Suggesting a “European Union,” 1897??

Image of article in The San Francisco Call, December 29, 1897 (Courtesy Chronicling America.loc.gov)

As I was mulling through The San Francisco Call again in December of 1897, I came across an article which caught my eye. Pictured to the right, the article surprised me because it reprints a story from the German newspaper, Neue Wiener Tageblatt, suggesting that leaders in Europe were concerned with American expansion and imperialism – even as far as suggesting some kind of union to “unite against America.” Of course after further thinking, it is really only describing a unification of military strategy in regards to opening up the coast of the Chinese empire. Nonetheless, it certainly demonstrates a developing a trans-national territorial identity prior to World War I.