Causes & Prevention of War
P. R. Goldstone, Special Lecturer

The Peloponnesian War: The History

I. BACKGROUND

A. The Greek City-State (polis) system
1. external autonomy
2. common civilization: religion, language, social linkages
3. increasing domestic strains: population, governance, economics
4. imbedded in larger system: Persia, greater Mediterranean
B. Alliances:
1. defensive vs. symmetric
2. variation in hierarchy, ideological/ethno-national component
3. polarization
C. Nature of military power:
1. naval vs. land: shift in balance, while ultimately asymmetric?
2. relationship between format of military power and political structure
            a. peculiar case of Athenian empire
            b. even more peculiar nature of Spartan power
3. systemic shift due to economic transformation (?)
II. PHASES OF THE WAR (BIG PICTURE)
A. 480 BCE: Greece vs. Persia
B. 460-445 BCE: Athens vs. Sparta, Round 1 (First Peloponnesian War)
C. 431-421 BCE: Athens vs. Sparta, Round 2 (Thucydides)
D. 415-404 BCE: Athens vs. Sparta, Round 3
E. Parallels between WWI, WWII, Cold War sequence?
 
III. CHRONOLOGY

A. The Greco-Persian War: Athens acquires an empire

B. Round 1: Sparta-Athens War of 460-445-- we know relatively little

C. Round 2: Origins of the Crisis and the Beginning of War: sparks in the gas pool

1. Epidamnus, 433 BCE. Corinth grab for colony of neutral Corcyra--who go to Athens for help: snowballing local dispute in a fragile balance of power

2. Potidaea, 432 BCE. Revolt within Athenian empire and Corinthian assistance to rebels, in violation of Thirty Year Peace

3. Megara, 432 BCE. Athens imposes an economic embargo throughout its empire on Megara, a Spartan alliance-member occupying a key strategic site who had made common cause with Corinth's actions

D. Sparta's Decision for War
1. Sparta notes the growth of Athenian power and its amassing of empire
2. Corinth plays the role of provocateur and lies to Sparta
3. Sparta employs several "official stories" for pretext for war
E. The Death of Pericles and the Rise of the Hawks in Athens (Cleon the demagogue and boy evil genius Alcibiades); Death of Archidamus and the Rise of Brasidas in Sparta--dysfunctional domestic politics, blowback effects?

F. Growth and Later Contraction of Athenian War Aims

1. Athens' victory at Sphacteria and refusal to then accept peace on original terms
2. Athens' later defeats at Delium and Amphipolos, and finally a truce: Peace of Nicias, 421-415 BCE
G. Round 3 Beginnings: The Truce Breaks Down

H. Destruction of Melos: Bandwagoning Beliefs and Its Tragic Consequences

I. Athenian Expedition to Syracuse:

1. overextension, over-confidence, expansive war aims, Alcibiades
2. strategic dis-integration
3. Egestaean deceit and manipulation of Athenian perceptions
4. Nicias: dysfunctional domestic politics
J. Catastrophe and Ruin: Destruction of the Syracusan Expedition (413 BCE); Athens Survives Anyway, Until 404 BCE: Pyrrhic Spartan Victory--Real Winner: Persia!