The author of Seridei Esh writes about this in the section that describes Hasidism and the opposition to it,
about the Musar method and the opposition to it.
He also points to geography as a factor influencing the gentile nations there and their behavior.
The Jews were not very different in this regard.
That is also what gave rise to the movements.
See there and be satisfied, Nekhes'

Minchat Chinukh, Ketzot, and Netivot were all Galicians. Rabbi Akiva Eger was Prussian. Etc. The innovation in Lithuania was institutional. Funding for the yeshiva in Volozhin was not based locally but on a nationwide network. In fact, at a certain stage the town made its living from the yeshiva rather than the other way around. This had several important consequences. First of all, the institution was not limited to a certain number of students. Whereas in traditional yeshivot maintained by famous rabbis in large cities there were 15-20 students, in Volozhin they reached 100 and more. Quantity creates quality, as is well known. In addition, the institution preceded the rabbi. Historically, a famous rabbi would gather around himself a small group of students. When the rabbi passed on, the group dispersed. Here, the institution came before the rabbi. There were students, and rabbis were brought in for them. As a result, an analytical Talmudic tradition was created. One can focus on the famous scholars who in turn created scholarly lineages (Rabbi Chaim, Even HaEzel, Sha'arei Yosher, Kovetz Shiurim, and many more). For further expansion, it is worth reading Shaul Stampfer's book on the yeshivot of Lithuania.