Athens Vs Sparta

"I doubt seriously whether a man can think with full wisdom and deep convictions regarding certain of the basic international issues today who has not at least reviewed in his mind the period of the Peloponnesian War and the Fall of Athens." George C. Marshall. The Peloponnesian War that took place from 431 B.C. to 404 B.C., as George C. Marshall said, is one of the most important wars in the last 2,500 years of history. The war changed the expansion of democracy for the rest of history and forced the remaining Greek states to adapt a form of Oligarchy government instead of Democracy. At the end of the Peloponnesian War, Sparta's army defeated the Athenian navy due to it using its overwhelming strengths and overcoming its weaknesses. Sparta made excellent use of its three main strengths--its army, its allies, and its oligarchic system of government--in its war with Athens, and gradually overcame its most critical Achilles heel--its navy. In themselves, however, Sparta's actions would not have been sufficient for victory had the Athenians followed the strategy laid out by Pericles.

First, I will look at one of the strengths of Sparta, which is its powerful military, the only professional standing army in Greece during this time. The Spartan's oligarchy system was based upon an agrarian economy that allowed the Spartans to raise their own food. This allowed them to build a military state, with the social structure of a fighting class that recruited for the military at the age of seven and learned how to fight for 13 years before entering the military. The hoplite army was a dedicated professional army that allowed the Spartans to train for war on a continuous basis. The Spartan army was known specifically throughout the entire region for their red cloaks and deliberate advance at a walk to the music of flutes, gained a reputation of military ferocity and maintained military supremacy on land. One of Sparta's centers of gravity was their army that was based upon hoplites and helots, which was a form of slavery; the citizens could