Dating back to 449 BC, Sparta and Athens have always had an alliance, but as time passed that balance slowly began to fall apart as each felt threatened by the other. Before any instability was seen, the Spartans and Athenians had a close partnership. Starting from the period following their dominance in the Persian War, the two states slowly became aware of each other's growing power. More time passed and the Spartans began to become aware of other states, feeling wary and paranoid towards them (Fox, 170). No state was particularly responsible for the tension over the peace treaty, nor for the war, which occurred during the development of the two states. Eventually the two states had clashed enough and declared war. Even though the Spartans gave the Athenians a chance to back down and temporarily stop the war, the two states would never be equal, their allies resented each other too much. The growing desire for power was destined to take over sooner or later. In the end, after 7 years of difficult tension, Sparta could no longer wait and declared war on Athens (Fox, 167). Although the Athenians and Spartans lived together in peace for so long, they existed in a fragile balance that would eventually lead to war. Although the Spartans and Athenians fought for almost 20 years, there was a time when they lived in harmony. Nearly 15 years before the Troubles began, Athenians and Spartans fought together in the Persian War. During the Persian War, the Spartans prospered in the fight against the Persians, but over time the Persians began to grow stronger. After losing their series of battles, the Athenians stepped in to aid the Spartans and end Persian rule once and for all (The Delian League, 1). After defeating the Persians in 449 BC, the...... middle of paper... each other until they no longer existed. From the Persian war to the Peloponnesian war, the two states had changed for many years. Starting from their greatest alliance and the first moment of subtle rivalry, the Persian war. Although they competed indiscriminately against each other, without each other they could not have dominated. Then there were the two blows to the peace treaty. The first blow was Athenian help in the battle between Corinth and Korycra. The second blow was the idea of ​​burning the city of Corinth. Although these were notable errors, the Athenians saw nothing wrong with them. Finally, there was the war. In 431 BC the Peloponnesian War broke out between the two allies and, after all they had been through, their alliance was over. War was bound to break out, even if they lived in peace for so long, one or the other was bound to break out.