Download The Peloponnesian War. - Norwell Public Schools

Sample of Well-Developed Student Answers to the Questions
Asked about the short film on “The Peloponnesian War.”
Question 1.) Who was Thucydides and how is he important to
the history of the Peloponnesian War? Why was he
Thucydides was a general for the Athenian empire in the
Peloponnesian War and was considered to be important and
extremely great military leader. Thucydides grew up in the
suburbs of Athens with prosperity and wealth. He was
considered to be important to the history of the Peloponnesian
War because he was a general commander, he was there for his
people, and survived the War. Additionally, Thucydides was
considered a great historian because he was very logical,
thorough, interested, and was actually there. In conclusion,
Thucydides was a magnificent, strong, powerful leader for the
people of Athens during the Peloponnesian War and he
continues to be recognized throughout today's history as a
skillful historian.
Question 2: Explain the Delian and Peloponnesian Leagues.
What were the main causes of the war between the two
leagues?
The Delian and the Peloponnesian Leagues were two groups of
allies that were run by the Athenians and Spartans. The Delian
League was founded and ran by the city-state of Athens, while the
Peloponnesian League was founded and ran by the Spartans.
Athens and Sparta were both the most powerful allies in their
leagues. The Peloponnesian League had most of the City states of
Main Greece as their allies. The Delian League had the islands in
the Aegean Sea and much of the coast of Asia Minor. Before these
leagues were formed, the Spartans and the Athenians made a 30
year peace treaty, meaning that until the 30 years were over, Sparta
and Athens were “allies”. Though the Athenians were constantly
gaining power, and the Spartans were worried that Athens would
not follow through with the peace treaty. The main cause of the
war between these two leagues was that Athens was being greedy
with their power. They were forcing smaller and weaker city states
to become apart of the Delian League, and did not let city states
leave. Athens also attempted at expanding their empire, and went
into war. Sparta was also nervous about the Delian League
possibly over powering part of the Peloponnesian League. During
the year 433 b.c. Athens banned trade with Megara, a member of
the Peloponnesian League. This angered Sparta and its allies, and
both leagues prepared for battle. This was known as the
Peloponnesian War, and it broke out in 431 b.c., and ended in 404
b.c., after lasting for 27 years. In conclusion, the Delian and
Peloponnesian Leagues were two groups of allies that were
responsible for causing the Peloponnesian war, due to reasons such
as stopping trade.
Question #3 Why was Sparta getting nervous about Athens? What
major insults occurred between the two? What was the 30-year peace?
Explain the bully behavior of Athens.
During it's lifetime, the Athenians were always at war with Sparta
and during the Peloponnesian War, Athenians used a "bully"
behavior towards all city/states in Greece. Sparta were the
toughest city/state in Greece. They had one major rival city/state,
the Athenians. The Spartans were not afraid of anything,
however, eventually the Spartans became nervous and
concerned because the Athenians had lots of power and wealth
which gave them control. The Athenians had a vast Maritime
Empire and controlled most of the land in the Aegean and much
of the coast of Asia Minor. Athens was growing richer and more
powerful and they used their wealth as an excuse to be "bullies"
to other city/states. In 465 B.C.E, the helots of Sparta tried to
revolt against the slave owners, so Sparta called in many
warriors from lots of city/states to help them. The Athenians tried
to help with a large amount of soldiers, but the Spartans would
not let them help because they thought that with such a big army
they could over through Sparta. This was one of the many insults
that the Athenians used. Another insult that went on in 449
B.C.E. was the Megara and Corinth Conflict. The were both
members of the Peloponnnesian League and were eager to gain
control of the main land. Athens formed an alliance with Megara
and joined the fighting. The result was a fifteen year long
struggle between the Athenians and Spartans which some called
the first Peloponnesian War. This battle was completed in 445
B.C.E and next came The 30 Year's Peace. That was an
agreement between the Spartans and Athenians that they would
not mess with each other's separate empires. The terms of this
agreement were too much to much for the Athenians to handle.
So for the next fifteen years, the Athenians began to have a
"bully" behavior. They crushed destroyed revolting city/states,
they fought with Corinth for control of the Aegean Islands, they
began a decent against Sparta's allies, and in 431 B.C.E., the
world could not handle this behavior anymore, which started the
Peloponnesian War. It was the Athenians against the Spartans,
the Peloponnesian League, the King of Macedon, the Emperor of
Persia, and even their own allies. In conclusion, throughout the
years, the Athenians used a "bully" behavior which none of the
city/states could handle and that worried the Spartans that began
the Peloponnesian War.
Question #4: Who was the strongest leader for Athens? What was
his plan to protect Athens? What problems were there with this
plan?
The strongest leader for Athens was Pericles. Pericles was a ruler
of Athens who fought in the first Peloponnesian War. Pericles was
sure that the 30 Years Peace would not last long, so in order to
protect Athens, he built a long wall around it, which connected to
Piraeus' port. He did this so Athens would still be able to get food
and water from Piraeus, while Sparta could not get through. Now,
Athens behaved as an island, and no matter what Sparta did outside
the walls, Athens was still safe. The navy kept Piraeus safe,
therefore Athens could hold out in long battles. The navy also was
useful for defending against the Spartans and fighting the Spartans,
for it could transport the Athens army to many places quickly and
year-round. However, there were problems with Pericles idea. One
of them was that sickness could spread quickly because of the
hundreds of people in tight quarters, which weakened the
Athenians. For example, in the first year of the war, a plague swept
through Athens, killing around 30,000 citizens, including Pericles,
which drastically damaged Athens, finding no way to correctly
fight the war, with no unity connecting them. Because of Pericles'
death and Athens' inability to connect themselves, it cost them the
war.
Question #5: What happened after Pericles death? Explain the
term “demagogue.” Who was the worst demagogue for Athens
and why?
In the video the "Peloponnesian War", the ruler Pericles died from
a plague that swept over Athens. After Pericles death whiteout a
leader the democratic Athenians found it impossible to prosecute
the war effectively. Demagogues rose to power and fell back. A
demagogue is a leader who follows the people, instead of leading
them. A demagogue tell the people what they want to hear and
tries to keep them happy so they will be reelected, know we call
these people politicians. Unlike demagogues Pericles taught the
people, he reasoned with them, and he encouraged them to reach
their full potential. The worst of the demagogues was Alcibiades,
he could work up a crowd like a pro. Alcibiades encouraged the
Athenians to abandon Pericles plan to not expand the empire. He
made an ambitious plan to Sicily, which was struggling to fight of
an invasion from Syracuse. He lead the expedition himself, but
when the Athenians called him back he defected to the Spartans
and betrayed all of Athen's plans. He switched several times and
for a while worked for the Persians. Eventually the city-states lost
their trust to him and killed him. He was only one of the long list
of demagogues. The Athenians still followed his plan and kept on
loosing ships to the Sicilians, until they had a few ships left. In a
year the Athenians expelled all the tyrants and recreated their
democracy, but the Spartans and the Athenians were to worn down
from each other that they could not be rebuilt, fully. After the
Peloponnesian War both the Spartans and Athenians had to bow
down to their fellow Greeks, then the Thebans, and finally the
Macedonians. In conclusion the Peloponnesian War was hard for
the Athenians after Pericles death and then finally the Spartans and
the Athenians weakened themselves until another city-state took
over.
Question #6: What led to the final collapse of Athens’ power? What
struggles did they encounter and what great errors did their politicians
make?
Athens was an amazing city state that would eventually become
a bully to city states around them. Many city-states even in their
own alliance of the Delian League made enemies with Athens.
Some of these areas include Sparta, Persia, Macedonia, the
Peloponnesian League, and their own allies. Athens became
very Greedy with their power and money so they bullied smaller
city states. Athens had built a wall connecting Athens to their
port. Athens was preparing for the Peloponnesian War. The
leader of Athens Pericles had built the wall to make sure the
Spartans could not attack Athens. Athens had accessibility to
their ports which meant that they could import food. This meant
that if Sparta had burned their field sit would not matter.
However, Pericles did not think that when thousands of people
are put in a small space diseases spread. A plague swept
Athens and killed 30,000 Athenians. Pericles also perished from
the plague. Athens could not keep one member in power for long
without switching their leader. A demagogue named Alcibiades
rose to power and destroyed Athens navy. Alcibiades wanted to
send Athens navy to attack Sicily who was already defending an
invasion from Syracuse. Alcibiades kept sending naval ships to
Sicily even though they were getting defeated. Alcibiades was a
trader and traded sides many sides between Sparta, Athens, and
even Persia. Alcibiades was later killed by the three areas.
Athens no longer had a main leader and kept switching in power.
The Athenians still kept fighting even though they continued to
lose. The Athenians made constant fails. At the Battle of
Arginusae the Athenian naval generals retreated do to a storm.
Athens killed some of their best naval leaders and they were
doomed. The following year Athens surrendered and Sparta took
control of Sparta. Athens was an amazing city state that started
democracy but domed them selves from their own greed.