Greek Wars
Persian Wars, Delian League, Peloponnesian Wars, etc.
Delian League
The cause of the Delian League was that all of the Greek city-states wanted to come together and create a treasury that could be used in the time of war. Athens would collect taxes from all of the city states that wanted to participate in the League, and save them all up to use in case of war. This was in reaction to Persia having attacked them, (the Persian Wars) and was a precaution.
Athens used the Delian League to rebuild temples destroyed by the Persians in war. Basically, they used the money they collected like a bank uses your money. They took it out sometimes, invested in other things, and collected more money from the things they invested in. Then, they would return the money to the bank, or in this case, the Delian League. In this way, they were never abusing the money they collected for the wrong reasons, only borrowing it.
Athens controlled and stored the money being put into the savings account, even though other city-states had other resources better fit for the job. Athens refused to spread the money among different city states, and used it as a loan for many inventions (much like a bank), they would always pay it back.
The effect of the Delian League is that Sparta resented Athens for being controlling over the money, and this caused Sparta to attack Athens.
The Delian League was important because if would fund Greece in the event of a war, which is ultimately extremely helpful to them and will save a lot of lives that would have been lost due to lack of battle supplies or necessary medicines. Also, because the Spartans were getting angered that the Athenians were collecting all of the money, and therefore getting rich. This led the Spartans to attack the Athenians.
A map of the regions in the Delian League
A Euro
Temple of Hephaestus
Persian Wars
The cause of the Persian Wars was that the Greeks were aiding the Turkish rebels, whom the Persians were trying to take over.
There were three important wars during the Persian wars: The Battle of Marathon, Thermopylae, and Salamis. The Greeks won the Battle of Marathon with the advantage of surprise, and consolidation. The Greeks also won the battle of Salamis with their small, agile boats and their clever strategy to lure the big Persian boats into the narrow strait. The Greeks did not win the Battle of Thermopylae because a Greek traitor showed the Persians a pass through the mountains. After discovering this pass the Persians were able to attack the Greek army from behind and with the war.
However, the movie "the 300" is based off of this event, because the 300 Spartans were able to hold off 20,000 Persians for 3 days, killing approximately 2,000, an amazing achievement.
The effect of the Persian wars is that Greece remained independent from the Persians, and their power begins accumulating, helping them develop more sophisticated inventions which would be of great use later on.
The Persian Wars were important because had the Athenians lost the Battle of Marathon, the Greeks would have come under the rule of the Persians, and all Greek culture from that point on would have been lost, therefore would never have impacted Western Society so greatly.
Below is the Battle of Thermopylae.
Peloponnesian Wars
The cause of the Peloponnesian Wars was Athens not sharing the money of the Delian League. The Spartans got mad at the Athenians for controlling and storing the money of the savings account. The Spartans believed that since the savings account held so much money, the money should be split apart among the other city-states for fairness and safety.
The Spartans won because the Spartans were better at fighting, and the people who fled from the Spartans had no where to stay at the city. Half of the population of Athens was reduced by illness (hunger), and war. So Athens surrendered to Sparta.
The effect of the Peloponnesian War was that Athens surrendered to Sparta, and that Sparta destroys a lot of Athenian farmland. It also divided the Greek city-states and made it possible for another empire to invade.
This is important because the Peloponnesian Wars caused all of the Greek city states to divide. This made it possible for another empire to invade, and take over Greece.
Alexander the Great
Alexander, son of King Phillip, was brought up loving Greece, because of his tutor, Aristotle. Aristotle taught Alexander to appreciate Greece culture and admire everything about it. Alexander took over the throne at the young age of 18. He continued the legacy of his father, who was aiming to conquer as much land as possible for Macedonia. Alexander the Great served as king of Macedonia from 336 to 323 B.C. During his time of leadership, he united Greece, reestablished the Corinthian League and conquered the Persian Empire. The Peloponnesian Wars divided and weakened the Greek city-states. After his father died, Alexander finished taking over Greece. Because of Aristotle’s teachings of Greece and its culture, Alexander let the countries he conquered keep their cultures, and spread the Greek culture throughout his empire. This is important because, without Alexander the Great the Greek culture would never have survived. All of the their greatest achievements would have been lost to history.
Below is a map of the land conquered by Alexander the Great, expanding the Macedonian Empire.