2019 Year 12 IB Extended Essays

states that the Athenians issued the decree “[as] an insult, cunningly crafted, because the Megarians

could not themselves avenge it in blood without breaking the Thirty Years’ Peace” (, 2012, 176,).

Athens’ attempt to infuriate Megara into violating the Thirty Years’ Peace by passing the decree,

further reinforces the central idea that the purpose of the decree was to aggravate the

Peloponnesians into starting a war while expressing the notion of Athenian supremacy to Sparta.

Also corroborating this idea, Gladstone Professor of Greek History - Tuplin, argues that the purpose

of the Megarian Decree was to also destabilise Megara and the Peloponnesians from within by

starting a revolution. Tuplin states that the purpose of the decree was “to put pressure on Megara as

to nurture internal revolt and external realignment” (1979, 306,). Implicit within this is that the

attempt by Athens to weaken Megara and the Peloponnesian League internally by trying to nurture

a revolt, encapsulates Athens’ desire for war as a destabilised Sparta would be advantageous to

Athens in the event of war. Consequently, the Megarian Decree was part of an extremely aggressive

Athenian foreign policy which was intended to instil fear into Sparta and the Peloponnesians which

then caused the Peloponnesian War due to Sparta’s fear of Athenian supremacy.

The Corinth – Corcyra Dispute

Athens had a massive influence on the affairs of fellow city states in the ancient Greek world.

Consequently, when Athens formed an alliance with Corcyra against Corinth, the Corinthians saw

this action as interference in their affairs and a violation of the Thirty Years’ Peace which caused an

immense amount of anti – Athenian sentiment to be generated from Corinth, which eventually led

to the Peloponnesian War. Thucydides states that Athens’ meddling in the affairs of Corinth was the

first grievance Corinth – a prominent member of the Peloponnesian League, had for a war with

Athens. Thucydides writes, that the Corinthians felt betrayed by Athens since “they had fought

against [Corinth] in a time of truce … and this [action against Corinth] was the first ground the

Corinthians had for a war against the Athenians” (LV, 93, 2014). Evidently, Athens’ meddling in

6 | P a g e