why is eastern europe poorer than western europe?

However, most central and eastern European countries have been gradually converging towards western Europe countries over the past few decades after the transition to market economies, the introduction of democracy, and the formation of the European Union. One difference is that Eastern European countries were part of the Soviet Union for decades while Western European countries had more independence during this period. Required fields are marked *. As its name suggests, Eastern Europe is the eastern part of the European continent. The vast majority of people in Eastern Europe speak a Slavic language. The Western European region is very much advanced in its economy. All findings are based on data from the German governments 2019 report, as well as the Centers recent survey. In either case, you'll still be spending money on the military and on military research. I dont have a policy lesson here: simply an observation that the United Kingdom has one really rich region (Greater London) and quite few relatively poor regions. Many East German businesses are part of western German or foreign corporations.. You can think of that as being much like a baseball team that hires better players to win more games, but in this case, instead of coaches, it's political leaders and instead of games there are wars. Spain has more high-speed rail tracks than any other European country. Austria-Hungary is partially to blame. Max Weber Fellow in Social and Political Sciences, European University Institute. Also Austria and Hungary drained ressources from the other areas (Bohemia being one of the few parts that was actually rather well off with a lot of industry). Lets get back to whether people in places such as Denmark (or anywhere else in Europe) enjoy more prosperity than their American counterparts. It's also a sign of prosperity that, when they do earn American dollars, foreigners often choose to invest those funds in the American economy (remember, the necessary flip side of a "trade deficit" is a "capital surplus"). 2. Long-run growth matters. Byzantium, so long as it had Anatolia, could essentially produce gold at will, and was really the only European power to have actual cities as we understand them. The book also reminds us that in a world where there are hostile powers, we really don't want to get rid of spending on improving military technology. Made it more difficult for lasting civilizations. - Definition & Laws, What Is Medicare? A thousand years ago, no one would have ever expected that result, for at that point western Europe was hopelessly backward. | Thomas Sowell 6,459 views Aug 4, 2022 Thomas Sowell Explains how geographical differences between Eastern and Western Europe played a key. Just take any economic, social map and overlay it with the iron curtain map and you will understand what it's actually about. The rest of Europe at that time was really no wealthier than China, the Middle East, or South Asia. Five of the six states in the former East Germany with the exception of the city-state of Berlin had lower per-capita productivity in 2018 than the West German state with the lowest per-capita productivity, Schleswig-Holstein. They are languages that descend from Latin, the language of the Romans. I feel like its a lifeline. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. Most people in western Europe speak at least two languages, one of which will be English. Europe Climate Zones & Classifications | What Is the Climate In Europe? This tool measures the stringency of efforts to control the virus on a scale of 0-100, with 100 being the most restrictive. 3. The way to think of Europe is that it is a big collection of peninsulas jutting out from Asia. Then all the wars with the Turks and having to pretty much defeat the Nazis on their own. Well, Eastern Europe has always been less developed than the Western half. I'm thinking the USSR isn't the reason why the non-Balkan east is poor, so from a wider historical perspective, what's the real reason? But exploring Soviet-era Eastern Europe is not even half the story. Also economically, the Western European countries are much more advanced than the eastern European countries. The division of the Roman Empire occurred partially as a result of economic differences. It can be further subdivided into four sub-regions: Northern Europe, Central Europe, Eastern Europe, and Southern Europe. Some argued that this was because of economics: that eastern European countries locked down early because they feared their economies would . Total compensation, gross wages and salaries, and disposable (or after-tax) income have long been lower in the former East Germany than in the former West, according to the governments report. Plus, get practice tests, quizzes, and personalized coaching to help you But something like the smallpox epidemic that ravaged Mexico when the Spanish conquistador Hernn Corts overthrew the Aztec Empire just isn't the whole story of Corts's victory or of Europe's successful colonization of other parts of the world. There's a brain drain. ), See also: How the attitudes of West and East Germans compare, 30 years after fall of Berlin Wall. In 2018, the average unemployment rate was 6.9% in the six states of the former East Germany, compared with 4.8% in the 10 states of the former West Germany. The head of the Orthodox faith is the Patriarch of Constantinople. In 1914, really only China, Japan, and the Ottoman Empire had escaped becoming European colonies. 7. To unlock this lesson you must be a Study.com Member. He also serves on the editorial board of the Cayman Financial Review. Why did Eastern Europe lag behind Western Europe in terms of economic development? A third of all languages spoken in western Europe are indigenous and not derived from Latin or Greek. Eastern Europe is generally poorer than Western Europe. Constantinople is now the city of Istanbul in Turkey, and the greatest church of the Eastern Orthodox faith, the Hagia Sophia, is located there. copyright 2003-2023 Study.com. Things are much better if the conflict concerns something that can be split upsuch as money or land. They mostly had industry in the western part of the empire while the east was sparsely populated, large parts of the population were seen as unreliable (= suspected tsar sympathisers) and it was expected that the most eastern parts would get ruined by the next war with Russia so there wasn't much work to improve anything. The Mongols ravaged and destroyed the entirety of the Rus' land for centuries while making the Rus' their slaves. Where is Eastern Europe? Others suggested this eastern European exceptionalism could be explained by culture, with success in limiting the first wave being down to a mentality of fear and readiness to follow harsh rules stemming from the communist era. Cheap travel Eastern Europe can be significantly less expensive than Western Europe. A long line of horse-lords swept west from the steppe into eastern europe, and would generally displace the tribes living there - all the way up to the Mongols. Despite these differences, the former East has narrowed the gap with the former West substantially in recent decades. As a member, you'll also get unlimited access to over 88,000 The most common language spoken is Russian, followed by Polish, Ukrainian, Romanian and Bulgarian. The continent of Europe can be divided into two regions as the western and eastern Europe. Why is Eastern Europe Poorer than Western Europe? Higher Percentage: Theres a higher percentage of people living in poverty in eastern Europe than there is in western Europe.if(typeof ez_ad_units != 'undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[250,250],'questionscity_com-leader-1','ezslot_3',116,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-questionscity_com-leader-1-0'); Unemployment Rate: Unemployment rates are much higher in eastern Europe. Eastern European death rates overtook those in the west in early October, but restrictions in the region which had eased after the first wave still lagged behind controls reintroduced in the west. Hoffman's work is published in a new book titled Why Did Europe Conquer the World? Almost all the Muslims who live in Eastern Europe belong to the Sunni branch of Islam. We and our partners use data for Personalised ads and content, ad and content measurement, audience insights and product development. Eastern Europe: Most people follow Orthodox Christianity or Islam. It also includes some of the Balkan nations. Eat: Eastern Europeans eat a lot of meat and potatoes while western Europeans eat more fruits and vegetables. 7. You also have more free time to learn other skills and trades. Why are countries in eastern Europe poorer than in western Europe? Adjusting for population size, both cases and deaths were substantially lower in the east, as shown in this comparison of the COVID-19 death rate in the two regions. However, unlike other Latin people, Romanians belong to the Eastern Orthodox faith, and unlike almost all other Eastern Orthodox countries, Romanians use the Latin alphabet. A head start in the first wave. The economic model then connected that spending to changes in military technology. But if these factors were at play in the first wave, they havent had the same effect in the second. The consent submitted will only be used for data processing originating from this website. I understand why it looks that way but that's because of your perspective. Western Europe has the most Nobel Prize, winners. crochet cardigan size chart on carolina thunderbirds salary; why is eastern europe poorer than western europe? Here is an Eastern Europe religion map that depicts the split of Christianity after the Great Schism of 1054. Eastern Europe is more industrialized than Western Europe while Western European countries tend to be wealthier than their eastern counterparts. For example, how did states get the ability to impose heavy taxes? Western Europe (Robinson Project)By Serg!o [GFDL or CC-BY-SA-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons, 2. Most European countries (including Germany, Sweden, Denmark and Belgium) if they joined the US, would rank among the poorest one-third of US states on a per-capita GDP basis, and the UK, France, Japan and New Zealand would all rank among Americas very poorest states, below No. There are many possible explanations for why history played out this way, but few can explain why the West was so powerful for so long. Although Europe represents only about 8 percent of the planet's landmass, from 1492 to 1914, Europeans conquered or colonized more than 80 percent of the entire world. However, over the past 20 years, most of the nations of Eastern Europe have joined the European Union. Among people ages 15 to 24, for example, the average unemployment rate in the former East Germany was 7.7% in 2018, compared with 4.1% in the former West. This has led to higher levels of entrepreneurship in the west while greater collectivism in the east. Example: You could draw a long river to illustrate the blue Danube. Its language is related to Italian, Spanish, and French, making the Romanians the only Latin people in Eastern Europe. Bohemia (Czech lands) was one of the biggest and most developed economic centers of the Holy Roman Empire. I'd given it to him because the use of this technology is related to politics and fiscal systems and taxes, and as he was reading it, he noted that the book did not give the ultimate cause of why Europe in particular was so successful. Most Eastern European Jews spoke Yiddish, a language closely-related to German. Live Longer: Western Europeans live longer than eastern Europeans.if(typeof ez_ad_units != 'undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[320,100],'questionscity_com-large-mobile-banner-2','ezslot_4',117,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-questionscity_com-large-mobile-banner-2-0'); Smaller House: Eastern Europeans live in smaller houses or apartments compared to western Europeans. Communist regimes were politically repressive, and stifled the economic development of the region. Its fascinating how different these two worlds are, but it also shows us that we should not be afraid to embrace our unique qualities as individuals or communities if they lead to sustainable growth and innovationsomething both regions could stand for! | Thomas Sowell. See less Comments Albanian forms its own branch of the Indo-European language family. Living Standard: Western Europe has higher standards of living than eastern European countries. All rights reserved. Then you have more capital to invest, which allows for growth of the countrys industry. Map of the spread of Catholicism and the Eastern orthodox faith. The 2018 version of the report is available here in English. For example, if I am fighting you and you figure out a better way to build an armed ship, I can imitate you. People in the former East Germany earn less than their counterparts in the former West. Since there is no exact definition of Eastern Europe, be sure your list includes countries that are sometimes included as part of Eastern Europe. Eastern Europe is a geographical term that refers to the easternmost countries of Europe. If you would like to change your settings or withdraw consent at any time, the link to do so is in our privacy policy accessible from our home page.. You can designate these countries on your list with an asterisk or "s" in parentheses next to them. So now I wonder why India, which is by the ocean, has a warm climate, natural wealth, and at the same time is much poorer than those poor Eastern European countries? Being dominated for centuries has led to lingering inequality and long-lasting effects in many formerly colonized countries, including poverty and slow economic growth. There are some exceptions, however. Even before the Holocaust, Jews faced terrible discrimination from the Christian-majority populations in which they lived. QuotidianPain 2 yr. ago I don't think Atlantic trade is the sole reason though. Eastern Orthodox - The Eastern Orthodox Faith is a branch of Christianity that formed in 1054 AD, when the Byzantine Empire officially broke away from the Roman Catholic Church. What this Westerner refused to mention was all the wars and foreign occupations we went through all of our history (for Russia, a lot but not the entirety). Here is an Eastern Europe countries list that can help discern what is considered Eastern European territory, and what countries are considered Eastern European: Note: The Baltic countries (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania) are also sometimes considered to be part of Eastern Europe by some, but part of Northern Europe by others. The political dominance of western Europe was an unexpected outcome and had really big consequences, so I thought: let's explain it. Over the years I've been interested in a number of different things, and this new work puts together a lot of bits of my research. We spoke with him recently about his research interests and what led him to study this particular topic. 10. 5. In either event, the people of Romania and Moldova are closely related. Where Eastern Europe begins, however, is a matter of opinion. From the Eiffel Tower in Paris to The Great Wall Of China, these landmarks are instantly recognizable and attract millions of visitors each year. Therefore, there are a lot of contradictions in this country. All countries in the region have seen significant increases in cases and deaths. Additionally, some definitions include Greece as part of Eastern Europe, while others maintain that Greece is, in fact, part of Southern Europe. By comparison, disposable income in the former West Germany was 23,283 a year, or about $26,300. However, people in both areas work hard with about 40 hours per week spent working (the same amount). Monotheism Overview & Examples | What is Monotheistic Religion? Look again at the second graph above. There have been many periods where the Polish/Baltic/Ukraine/Belarus area was very wealthy. Stringency of COVID-19 control measures in eastern and western Europe. In the early 2000s, the unemployment rate was about 10 percentage points higher in the former East than in the former West nearly five times the gap in 2018. The largest country by area in eastern Europe is Russia with 677 thousand square miles. And, by extension, for the entire global West. What the data says about gun deaths in the U.S. Less Diverse: Eastern European countries are less diverse. Both had one factor significantly holding them back: foreign invaders. Then you can bargain with your enemies to divvy up whatever you disagree about and you can have something like peace. Unofficial site of Thomas Sowell, Why is Eastern Europe Poorer than Western Europe? Countries like Italy, S. Korea, Spain, Portugal and Greece would each rank below Mississippi as the poorest states in the country. South Asian Countries | Religion, Culture & Countries List. It started after I gave an undergraduate here a book to read about gunpowder technology, how it was invented in China and used in Japan and Southeast Asia, and how the Europeans got very good at using it, which fed into their successful conquests. the Ukraine, Belarus, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Moldova, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Turkey (western-most part). Until 1991, the Soviet Union controlled everything from the Bering Strait to the Rhine. At least if the goal is more economic output and higher living standards. Hungarian is a Finno-Ugric language that is distantly related to Finnish and Estonian. Christianity is the main religion in Eastern Europe. Western Europe has l. Hello and welcome to our channel. This is interesting because it shows that the wealth divide between Eastern and Western Europe existed long before the modern era. Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. wu tang clan concert 2021; beauty and the beast symbolic interactionism Yellow areas poorer than Mexico. In other words, the few dark areas (a handful in Germany and one each in a few other nations) are the only parts of Europe that are economically equal or better thanthe United States. This has helped them recover from the damage done during their communist past. Neighbouring Slovakia, on the other hand, imposed stricter measures despite having far fewer cases and deaths. Adjusting for population size, both cases and . Eastern-Europe-map2 by CrazyPhunk self-made based upon: Image:Eastern-Europe-map2.png. Before 1800, Europe had already taken over at least 35 percent of the world, but Britain was just beginning to industrialize. Manage Settings There is also easier access to mineral resources the further west you go in Europe, so more western regions would develop stronger economies when the Industrial Revolution upped the demand for those resources, while the minerals of the east weren't tapped until later. Roma is an Indo-European language that originated in India. Thomas Sowell Explains how geographical differences between Eastern and Western Europe played a key role in the economic differences between the two regions, which caused Eastern Europe to be historically poorer than Western Europe. Usually, when this question is asked, the response is that WWII and the Cold War ruined Eastern Europe, or that the agricultural and industrial revolutions began in Britain and not in Eastern Europe. Additionally, the ocean coast contributed to the early development of trade, and contributed to the development of cities (you can feed a large number of non-agricultural population due to fishing). It severely inhibited political and economic development. I mean, as a Brit, I can see how our island had the best of it regarding no land border and access to the sea! In 1991, per-capita productivity in the former East was less than half (43%) of productivity in the former West. Greece is in Eastern Europe. Greece is located in south-east Europe! That percentage has changed little in recent years, but is far higher than in 1991, when per-capita disposable income in the former East was only 61% of that in the former West. One thing is clear: eastern Europe exited the first wave at the end of June in much better shape than western Europe. To view the purposes they believe they have legitimate interest for, or to object to this data processing use the vendor list link below. Eastern Europe contained the virus so successfully in spring, it didnt experience the horrific hospital scenes seen in northern Italy, for example. 9. Amazing how so many refuse to acknowledge how climate and geography go hand and hand with a countrys economic development. 2. You also have more free time to learn other skills and trades. While the Soviet Union was once considered to be the most important country in Eastern Europe, many ex-Soviet nations are, in fact, not even in Europe. Disease can't explain, for example, the colonization of India, because people in southeast Asia had the same immunity to disease that the Europeans did. The more they spent, the more chances they had to improve their military technology through trial and error while fighting wars. Historically, the culture of Eastern Europe has been closely linked to the history of the rest of the continent. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7s6piXiFK-TaMDsKM4I7IS7iaNiyONEM, How Geography Shaped Africa | Thomas Sowell, Why Cultures Are So Different? (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Copyright 2010-2018 Difference Between. Greeks, Russians, Ukrainians, Belorussians, Bulgarians, Serbs, and a few others are traditionally Orthodox Christians. Such enemies existed in the pastthey were fighting for glory on the battlefield or victory over an enemy of the faithand one could argue that they pose a threat today as well. These differences between eastern and western Europe will help you understand the magnitude of these differences better than before.if(typeof ez_ad_units != 'undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[300,250],'questionscity_com-medrectangle-4','ezslot_5',109,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-questionscity_com-medrectangle-4-0'); Western and Eastern Europe are on opposite sides of the continent. What kinds of factors are included in this model? Coming from Engineering cum Human Resource Development background, has over 10 years experience in content developmet and management. 4. Therefore, do not misunderstand the information. They are found in their highest numbers in Bosnia, Kosovo, and Albania. New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast. The highest point in Eastern Europe is Mount Elbrus, which stands at 5642 meters high. Many of those that survived, emigrated to Israel or the US. What are the Five Themes of Geography? When you go back that far, you need to use to use a proxy for human capital. Cross-posted from the International Libertyblog. Our World in Data COVID-19 Dataset. You want areas that produce finished products that are part of external trade systems. Conclusion paragraph: The differences between Eastern and Western Europe are vast, but there is one important similarity. The reporter from the Wall Street Journal who shared it remarked that Purple areas are rich as US states. Some people include Greece and the Baltic countries, as well. Yes, there are lots of conventional explanationsindustrialization, for examplebut on closer inspection they all fall apart. Eastern Europe is 'poorer' than Western Europe, during the war they were helpless and were taken over by Germany or the Soviets, with the fall of both empires countries taken by Hitler. People speak romance languages and those with Germanic roots as well. This is an excerpt from 'The Thomas Sowell Reader'-----------------------------------Relevant Books-----------------------------------Wealth, Poverty and Politics: https://amzn.to/3BHrsJrMigrations and Cultures: https://amzn.to/32rBemhThe Thomas Sowell Reader: https://amzn.to/3vpTuqR-------------------------------------------Support this Channel--------------------------------------------Become a Channel Member: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCS67C1ChLicLkrp70mz7G7g/joinPayPal: https://paypal.me/SowellExplainsPateron: https://www.patreon.com/SowellExplainsSubscribestar: https://www.subscribestar.com/SowellExplains------------------------------------------Social Media------------------------------------------Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SowellExplainsTwitter: https://twitter.com/SowellExplainsInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/SowellExplainsSubscribe for more Thomas Sowell videos!

Largest Dental Malpractice Verdict, Melanie Haas Uncle Kracker, Custom Metal Police Badges, What Are The Trespassing Laws In Georgia, Articles W