>>211940036This is a bullshit map. Northern Europeans (except Anglos) are extremely collectivistic, see Nazism, Prussian militarism, the Law of Jante, etc. They are the 'I killed those children in a gas chamber because I was ordered to' types, the exact opposite of individualism
>>211936670 (OP)I can't speak for Eastern Europe, but in Russia's case, the key factors were: 1) Extremely low urbanization (only 3–5% urban population). 2) Restricted access to higher education: Universities were scarce, and the Tsars banned attendance for anyone outside the aristocracy (≈0.5% of the population). Even aristocratic males often pursued military careers instead of academia. 3) Deliberate suppression of education: Building schools in rural areas was resisted to maintain control. By the early 20th century, literacy rates were below 15%, compared to ~99% in Western Europe.
The Soviets later mismanaged the economy with central planning but excelled in STEM education. They rapidly advanced in fields like mathematics, aerospace, and nuclear physics, nearly matching the West in chemistry and aviation.
If a Swedish king had banned college for 99.5% of the population and blocked school construction, Sweden would’ve been backward too.