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=Let's Learn About The Peloponnesian War!!! =

**A summary:**

 * In 431 BC, Greece was not a nation but rather a collection of city-states. Some of these city-states decided to side with Athens, who had a great naval power, while others chose Sparta, who had a really large army. The Peloponnesian War was all about these two alliances going to war with one another for 27 years. The war got its name from Peloponnesus, the peninsula on which Sparta is located on. The aftermath of the war left Athens crushed, ending the maritime empire that had been created. Also, all of the city-states were weakened greatly (which eventually led to the Macedonian takeover many years later). Historian Thucydides wrote a detailed account of the war upon which much information was found. **
 * In 421 BC the Peace of Nicias pact was signed between Athens and Sparta. Only a decade later, Athens broke the truce as it wanted to expand its growing empire. Athens tried to attack Sparta's supply of food, but failed. Sparta then eliminated Athens's navy through a series of rebellions. Persia helped Sparta with these attacks. The war is commonly separated in three phases: ten years of intermittent fighting followed by an uneasy truce, the Athenian assault against Sicily, and the destruction of Athens’ navy. During the last phase Athens took a great casualty toll, and the city-state barely recovered. In fact, by 411 BC Athens’ democracy was temporarily overturned and set into a political turmoil for years. Athens tried to rebuild its fleet while Sparta and its allies made their own navy. But in 405, The Spartan navy, under Lysander, defeated Athens in the battle of Aegospotami. The next year Athens surrendered. The war had ended. **



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