Well known figures such as Jared Diamond and Adam Smith have great answer to this. However I will hold up professor Terje Tvedt as someone with great insights on this topic.

I have summarized some of his takes here: https://erik-engheim.medium.com/why-england-industrialized-first-d09bc797cf7f

Basically this has to do with weather, climate, water and rivers. Northern coutries had the climates that created rivers and water patterns useful for industrialization. Southern climates don't.

In general there is so much pseudo science regarding supposed superiority of Northern people that I tackle here: https://erik-engheim.medium.com/why-are-cold-countries-richer-than-hot-countries-1751df409a21

No, war climates does not encourage people to be lazy. In fact life is in many ways easier in cold climates. Dealing with the cold is easier than dealing with excessive heath.