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Increasing Hostilities between Athens and Sparta - Coggle Diagram
Increasing Hostilities between Athens and Sparta
Peloponnesian League vs. Delian League
The Peloponnesian League
a military alliance of states within the Peloponnese (and a few beyond) led by Sparta
The states of the Peloponnesian League, along with Athens, had formed the backbone of the earlier Hellenic League
Because of its leadership of this league, Sparta had been the most powerful state in Greece
The Delian League
After the Persian Wars, many of the cities in Ionia felt vulnerable to Persian attack and so sought protection from Sparta or Athens
The Spartan general, Pausanias, alienated these states and so Athens emerged as their champion - allying Athens to all the Greek states on the coast of Asia Minor
In 477 all of these states and Athens met on Delos and the Delian League was formed, where each city would either contribute ships to a combined navy, or pay tribute for the upkeep of it
The Hellenic Treasurers who collected this tribute annually were established on Delos, and all meetings were held there
The exact reason for the formation of the League is unknown:
perhaps the Athenians always intended to turn the alliance into an empire which they controlled
Maybe their intention really was to launch revenge attacks on the Persians
If a city wanted to leave the alliance, Athens became oppressive. Naxos wanted to leave in 470 but the Athenians besieged the island and forced it back into the alliance
Sparta scared of Athens 😱
Helot Revolt
Sparta was struck by a terrible earthquake which gave the helot population an opportunity to revolt, and they appealed to the Hellenic League for support
The Athenians were called in but were then suspected of developing sympathies for the helots so were asked to leave
This was an insult and in 461, Athens broke off its treaty of alliance with Sparta made through the Hellenic League, and instead allied with Argos - Sparta's long-term rival
The Megarians defected from the Peloponnesian to the Delian League
Over the next 15 years, there was more conflict, especially between Athens and Corinth, where Athens was generally successful
The Long Walls
In 458,the Athenians decided to build long defensive walls joining their city to their two harbours at Piraeus and Phaleron
The walls allowed goods and citizens to pass in safety from Athens to the sea, and meant that the Athenians could not be cut off from their trade routes and their navy by an enemy siege
Moving the Delian League Treasury
In 454/3, the Athenians took the decision to move the treasury of the Delian League from Delos to Athens, maybe due to concern that the Persians would attack again
However, some think that the Athenians just wanted an excuse to move the treasury
This confirmed that the Delian League had turned into the Athenian Empire
Pericles supposedly spent money from the treasury on his building programme instead of on military defence