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Why are Czechs more effective than Poles and Poland? [116]
The silver mines of Bohemia helped finance their state and the creation of their urban centres for a long time. The mines haven't been a major economic engine for centuries, but the cities, infrastructure, industries and the society that developed because of those mines, laid the foundation for the Bohemian/Czech culture and their state. Once the cities and trade routes were established, the country continued to develop. Prague is the big city, but there have been a couple well developed cities and towns within Bohemia with functioning governments in functioning states, most for centuries. Austria did not develop Bohemia - Austria inherited a developed Bohemia. Bohemia/Czechs have been developed ('playing the game of civilization') as has much of their country for centuries longer then Poland.
Of interest to me, is why the Czechs have not bounced back to levels they were at historically - is it all on the communists or did the centuries under the Habsburgs sap the continuation of their growth?
And what can the less developed parts of Poland do to emulate comparable regions that had similar situations historically, but are now doing quite well - the best example that comes to my mind is the rise and development of Slovakia.
(PS, I know of the the mines in Slovakia, they did not benefit Bohemia as the two were separate states or functioned separately within Austria/Hungary for much of the last millennia, and the mines had mild influence on Slovakia as a whole as they were often used to finance Hungry's wars, debts, etc.. )
