Europe Series - The Outbreak of the Peloponnesian War

The so-called "Peloponnesian War" should be precisely the "Peloponnesian-Athens War" (the ancient Greeks also defined it in this way). Because the very famous "History of the Peloponnesian War" in Western history records the war in the 20 years from 431 BC to 411 BC, the so-called "Peloponnesian War" War", also referring to this time period, the war between Athens and Sparta. But in fact, as early as 460 BC, when the Delian League and Persia were still at war, the conflict between the two sides had already occurred.

Although the peace treaty between Athens and Persia was not signed until 449 BC, in fact, before 460 BC, the Delian League had already occupied an absolute advantage in the Aegean Sea and made the city-states of Asia Minor including Ionia (Greece) gained independent status. The reason why the war is still going on is more because Athens hopes to expand its sphere of influence to other Mediterranean regions with its own maritime superiority. To this end, the Delian League even sent naval expeditions to Egypt and Cyprus under Persian control several times between 459 and 449 BC.

For Athens, "liberating" Cyprus, Egypt, and even Phoenicia from the Persian Empire would greatly expand its trade circle in the Mediterranean. However, it turned out that Athens' hand was a little long. In other words, in terms of the strength of the Athens and the Delian League, this is still not possible for the time being. So, after a decade of trying, the two sides finally found a geopolitical balance in 449 BC.

From the point of view of the Spartans, they would have been very happy to have the firewall of Athens and the Delian League. Judging from their previous performance, the Spartans were also more concerned about their interests in the Peloponnese. However, as one of the two hegemons of Greece, the overly powerful Athens is bound to affect the interests of Sparta. The most direct consequence is that the strength of the Delian League makes some non-Aegean city-states also want to join. It should be said that the voluntary participation of these city-states is more out of consideration of interests. Because the "Delos League" is essentially a geo-economic circle, an organization similar to today's popular "free trade zone". This also made the city-states covered by the Delian League finally reached about 200.

If the city-states attracted by the Etilo League were only city-states outside the sphere of influence of Sparta, then the conservative Spartans would not have much reaction for the time being. However, in 460 BC, a city-state called "Megara" (also translated "Migala") switched from the "Peloponnesian League" to the "Delos League", but it really touched Sri Lanka. The interests of the Badas. Soon, the Spartans began to go north to the Attica Peninsula, ready to teach the Athenians a lesson.

Everyone locates the location of "Megara" on Google Maps, and you will understand why the Spartans can't sit still (usually I will use the translated name that can be used to find the location and information on Google and Baidu). We know that the Attica peninsula and the Peloponnese peninsula are connected by a long and narrow "Isthmus of Corinth". The city-state that controls the western half of the isthmus (connected to the Peloponnese) is called Corinth; and the eastern half of the isthmus is called Megara.

Although the interests of the Spartans are on the Peloponnesian Peninsula, it is reasonable for Athens to control half of the Isthmus of Corinth from the perspective of geographical structure (the Attica region where Athens is today, including Megara), but The problem is that the Peloponnesian League had previously covered the entire isthmus by virtue of its land superiority. The infiltration of Athenian power into the Isthmus now is tantamount to setting a bad example for the rest of the League. If the Peloponnesian city-states follow suit out of the needs of their own interests, then Greece will no longer be a bipolar world, but a superpower.

This round of conflict between Athens and Sparta, which lasted for fifteen years, can also be regarded as the "First Peloponnesian War". In general, at this stage, neither side intends to expand the war. After all, during this time period, the threat of Persia to the whole of Greece still existed. The Athenians did not want to consume too much energy in the infighting, and the Spartans also believed that Athens also had the role of a firewall. Finally, in 446 BC, Athens and Sparta signed a 30-year peace treaty, respecting each other's alliances. As the fuse of the conflict, Megara also returned to the Peloponnesian League.

However, the so-called "one mountain cannot accommodate two tigers", when the threat of the Persians is no longer, and the power of Athens continues to strengthen (Athens has turned the Delian League into the "Athens Empire"), the balance between the two alliances will eventually be balanced. Still can't go back to the previous state. The Spartans, who increasingly felt that they were marginalized in Greece, had to find a way to weaken the power of Athens if they could not find a way to expand their sphere of influence.

In the face of the already established "Athens Empire", the Spartans trapped in the Peloponnesian Peninsula, if they want to launch a full-scale war, they must find a "third-party force" that can threaten Athens as an alliance. In 431 BC, the opportunity Sparta was looking forward to finally appeared, and this geographical label that appeared as a "third-party force" was "Thebes" that had been ignored by the two giants of Athens and Sparta.

The geographical sphere of influence of Thebes, "Boeotia", and the geographical contradiction between him and Athens, we have already learned about it in the Hippo War. After the Battle of Plataea, as an ally of the Persian Empire, Thebes naturally became the object of liquidation. In terms of Athens, of course, they really hoped to erase Thebes from the geopolitical map of Greece. In this case, the entire Attica Peninsula would become the sphere of influence of Athens (and Sparta, Obviously it is impossible to directly control Boeotia). However, such a result was not in the interests of Sparta. Therefore, the Thebes finally surrendered conditionally after being surrounded by the Greek coalition for 20 days.

It turns out that the Spartans were right in their decision to keep Thebes. When Athens was on the sea, the Thebes also accumulated their strength in Boeotia, and looked forward to one day turning the "two-power struggle" in Greece into "Romance of the Three Kingdoms". The so-called countries have only "eternal interests" and no "eternal friends". From this point of view, the Spartans are still very strategic. At the very least, when they allied with Greece against Persia, they had realized that one day the Thebes would eventually become their allies against Athens.

In 431 BC, the full-fledged Thebes, along with its Boeotia allies, captured Athens' faithful ally, Platia, and in June of that year crossed Mount Kisero and launched an attack on Athens itself. At the same time, the Spartans also began to move north out of the Isthmus of Corinth to encircle Athens. The Peloponnesian-Athens War, which lasted nearly three decades, officially broke out.