Part 11 - The appearance and construction of Democracy - childhood to maturity in Greece

The movement to a new version of democracy was based on a partnership between the political clubs and some intellectually sophisticated aristocrats. The clubs provided the terror tactics to crush opposition and the aristocrats developed a new constitution.

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Part 10 - The appearance and construction of Democracy - childhood to maturity in Greece

Without question, the period of 460 - 430, discussed in the prior three Posts, were one of most important and influential periods in European history. Democracy had come of age, a powerful empire was created, and there was a golden age of cultural development and transformation. However, trouble had continued to brew….

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Part 5 - The appearance of Democracy - birth and infancy in Greece

As in other city-states, in the 7th century BC Athens was controlled by a small group of wealthy families. Unsurprisingly, the social unrest in the Greek world discussed above occurred in Athens as well. A precipitating event took place in 632 BC. Cylon, a nobleman, attempted to establish a tyranny.

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Part 4 - The appearance of Democracy - birth and infancy in Greece

Given the changes outlined previously, the centralized aristocracy system came under significant pressure for changes in the structure of power and societal administration. As is often the case with those holding entrenched power, the aristocracy did not respond well.

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Part 2 - appearance of Democracy - birth and infancy in Greece

Democracy has been described as “one of the rarest, most delicate, and fragile flowers in the jungle of human experience”(Donald Kagan, Pericles). “It has been a fleeting phenomenon in the history of government and has lain outside the experience of the vast majority of the peoples of the world down the ages.

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