Compare the Persian Wars and the Peloponnesian War. What were the causes of each? What did these wars mean for Greek city-states?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

The Persian Wars were a result of the expansion of the Persian Empire into the Ionian colonies of Western Lydia. The Athenians supported the states that revolted because these Greek colonies were essential to the food sources for the agriculturally mediocre Greek poleis. The interference of the Athenians brought the wrath of Darius the Great and his determination to defeat the Greeks, as well as to expand into the European continent. In the initial series of battles, initiated by Darius but finished by Xerxes, the city-states of Greece were able to unify and set aside individual polis differences, form a united opposition enhanced by Spartan land troops as well as Athenian naval forces, and defeat the Persians in 479 B.C.E. The Peloponnesian War arose from the abuses of power as Athens formed an empire from the smaller protectorate poleis, an imperial strategy that was opposed by Sparta and its allies and incited a war among the Greek poleis, rather than in opposition to an outside threat. The inability of Greece to effectively unify and its insistence on the sanctity of the individual polis ultimately undermined its position and made it vulnerable to attack from without.