People can't save themselves, that's why we have to rely on God, He's the only one who can save anybody.
Mostly the reasons were economic. The country's economy was dismembered when it entered the great depression and they had to take care of that. The South used this to reinforce its values because nobody was bothering them since the great depression forced the government to move its focus on something else.
Don't take my word, but it could have been because they were closer to Austria
