes.
The Byzantine Empire was the predominantly Greek speaking continuation of the Roman Empire during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages.
The Sassanid Empire was the last Iranian empire before the rise of Islam, ruled by the Sasanian dynasty from 224 CE to 651 CE. The Sassanid Empire, which succeeded the Parthian Empire, was recognized as one of the main powers in Western and Central Asia, alongside the Roman-Byzantine Empire, for a period of more than 400 years.

The Silk Road was a series of trade and cultural transmission routes that were central to cultural interaction through regions of the Asian continent connecting the West and East by linking traders, merchants, pilgrims, monks, and soldiers from China to the Mediterranean Sea during various periods of time. It was the most important trade route at the time, and was very important to both empires.
The Silk Road was essentially the only source of trade during the Byzantine Sassanid war. The war was fought over the control over the Silk Road. The empire that got control over the Silk Road would control trade and be the most powerful. This made a race to get control over the Silk Road that resulted in the many battles that took place there.
Transoxiana is the ancient name ...

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...y. The conflict lasted for eight years and ended in a stalemate, and involved the use of chemical weapons and ethnic violence against Iraqi Shia Arabs, who were accused of colluding with Shia Iran.
The Shatt Al-Arab was an oil port that was fought over in the Iran-Iraq War. They fought over it to get the great wealth associated with it.
The entire war was fought for control over the oil trade. Saddam Hussein would have not invaded Iran if it were not for the trade benefits. The Shatt Al-Arab would not have been fought over if not for its use in trade.
These warring nations fought, centuries apart, over control of the vital trade routes. The winning nations were rewarded with great wealth and control over their trade industry. Both wars were incredibly similar, and although they occurred centuries apart, they were fought over the same reason: control over trade.