why europe

[Anathema]

Believe it or not, the explanation is potatoes ;)

After the explorers took potatoes from the American continent to Europe, it turned out that it was a crop very suitable for feeding huge masses of people with the use of little soil. Without potatoes Europe could not have become densly populated and the industrial revolution would probably not have happened.

Another good reason is defraction: while China achieved political and cultural unity early on, this resulted in little progress and eventually stagnation. This political and cultural unity did not take place in Europe, and many competitive nations grew. Competition breeds progress.