Unreliability of Human Witnesses
Hegel does not care for the voracity of original history and cares even less for reflective history, both of which he believes are diluted by the fact that they rely upon the interpretation of the individual. Original history is the basis of all other history that follows it, because it is the original account of the events as the eye witness saw them. Although Hegel is right, and they can be a little interpretive, the basic facts are there, it is just the reason for those facts that might be affected by the person telling them.
For example, Country A invades Country B, as witnessed and reported by the original historian. This is not up for debate or question, but is an historical fact. The invasion happened. However, the reason for the invasion might still be open to interpretation; Country A might be seen as the aggressor if the original historian is from Country B.
To take this further, Hegel asserts that reflective history is an even more subjective way of studying historical events. A reflective historian might look at the invasion of Country B one hundred years ago, and conclude that Country A was right to invade them because they are a despotic country that are a constant threat. This historian might well come from Country A, and his version of history is likely to be informed by his own country's propaganda regarding the relationship between the two countries. This is why Hegel feels that eyewitnesses are basically unreliable when it comes to the telling of history, and this unreliability is a theme throughout his lectures.
Reconciling Divine Providence with Evil Acts
One of Hegel's constant themes within these lectures is the difficulty in aligning divine providence - or God's will - with the concept of evil, and evil acts in history. He comes up with the theory that in order for good to prevail and progress to be made there must also be evil, and evil in history is actually creating a necessary unhappiness that in turn will cause positive change. This is somewhat like the concept of someone hitting rock bottom before they can make things better, or the darkest hour being just before dawn. This, according to Hegel, is the only reasonable explanation that allows us to believe in both a predestined plan, and the presence of evil acts throughout history.
Freedom
Hegel sees the appreciation and understanding of freedom as something that only occurs when the philosophy and historical knowledge are intertwined. Freedom is also a sign of progress. He lectures that the ancient Oriental civilizations did not know that each individual man is free, and therefore they did not have freedom. Only the Greeks understood the concept of freedom of the individual, but like the Romans they also understood that whilst some are free, some are not. The Germans, according to Hegel, were the first to realize that all mankind is free, spiritually, and that there is a difference between spiritual and physical freedoms.
Germanocentric and Eurocentric Thought
Probably inevitably given his heritage, Hegel thematically praises the German and European way of looking at history, and every other area of knowledge, crediting most philosophical developments to Germanic thinkers. He also has a very Eurocentric view of the world in that he relies on the European writings and accounts of history to draw his own conclusions about world history.
