Speeches and Propaganda of the Peloponnesian and Persian War

... Propaganda and stirring speeches made by the leaders of Athens convinced their citizens that going to war made sense and that they should come up in arms and support their country. In this paper, we are going to look at the differences in speeches and propaganda used in the Persian War and the Peloponnesian War and what the speeches reveal about the city/states' reasons for going to war. ... there was a rebellion in the Persian Empire. ... These ships managed to destroy a major Persian city, but Athens lost interest and soon returned home. ... This began what is known as the Persian War. It grew to become a war that soon threatened to put all of Greece under Persian control. Soon Sparta, a neighboring city/state of Athens and many other Greek city/states joined in the fight to stop Persian aggression. It took over eleven years, but Athens and the rest of Greece finally was able to quell the attacks of Persia and came out the victor of this war.

Speeches and other propaganda had a very large impact in the Persian war. ...

This speech to people truly shows Athens and their allies' true motive for going to war, which was self-defense. ...

A marble tablet, serving as a monument in Athens, was also used as propaganda during the war. This tablet, known as The Troizen Inscription, was there to tell the gods the plans of the upcoming war, to give tribute to the Troizen people and to show the plans of the distribution of people. ... " This is basically meaning for all Athenians not to question the military power, but just to support their country in this time of need against the evil Persian Empire. ... "

After the Persian War, Athens became very powerful and wealthy. ... This war, called The Peloponnesian War, actually fell into two periods, separated by a six-year truce. ... Soon Athens had to surrender to Sparta, ending the Peloponnesian War.

In this war, getting reason for people to fight was much different than with the Persian War. The Persian War was about one thing, survival. ... In this war, Athens took just as much the offensive as Sparta. Convincing the people to back this war would not be as easy as the last. Combating this, leaders of Athens took a much different approach in their speeches and writings this time around, which was able to convince the people to fight for their state. ... Overall, he is telling his people

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