Peloponnesian War Research Paper

The Peloponnesian war

Sources, A War Like No Other by Victor Davis Hanson.

Athens and Sparta fought the Peloponnesian war in Attica mostly, northeast of Peloponnesia, a peninsula named Attica. Athen's had territory in Attica, North of them, Beoetia and Thebes, allied with Sparta, and West of Attica, Corinth, North of Sparta. Due to Athen's aggressiveness, Sparta raided along the Athen's borders as a preemptive strike to antagonize them to start a war. They thought that Athens would then send an army, which would prove Spartan superiority and end the war quickly like most City state wars did. When they did not, Sparta started an invasion into Attica, burning and destroying crops to force the Athen's army out of the city. Sparta expected a short war with Athens, most Greek wars between City states ended quickly. The City states made armies, and fought on a prearranged spot and the best hoplite army would win. The

Peloponnesian war ended up entirely different, Instead of a quick war between 2 armies, got a 27 year war of sieges then leaving, then sieges again. instead of going out to a fight Athen's couldn't win, they fought from behind their city walls, and Long Walls stretching from one city, to the other. Sparta tried to siege Athen's many times but failed, Spartans were generally worse at a siege.
The Spartans made a strategy to chop and burn important crops, and starve the city. Athen's mostly imported everything they needed, protecting their trade routes with an unmatched naval strengh. Athens used this to their advantage raiding coastal cities which Sparta couldnt protect without a navy. Sparta thought that the allies of Athens would revolt, and cut off imports to Athens, and also that the people would revolt in the streets due to lacking food and a plague that spread throughout the city. Simularily to World War I, deaths from disease outnumbered those killed from the actual war itself. It took the Tactical mistakes in Sicily and the start of a spartan navy of Triremes, before the war ended. The fighting lasted before and after the War was supposed to be over, ending up with multiple ends to the war.
During the war Thebes tried to siege Plataea, but Thebes couldn't siege the city, and remained a stalemate.

Evantually a Spartan Army led by Archidamus to siege the tiny fort of Plataea arrived. The Army consisted of 30000 soldiers. First the Spartans built counter walls around the city, to protect against a variety of things including the weather. Then started building a ramp to get over the walls. The Plataean's responded by building higher walls, while digging underneath the ramp to lower it at the same time using a tunnel underneath it. Sparta did not have the resources to maintain an army at Plataea for long, and it became a race against time to take the city. The Plataeans started building a second wall, in case the first one failed. Soon Battering rams were made to break down the gate of the first wall, but the Plataeans responded with a crane-like defensive weapon, it picked up battering rams, and drop them to try and destroy it. In the end, Plataea got invaded due to spies on the inside opening the gates and allowing the army to take the

city.
The Peloponnesian War started many numerous Siege Tactics, Some used by the Roman's, greatly changing history. The war also shifted the balance of power betwean the major City states, at the end of the war Thebes commanded a military as powerful as Sparta, and soon more powerful. If there wasn't a war, even Present day would have been changed. The Roman Empire may have never existed because, with the power of these city states, Italy could have been conquered. Greece would have remained divided betwean city states and could have started a even bigger, more costly Peloponnesian War.
Although we don't still use Hoplites, Calvery, and Triremes, there are lessons from this war which can be used in present day. Athens has many similarities to America in many ways, They both used a Democracy, both built a strong navy for thier time, and both, are feared by some countries becouse of their spread of Democracy. This Started the Peloponnesian war in the first place. Will America have a simular fate.