Content tagged with Greek civil war. It would only end with the fall of the colonels’ dictatorship in 1974. Thus, the Athenians had the stronger navy and the Spartans the stronger army. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. The fighting engulfed virtually the entire Greek world, and it was properly regarded by Thucydides, whose contemporary account of it is considered to be among the world’s finest works of history, as the most momentous war up to that time. The Peloponnese has always been staunchly royalist and anti-communist, more vehemently so as one goes farther south. The third and final Greek civil war … This only lasted for one year, however, as the local Athenians overthrew the tyrants and restored democracy. The Spartans also suffered reverses at sea. Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. Greek Civil War, (December 1944–January 1945 and 1946–49), two-stage conflict during which Greek communists unsuccessfully tried to gain control of Greece. This article was most recently revised and updated by, https://www.britannica.com/event/Peloponnesian-War, Ancient History Encyclopedia - Peloponnesian War, Ancient Origins - The Peloponnesian War: Intrigues and Conquests in Ancient Greece, Peloponnesian War - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11), Peloponnesian War - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up), Ancient Greek civilization: The Peloponnesian War. Credit: The State Archives of the Republic of Macedonia / Commons. The years of fighting that followed can be divided into two periods, separated by a truce of six years. Diplomatic efforts to resolve the dispute failed. The Spartans famously defeated Athens in the Peloponnesian War between 431 and 421 BC and later established colonies around the Greek world. Read More on This Topic Greece: Civil war and its legacy The first elections since the … The liberation struggle of the Greeks began in 1821 in the Peloponnese, and the Greek state was established in 1830. The first major war between Athens and Sparta is often called the Archidamian War after Sparta's King Archidamus II. Greek Civil War Memorial, Sightseeing in Galaneika, Argolis, Peloponnese, Greece, By the Sea. In 428 they tried to aid the island state of Lesbos, a tributary of Athens that was planning to revolt. Urged on by the demagogue Cleon, the Athenians voted to massacre the men of Mytilene and enslave everyone else, but they relented the next day and killed only the leaders of the revolt. At the end of 411 the rebuilt Athenian navy, fresh from several victories, acted to restore democratic rule. The Athenian alliance was, in fact, an empire that included most of the island and coastal states around the northern and eastern shores of the Aegean Sea. The uncertain peace was finally shattered when, in 415, the Athenians launched a massive assault against Sicily. The first period lasted 10 years and began with the Spartans, under Archidamus II, leading an army into Attica, the region around Athens. The imprisonment of the military leader from Peloponnese was part of the first civil war between 1823 and 1824, during the peak of the Greek revolution. The decisive battle was fought and won in the port of Pylos on its western shore in 1826.. After a period of economic hardship following World War II and the Greek Civil War, the Peloponnese now has a thriving tourism economy. Pericles declined to engage the superior allied forces and instead urged the Athenians to keep to their city and make full use of their naval superiority by harassing their enemies’ coasts and shipping. The early successes of the Greek fleet in direct confrontations with the Ottomans at Patras and Spetses gave the crews confidence and contributed greatly to the survival and success of the uprising in the Peloponnese. The decisive event was the catastrophe suffered by the Athenians in Sicily. Many were from the Peloponnese, and had collaborated with the Nazis. Agnountos Monastery, Sightseeing in Galaneika, Argolis, Peloponnese, Greece, By the Sea. Athens and Sparta had fought each other before the outbreak of the Great Peloponnesian War (in what is sometimes called the First Peloponnesian War) but had agreed to a truce, called the Thirty Years’ Treaty, in 445. The next year, starved by an impenetrable blockade, Athens capitulated. The Greek Civil War (Greek: ο Eμφύλιος [Πόλεμος] o Emfýlios [Pólemos], "the Civil [War]") was fought from 1946 to 1949 between the Greek government army, backed by the United Kingdom and the United States, and the Democratic Army of Greece (DSE), the military branch of the Greek Communist Party (KKE), backed by Yugoslavia and Albania as well as Bulgaria. Think sprawling olive groves, and … The events that led to renewed hostilities began in 433, when Athens allied itself with Corcyra (modern Corfu), a strategically important colony of Corinth. A second period of prosperity came under the Romans – for whom this was an outpost in the south of Greece, with the Máni never properly subdued. The "long walls" of Athens were around 4 ½ miles long each. Our latest episode for parents features the topic of empathy. He took part in many battles against the Turks and sided with the government when the civil war erupted in 1824. 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