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    Essay On Greek Unity - 20 Mark

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    Essay On Greek Unity - 20 Mark

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    Essay on Greek Unity - 20 mark

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    Essay On Greek Unity - 20 Mark

    Uploaded by

    saffaya3

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
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    Essay on Greek Unity – 20 marks

    How much evidence is there of Greek unity during the Greco-Persian


    Wars? You may use Sources A and B as a starting point, you should
    justify your response.

    In the beginning, Greece was incredibly disunified in all ways, all states were
    for themselves and were going to fight on their own agenda, however after
    much arguing and hesitation they decided to come together and fight the
    Persians as one in Salamis. In all honesty, the Greeks really had no choice since
    the Persians had gathered the largest army and many hundreds of ships.

    Themistocles realised that the Greeks could not gather enough troops in time
    to fight the Persians and their many warriors, therefore with much deliberation
    he convinced the Athenians to construct a fleet of 200 triremes, with money
    from a silver mine in Attica. Achieving unity was no easy task when word got
    around that Xerxes was indeed planning an invasion of the Greeks. By the time
    the Persians were reaching the mainland, half of the Greek states had already
    surrendered to them fearing whatever consequences could occur if they did
    not. This shows a sense of cowardice from the Greeks, and not at all unified in
    any shape or form.

    However, for the sake of unity, Themistocles agreed to serve under Eurybiades
    even though he had far more knowledge and experience in this realm. In order
    to prevent the Persian army from moving down Greece's coast, the Hellenic
    League used both its land and marine forces. The army would close off
    Thermopylae's narrow pass, while the navy would close off the Straits of
    Skiathos. The Persian army would have to flee once it ran out of supplies if the
    Persian navy could be kept separate.

    Themistocles now deceived Xerxes with a clever trick. He dispatched a trusted


    slave into the Persian camp, claiming that the Greek navy was in disarray and
    about to abandon its position. Xerxes bought the story and sent his fleet into
    the straits. Expecting the Greek navy to retreat, the Persians were caught off
    guard and rammed by the Greeks. Many attempted to flee, but their path was
    cut. Between 200 and 300 triremes were lost. Xerxes then exacerbated the
    situation by executing some of his fleet's captains for cowardice. Many of the
    other captains were enraged, and they sailed their ships back to Egypt and
    Phoenicia. Olmstead asserts that this, together with the defeat at Salamis,
    denied Xerxes access to his fleet and prevented him from invading the
    Peloponnese.

    Many of the Greek states were terrified of fighting and wanted to hide away to
    protect themselves from whatever was coming. Furthermore, many of the
    states had no trust in each other, showing us that they were all separated and
    disunified. Although once the battle began, for the sake of survival they all did
    come together and fight, then later formed the Delian league. Despite the
    evidence found beforehand, this shows us a completely opposite side to the
    Greeks and shows that they are united on all fronts in situations where it is
    vital.

    All in all, although we see that Greece is entirely disunified there is evidence
    and a valid reason as to why they won in the Greco-Persian and that they are
    unified in some respect. The Greeks won the Persian War for several reasons,
    including superior weapons, better leadership, a stronger sense of purpose
    than the Persians, and better use of Greece's unusual environment. These
    elements, though, wouldn't have been enough if the Greeks had broken apart.
    Herodotus expressed it plainly when he declared that the Greeks battled to
    defend their nation whereas the Persians fought out of fear of retribution. This
    explains their remarkable degree of unity.

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