Will's Greek History Timeline

The Mycenaean conquest of the Minoans- The Minoans were weakened by a volcanic explosion so the Mycenaean's conquered the Minoans and adopted much of their culture. The Mycenaean's wanted to take over the Minoans for economic gain as the Minoans were very rich and for territorial gain because the probably wanted the island of Crete as a base. The result was that the Mycenaean's conquered the Minoans and the Mycenaean's got rich because the Minoans were rich.
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The Trojan War was a war between the Greeks and the People of Troy. Paris caused the war when he kidnapped Helen, the most beautiful woman in the world. Helen happened to be the wife of Menelaus, the King of Sparta. This caused him to declare war on Troy. This would technically be economic gain because the goal was to take a valuable resource (Helen) back. The Trojan war was won by the Greeks when Odysseus came up with the idea for the Trojan Horse. It was where the Greeks acted like they had left and gave the Trojans a gift, a giant wooden horse. The Greek soldiers hid inside of the Horse and when the Trojans brought the horse in and went to bed, they got out of the horse and ransacked the polis.
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A group of people from the north who spoke Greek named the Dorians took over the Mycenaeans and the rest of the Peloponnese. The Dorians probably did this because they wanted more territory and/or they wanted their resources. The Dorian Invasion resulted in the fall of Mycenaean Greece. The impact that it had on Greece was beginning the Greek Dark Ages. This was a period of time where there was no writing. The Dark Ages began because the Dorian Invasion made Greece very poor and primitive. The Dorians won the war and the Mycenaean civilization was ended.
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This war was when the Spartan people needed more land for their people so they decided to take over their neighbor, the Messians. They took over the Messians and turned them into Helots or slaves. The population of helots now outnumbered the population of Spartan people. The purpose of this war was territorial gain, and the winner of the war was the Spartans

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The 1st Persian war was when the Achaemenid Empire of Persia invaded Greek city-states. The the Achaemenid Empire of Persia probably did this because they wanted more territory. Some famous battles were the Battle of Marathon which was won by the Greeks and sent the Persians running.
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The 2nd Persian war occurred about a decade after the 1st Persian war. This war was probably about the fact that the Persians wanted more territory or the Persians wanted the Greeks resources. Some famous battles were the Battle of Thermopylae, the Battle of Salamis, and the Battle of Plataea. In 480 the Battle of Thermopylae occurred. The Battle of Thermopylae was where the Persians decided to attack the Greeks via the pass at Thermopylae. The Spartans met the there but were killed until there was one man. A Greek fleet held the Persians off for a while which bought the Greeks time to Steel themselves. The Persians attacked them at Salamis in the Sardonic Gulf. The Greeks had a smaller fleet than the Persians but had an amazing Athenian general who lured the Persians into the tight straits of Salamis and hit the enemy very hard and they had nowhere to retreat to. After the naval defeat at Salamis King Xerxes returned home. He left a very gifted general in charge and the 2 opposing sides met at Plataea in 479 BCE The Greeks won with their superior hoplite and phlanx. Some famous people from this war were Leonidas (a general at the Battle of Thermopylae), Themistocles (The genius Athenian general who came up with the idea which ended up defeating the Persians), Xerxes, (Xerxes was the 4th king of the Achaemenid dynasty of Persia), Mardonius (The Persian general in the Battle of Plataea.
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The 2nd Peloponnessian War was the giant struggle between Athens and Sparta which engulfed the entire Greek world. The cause for this war was a preemptive war. Sparta saw Athens gaining power so they decided to attack them first. The war was fought between the entire Delian League and the entire Peloponnessian League. The Delian League was controlled by Athens and the Peloponnessian League was controlled by Sparta. This war was a war of allies and enemies. Athens had its allies and Sparta had its. The war was won by Sparta and resulted in the destruction of Athens.
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The Boeotian war was a series of battles primarily between Thebes and Sparta. This was caused by a long-standing rivalry which dated back to the Corinthian War. The cause of this war was probably a defensive war. Sparta probably saw Thebes getting more and more powerful and Sparta attacked them first. Sparta lost because Thebes was under 2 very capable leaders, Epaminondas and Pelopidas. Thebes was already the most powerful polis in the Boetia region but after this war, it became the most powerful polis in all of Greece. The result of this war was the start of the Theban Hegemony

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The Batte of Chaeronea was a battle between Macedonia which was under Phillip ||, a very shrewd leader who made the Macedonian army strong, and A coalition of Greek Polis's underneath Athens and Thebes. The cause of this war was territorial gain or economic gain. Macedonia eventually won and Greece was never the same again.
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Alexander the Great was the son of Phillip the 2nd from Macedonia. In 336 BCE Phillip the 2nd died and Alexander becomes king. In 335 BCE after Phillip the 2nd died the Thracians and Illyrians rose up in rebellion and Alexander subdues it. After he subdues the Greek City-States he plans a trip to Asia to conquer Persia. Alexander crossed Hellespont and Alexander lead the Macedonians against the Persians. The Persians retreat and the Macedonians march on. In 333 BCE Alexander solved the puzzle of the Gordian knot according to myth. In 332 BCE Alexander conquered Egypt and created the city of Alexandria which was meant to be the hub of Greek commerce and culture. In 331 BCE Alexander conquered Babylon after he and king Darius met in battle. in 328 BCE Alexander became runk and killed on of his closest companions, Cleitus. In 326 BCE defeated king Porus in northern India. In 323 Alexander died because of an infection. Alexander's influence began a new age called the Hellenistic Age which occurred because of the Greek influence that the world had. Alexander was able to create a giant empire. Alexander destroyed the Persian empire forever and did much more. Alexander the Great changed the course of history forever.
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