Was the Peloponnesian War a failure of diplomacy, ideology, or realpolitik?
Sources (assume everything is a direct quote):
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Peloponnesian War
Total War between Athens (Delian League) and Sparta (Peloponnesian League), with later support from the Persian Empire
Goal: hegemony over Ancient Greece
Results:
- Sparta victory
- dissolution of the Delian League
- Sparta hegemony over Athens and its allies (Greece)
- Hegemony - predominance over something
- Delian League’s democracies replaced with Spartan-style oligarchies (including Thirty Tyrants in Athens)
- Destruction of cities and countryside: poverty widespread in the Peloponnese
- Athens was economically devastated and never regained its pre-war prosperity
- End of the golden age of Greece
- Hegemony did not last
- Athens regained independence in the Corinthian War
- Sparta’s power continued to fall
Locations: Greece, Asia Minor, Thrace, Sicily, “fought in the Eastern Mediterranean.”
Comprised of 4 related conflicts:
- Ten Years' War (Archidamian War) (431-421)
- Spartan king Archidamus II invaded Attica with his army
- Spartan invasions of Attica
- Athenian raiding of Peloponnese
- Athens upper hand at Sphaceria
- Athens major defeat by Thebes at Delium (424)
- Rebellions on both sides
- Peace of Nicias (signed 421)
- Argive War (419-416)
- Proxy war between Sparta and Peloponnesian rivals (led by Argos, supported by Athens)
- Proxy War - when at least one of the belligerents is supported by third power
- Argive alliance defeated at Mantinea (418)
- Spartan control over Peloponnese
- Proxy war between Sparta and Peloponnesian rivals (led by Argos, supported by Athens)
- Sicilian Expedition (415 and 413)
- Athens attempt to conquer Spartan-allied Syracuse
- Defeat for Athens, destruction of most of its navy
- Decelean War (Ionian War) (413-404)
- Sparta allied with Persian Empire
- Persia captured Athenian cities in Asia Minor
- Sparta (led by Lysander) built Persian-financed fleet to break Athen’s naval superiority
- Sparta wins battle of Aegospotami (405) Delian League dissolved
- Ten Years' War (Archidamian War) (431-421)
“The History of the Peloponnesian War” - Thucydides
- First hand accounts
- Begins several years before the war, explains why it began
- Yearly events
- Incomplete (ends in 411)
- Thucydides
- Athenian
- Fought in early part of the war
- Exiled in 423
- Settled in the Peloponnese
- Spent the remainder of the war collecting sources and writing his history
- Reliable and neutral
“Hellenica” - Xenophon
- Continuation of Thucydides text immediately after the final sentence
- 40 years after end of war
- Favorable to Sparta
- Xenophon
- Born in Athens
- Mercenary
- Fought in the Persian Empire for Sparta in Asia Minor, Thrace, and Greece
- Exiled from Athens
- Retired to live in Sparta
“Bibliotheca historica” - Diodorus Siculus (books 12, 13)
- Shorter account of entire war
- Based heavily on now lost “universal history” (Ephorus)
“Parallel Lives” - Plutarch
- Character and morality of major commanders in the war
Diplomacy - conducting negotiations between nations
- How many times was peace broken? Who broke the peace? Why did they break the peace?
- handling affairs without arousing hostility
Ideology - manner or the content of thinking characteristic of an individual, group, or culture
- Rebellions mentioned on both sides
- How did this weaken both sides?
- Rebellions mentioned on both sides
Realpolitik
- Only background knowledge I have is the word being used as some sort of meme response. I never researched it.
- conducting diplomatic or political policies based primarily on considerations of given circumstances and factors, rather than strictly following ideological, moral, or ethical premises (wikipedia)
- Like maybe sometimes breaking or amending the rules is okay in times of chaos or disorder?
- “A way of dealing with politics that places ideology [and associated moral values] second to practicality” (u/nyanlol)
- Practicality - in practice or action : not theoretical or ideal, useful
- Pragmatically - dealing with the problems that exist in a specific situation in a reasonable and logical way instead of depending on ideas and theories
- Looking at the broken peace. Was it morally/ideologically supported by their society to break the treaty or was it just because the opportunity presented itself and would benefit the alliance (realpolitik)
- Every nation is fundamentally selfish, and nobody cares all that much about abstract ideals like democracy or religion or moral values or anything else (u/sonicsuns2)
Idealpolitik - guided by moral principles or ideals
Gefühlspolitik - driven by and appeals to emotion or popular sentiment