How did small countries in Western Europe develop?

World war was the main reason for the division of these countries. The direct reasons for the division of the Ottoman Empire, Tsarist Russia, Austria-Hungary, and possibly Germany and the Soviet Union are as follows:

1. Nationalist movements: Most of the "small countries" in Europe seen by the subject are In this type of movement, independent nation-states emerged from Turkey, Austria-Hungary, Tsarist Russia, and even the HRE. This incident had a direct impact on the fragmentation of the European territory. Specifically, the major achievements of the nationalist movement in Europe include the independence of Italy, the independence of Greece, the national liberation of the Balkans, and the independence of the Soviet Union after the disintegration of the Soviet Union. It can be said that the "fragments" seen by the questioner are "It's all caused by this kind of movement. National liberation movements are still going on today, such as Scottish independence, Ukraine and Russia. Behind many of these movements were the European powers, mainly Britain and France, whose targets were basically directed at the Eastern Empire. The external causes of this type of incident are naturally the decline of the old empire and the decline of the power of the central government, the influence of the external economic environment, and the support of various countries' policies; however, the internal causes are more complicated and I have not fully understood it yet.

Second, the decline of the old empire model: As I said before, these small countries are basically the products of the disintegration of modern European empires. The large multi-ethnic empire model is no longer suitable for the development environment of modern Europe. . This conclusion is specifically reflected in the following phenomena:

1: The organization within the empire is looser than that of nation-states. Sometimes the central government has to rely on local forces to assist in its rule. Such an organization can not only maintain imperial rule, but also Accelerate the disintegration of the empire.

2: Empires with larger territories often have numerous agricultural industries and their ancillary industries. In the face of the productivity of industrialization, this economic structure with agriculture as the main body lacks efficiency, resulting in the market being occupied by industrial countries.

3: The production method of the old empire also produced some landowning aristocrats. When the government tried to carry out reforms, these aristocrats or gentry often acted as a conservative opposition force.

4: Rely on old-style noble warriors. The old-style army composed of local soldiers lacks combat effectiveness. Compared with modern countries that implement standing troops, the combat effectiveness that can be mobilized is smaller.

Not all empires have all the above shortcomings, and not all empires are old-style countries similar to those in the Middle Ages. But to become an empire, it is certain that it must rule a vast territory, and this determines the basic All empires in the world are multi-ethnic countries, and cracks between nations basically exist. As long as there are cracks, cracking is just a matter of the amount of pressure exerted.

Third, the impact of war and foreign policy: I would like to make an analogy on this point. The questioner can think of countries like Tsarist Russia and Turkey as a brick, just the red bricks on the construction site. When the war started, two bricks collided. What was the result? The questioner can see a lot of fragments, and these "small countries" are these fragments.

To give a few examples: East and West Germany, North and South Korea, Inner and Outer Mongolia, and China on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. I won’t go into detail on this point, as the questioner also understands.

In the long history of Europe, the forces on the European continent have basically had the "Roman Dream" until World War II.

1. Some countries once had The land, however, was occupied.

For example, the Vatican City originally occupied a large amount of land in Italy. However, during the unification of Italy, the land was occupied and it became a pocket country. There is also the State of the Knights of Malta, whose original territory was in Malta and was If France occupies it, it will become a country without a land.

2. Some countries are within the territory of other countries, such as San Marino. Your aviation and sea ports are all in Italy, and you only have 20,000 people. No influence at all.

How did small countries in Western Europe develop?

The education level is high, and the university penetration rate leads the world.

It has a vast territory, sparsely populated areas, and abundant resources

The social atmosphere is good and the gap between rich and poor is small. The rich are willing to bear heavy taxes to subsidize the poor, which avoids the stagnation and regression of productivity caused by social unrest.

Europe industrialized early and had developed science and technology.

The West does take advantage. After all, the entire modernization process comes from the West, so these small countries are equivalent to a free ride.

It is easy for a big country to become strong, and for a small country to become rich, this kind of multi-million-person A country can become rich by concentrating its efforts on a few advantageous industries. A big country needs all-round development.

The country attaches great importance to scientific research and foreign trade. For example, Switzerland relies on banks and tourism. Switzerland skis and escapes the summer heat.

The whole of Europe benefited from the colonial expansion of the Age of Discovery. How much did the two teeth bring in gold and silver? How can a small country like Belgium with millions of people not be rich if it has a colony of millions of square kilometers? Only those in Eastern Europe who did not make it are more miserable

Per capita income of the four Nordic countries It is higher than the United States. It is a developed country among standard developed countries. In terms of international competitiveness, Finland has surpassed the United States several times and ranked first in the world. These four countries are all world-famous clean and efficient countries, and their income gap is very small. country, so it has always been the most suitable country for people to live in and has a very high happiness level. GDP means nothing, especially our GDP, which basically only has negative effects. China's comprehensive national strength is just a scale advantage, and many technologies are far inferior to those of these developed countries. Many countries do not need nuclear weapons at all, but it is not because they have no capability. It is very easy for developed European countries to acquire nuclear weapons, but people are not willing to waste money on nuclear weapons that are completely useless.