How did Johann Gottfried von Herder connect nature and human history in his philosophy?

Johann Gottfried von Herder connected nature and human history by positing that both obey a uniform system of laws. In his work Outlines of a Philosophy of the History of Man, he argued that the same striving of forces observed in the natural world—aiming to balance one another by generating individual existences—is also a fundamental law of "humanity" in communal life.1

Herder viewed all organic life as connected and evolving progressively toward human beings, whom he considered the highest form of life. He believed that while humans possess freedom, they often work against nature due to immature reason; however, he maintained that through growing insight and the conflict of nations, humanity would eventually reach an equilibrium.21

Furthermore, Herder emphasized that human nature is not static but is shaped by its historical and cultural environment. He rejected the Enlightenment tendency to apply abstract, universal laws to human history, insisting instead that human actions must be understood within the context of specific time, place, and national character.3