The European countries that never became great powers

The European countries that should have been powers but ended up as bit players

Europe is full of countries with first-rate geography and a history of ups and downs. Ukraine, Czechia and Yugoslavia top the list of those that never lived up to their potential. But a closer look dismantles part of the myth: some of these nations did have their moment of glory, it just never took hold.

Ukraine: the breadbasket that always fed others

Ukraine had everything it took to be the dominant Slavic state: the most fertile land in Europe, access to the Black Sea and a milder climate than Russia's. Kievan Rus proved it could be a continental centre of power. However, after the fall of that world, it spent centuries under Lithuanian, Polish, Russian and Ottoman rule. It is no coincidence that it only regained full independence so late, in the 20th century.

Czechia: the kingdom that lost its empire

Czechia, or Bohemia, enjoyed a unique privilege: it was the only territory with the title of kingdom within the Holy Roman Empire. Not Austria, not Bavaria, not Prussia. Otakar II's defeat at the Battle of Sarracena Field against the Habsburgs changed the Central European balance: power shifted to Vienna and Bohemia became just another province. Its geography, with the Sudetes and the Bohemian Forest as a natural fortress, partly explains its survival as an entity to this day.

Yugoslavia: relevance that came too late

Yugoslavia is the bitterest case. It did not exist as such until the 20th century, and when it did, it led the Non-Aligned Movement and produced great football and basketball teams. The socialist federal experiment had its appeal, as they used to say, but the implosion of the 1990s blew up any aspiration to regional power.

Behind the scenes of the debate, Romania comes up, mentioned more for the supposed attractiveness of its people than for its geopolitics. But there is a more interesting hypothesis: without the Slavic invasion, the western Balkans might have remained Latin, with the Aromanians as living proof of that lost Romania.

Not everyone accepts this approach. The Russocentric school considers Ukraine an integral part of Russia, a position that clashes with centuries of its own history and identity. It is a debate that remains open, and it does not look like it will be settled any time soon.

Meanwhile, these countries will continue to play a secondary role in the European concert. Their geography allowed them to survive; their history denied them hegemony. Perhaps that is the natural order of things. Or perhaps Europe simply prefers that no one overshadow it.