This is good. However, I think it's also important ot acknowledge the characteristics of climate and geology in defining cultures and power. Generally speaking, European climates and the plants and wildife they produce, are such as to make living well a possibility, with a lttle work. Not so harsh as to make every day a grind for survival, where anything that doesn't lead to that end is wasted time. Not so lush as to make effort largely unnecessary. At the same time the geology of Europe was such as to make resources such as flint and copper easily available. Once you have those, you can find tin and once you have bronze you can find iron and coal, and so on. This abundance of raw materials, with each new discovery leading to another, drove the technological development of Europe and made the cultural changes you speak of easier.