What happens
This episode of The Pacific Story, broadcast by the National Broadcasting Company on 14 November 1943, follows Chiang Kai-shek from his student years in Japan to his inauguration as president of the Republic of China. It traces his early military training, his close work with Sun Yat-sen and the founding of the Whampoa academy, and his campaigns to unify China. A commentary by Henry Luce reflects on his role as a soldier and leader during the Japanese war. The transcript covers only part of the broadcast, so the account stops short of the full episode.
China and Japan, from the early twentieth century through the Second Sino-Japanese War, with a 1943 broadcast from Chongqing and New York
Characters: Chiang Kai-shek, Sun Yat-sen, Henry Luce, Zhang Xueliang, Feng Yuxiang, Yan Xishan, Homer Lea
Listen for: The swearing-in ceremony at Chongqing in October 1943 and the commentary on Chiang Kai-shek's career as a soldier
Written from the episode itself; it never gives away the ending. Every recording is remastered for the stream: cleaned of rumble, hiss and mains hum (and the old TV whine where we found it), then levelled in two passes to steady broadcast loudness, so one show is never quieter than the next.