The Peloponnesian war took place in the years 431-404 BC, and this was a military conflict in ancient Greece. The two opposing sides were Delian League led by Athens and the Peloponnesian League led by Sparta. It is important to note that contradictions had existed between Athens and Sparta for a long time. To a large extent, they were due to the different political structures of states. Athens had a democracy, while in Sparta, the power was in the hands of the oligarchy.
In the policies that entered into an alliance with them, both sides tried to approve a similar political system. Political contradictions were compounded by differences in origin, since the Athenians, like most of their allies, were Ionians, while the Spartans and, in turn, their allies, were mostly Dorians.
The Peloponnesian War can be divided into two most significant periods. In the first period, which is called the Archidamian War, the Spartans made regular invasions of Attica, while Athens used their advantage at sea to raid the Peloponnese coast and suppress any signs of discontent in their state. This period ended in 421 BC with the signing of the Peace of Nicias (Powell 341). The treaty, however, was soon violated by renewed skirmishes in the Peloponnese. In 415 BC, Athens sent an expeditionary force to Sicily to attack Syracuse. The attack ended in a crushing defeat for the Athenians, and the expeditionary forces were completely destroyed.
This led to the final phase of the war, which is also called the Ionian War (Liotsakis 80). In its course, Sparta, having received impressive support from Persia, built a significant fleet. This allowed them to help the Athens-dependent states in the Aegean Sea and Ionia, undermining the power of the Athenian state and finally depriving Athens of superiority at sea. The destruction of the Athenian fleet at the Aegean Sea did not leave the Athenians a chance to continue the war (Hamel 64). Therefore, in 404 BC, Athens surrendered due to the major ramifications of their defeat.
Works Cited
Hamel, Debra. The Battle of Arginusae: Victory at Sea and Its Tragic Aftermath in the Final Years of the Peloponnesian War. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2015.
Liotsakis, Vasileios. Redeeming Thucydides’ Book VIII: Narrative Artistry in the Account of the Ionian War. De Gruyter, 2017.
Powell, Anton. Athens and Sparta: Constructing Greek Political and Social History from 478 BC. Routledge, 2016.