1943 Mme Chiang Kai-Shek ADDRESS to US CONGRESS 78rpm

$

383

A series of great Personality Records, with Shakespearean Actors, Presidents and Kings and great performances:

Madame Chiang Kai-Shek speaks to the CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES

March 4 1943

Live Radio Transcription disc by the Radio Station KDYL Salt Lake City, Utah.

16" double sided 33 rpm coarse groove inside out recording.

A monumental historic Document!

Madame Chiang Kai-Shek, a very eloquent and outspoken woman, made a major goodwill tour of US in 1943 seeking support for  Chiang Kai-Sheks battle against the Japanese on Chinese soil, rallying support and goodwill from all echelons of society.

 

Here is a case where the travel can be traced by the existing recordings:

The First CHINESE Woman to address the Congress of the US:

March 4 1943 - Speech before the Houses of Congress Washington DC

Mid March- Speech at her Alma Mater Wellesley College Massachussetts

March 29  1943 - Speech to the San Francisco International Longshoremen and Warehouseworkers Union

- and people must have been aware of the importance of these because ALL these speeches were recorded, and at least the San Francisco Speech, and the Wellesley Speech were issued on small run commercial pressings.

What makes this disc so extraordinary is that the Congress speech was NOT issued commercially, so only   rare random airchecks survive.

 

Reserve is 299.99$.

 

The Speech starts with tremendous applause, then the Speaker of the House Sam Rayburn introducing and greeting Madame Chian Kai-She as the "most important woman of our era" married to the most eminent man of our time.

After more thunderous applause, she starts her speech proper, exhorting US Congress to support China in its struggle against the Japanese oppression.

Condition:

EXCELLENT  minus - unworn rarely played recording with an undamaged aluminum core and pristine acetate cover. No flaking or ripping. Record plays smooth and quietly, the live recording is clear and loud.

As usual with those acetates there is a faint blooming which does not affect plays. Few lightest scuffs should not sound. Side 1 label has a small defect and is partly loose, side 2 label has about 1/5 missing. Comes in original 16" sleeve which is very tattered

 

This record will need to be shipped alone, and I will put extra efforts in strong packing to insure safe delivery.

 

Now to understand the drama of the speech, here are some background facts:

After Japan's invasion of Manchuria in 1931, Chiang resigned as Chairman of the National Government. He returned shortly, adopting a slogan "first internal pacification, then external resistance", which meant that the government would first attempt to defeat the Communists before engaging the Japanese directly. But Japan's advance on Shanghai and bombardment of Nanjing in 1932 disrupted Chiang Kai-shek's offensives against Communists. Even though on the surface Chiang seemed more preoccupied with eradicating the communists first, Chiang was preparing to fight an eventual showdown with Japan. During the period from 1931 to the beginning of full-scale war in 1937, the central government under Chiang worked assiduously to expand and modernize its armed forces, build fortifications and communication lines around the country, and develop a viable military industry capable of supporting the war effort. All these war preparations required temporary peace with Japan, which was precisely what Chiang sought in his policy. Any premature act of war before the country was ready would likely spell disaster for China. However, this policy of avoiding a frontal war was widely unpopular.

In December 1936, Chiang flew to Xi'an to coordinate a major assault on Red Army forces holed up in Yan'an. However, Chiang's allied commander Chang Hsueh-liang, whose forces were to be used in his attack and whose homeland of Manchuria had been invaded by the Japanese, had other plans. On December 12, Chang Hsueh-liang and several other previously surrendered warlords (now Nationalist generals) kidnapped Chiang Kai-shek for two weeks in what is known as the Xi'an Incident. They forced Chiang into making a "Second United Front" with the Communists against Japan. Although the communists never fought the Japanese directly and avoided any combat to save their own strength, this episode at least brought a halt to fratricidal war. The rising tide of Chinese nationalism and the cessation of warfare against the communists propelled Chiang Kai-shek in the pinnacle of his political career. He was the only leader with both the popular support and international recognition to be capable of leading the nation into a war against Japan.

Generalissimo and Mrs. Chiang with General Stilwell in Burma (1942).The Second Sino-Japanese War broke out in July 1937. In August of the same year, Chiang sent 600,000 of his best trained and equipped soldiers to defend Shanghai. With over 200,000 Chinese casualties, Chiang lost his political base of Whampoa-trained officers. Although Chiang lost militarily, the battle dispelled Japanese claims that it could conquer China in three months and demonstrated to the Western powers (which occupied parts of the city and invested heavily in it) that the Chinese would not surrender under intense Japanese fire. This was skillful diplomatic maneuvering on the part of Chiang, who knew the city would eventually fall, but wanted to make a strong gesture in order to secure Western military aid for China. By December, the capital city of Nanjing had fallen to the Japanese and Chiang moved the government inland first to Wuhan and later to Chongqing. Devoid of economic and industrial resources, Chiang masterfully used the tactic of "using space to trade for time" to prolong the war as long as possible, which his strategy succeeded in stretching Japanese supply lines and bogging down Japanese soldiers in the vast Chinese interior who would otherwise have been sent to conquer southeast Asia and the Pacific islands.

With the Attack on Pearl Harbor and the opening of the Pacific War, China became one of the Allied Powers. During and after World War II, Chiang and his American-educated wife Soong May-ling, commonly referred to as "Madame Chiang Kai-shek", held the unwavering support of the United States China Lobby which saw in them the hope of a Christian and democratic China. Chiang was even named the Supreme Commander of allied forces of China Warzone (which includes Indo-China and India).

Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Winston Churchill met at the Cairo Conference in 1943 during World War II.Chiang's strategy during the War opposed the strategies of both Mao Zedong and the United States. The U.S. regarded Chiang as an important ally able to help shorten the war by engaging the Japanese occupiers in China. Yet the U.S. also send supplies to help the capitalists not realizing the capitalists were avoiding battles with Japanese. The communists secretly plotting to take control China after the war. The U.S. liaison officer, General Joseph Stilwell, never respected Chiang and conflicts soon arose. Chiang was recognized as one of the "Big Four" Allied leaders along with Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin and traveled to attend the Cairo Conference in November 1943. His wife acted as his translator and adviser.

 

 

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Wrong pictures do happen. Pls send me a quick email when you notice an error of mine, and I will fix it right away.

Check out more interesting items for sale this week:

Over 100 albums of classical, spoken word and historical records.

(few items may not come on-line until Nov 29 2007)

http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZcarsten_sf

 

 

 

A note to grading Victrola/ Pathe/ Shellac 78 rpm discs:

Pls note that I try to be extremely conservative and consistent in my grading. All records are graded with the same criteria, regardless of genre.

I noticed that my grading seems to be more conservative than what I have seen from other sellers, so here some notes.

Surface VISUAL GRADING:

EXCELLENT - clean and shiny, as new. E minus is the same, with light scuffing.

Very Good Plus - Clean, with a little more scuffing. Some grooves spots may have some light greying. Little if any distortion.

Very Good - a clean copy, some scuffing, some greying on a single groove or a few small groove bands. Enjoyable record, maybe light distortion on some top notes.

=> Everything up to here is a great and enjoyable record

Very Good Minus - May have areas of visible wear, may have some scuffing or dulled surface. Still a great record, but ticks, pops and some distortion.

Good Plus - a worn and scuffed copy. May have other defects separately stated. Plays well, but with noise, may require filtering.

All other defects (if any: Chips, cracks, scratches, lamination cracks, label damage, needle digs) will be stated SEPARATELY.

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