Just to remark on: Did I leave out colonialism? Not really. I think that follow implicitly that the superior conditions for developing into maritime trading nations, is also what turned European great powers into colonizers.

If aliens look at the map of the Earth and asked: "Where will the nations that colonize the world arise?"

I am pretty sure they would have picked Europe, because it is a unique geographical area in terms of foster the development of maritime empires.

Maritime power was indeed the European superpower that gave Europe an edge over every other civilization, especially from the 1500s onwards. I cover that more in detail here: https://medium.com/lessons-from-history/how-ships-and-forts-created-western-dominance-b5f396344d4b

Without the Baltics, Mediterranean and the North sea Europe would never have evolved into colonial powers. Hence that unique geography played a crucial role in creating seafaring powerhouses.