Why has Leopold von Ranke’s world history been described as mainly a history of Europe?

Leopold von Ranke’s "world history" is primarily described as a history of Europe because his historical framework was centered on the development of the Latin and Germanic nations, which he viewed as the protagonists of cultural progress.1

Ranke believed that history was the unfolding of a divine plan, and he identified modern European nation-states as "thoughts of God". Consequently, his scholarship focused on the inner workings, foreign relations, and political systems of these states. Because he prioritized the European system of states as the primary vehicle for historical and cultural evolution, non-European regions were largely excluded or appeared only marginally in his work.231

Furthermore, Ranke’s methodology relied heavily on sources like diplomatic reports, which were inherently focused on the political interactions of European powers. By restricting his scope to the Latin and Germanic nations, he effectively equated the history of this specific cultural tradition with the history of the world, leaving little room for a truly global perspective.21