Why did Leopold von Ranke reject identifying with a political party?

Leopold von Ranke rejected identifying with a political party because he sought to attain an ideal of historical objectivity. He believed that a historian’s primary duty was to describe the past as it "actually was" (wie es eigentlich gewesen), a task he felt required a nonpartisan viewpoint.123

Rather than aligning himself with the "liberal" or "conservative" factions of his time—which he found either too dogmatic or contrary to his views—Ranke chose to identify himself with the state. He viewed states as "spiritual entities" and "thoughts of God," believing that history was the unfolding of a divine plan through the independent development of these nations. By focusing on the state as the central actor in history, he aimed to rise above contemporary political dissensions and abstract principles, attempting to maintain a scholarly distance that he believed was essential for understanding historical reality.123