Paper about Enver Hoxha – A Dictators Life

INDEX

I. INTRODUCTION  2 

1. ENVER HOXHA AN INCOMPARABLE DICTATOR  3 

1.1. HIS FIRST YEARS  3 

1.2. SCHOLARSHIP AND LIFE OUTSIDE ALBANIA  5 

1.3. BACK IN ALBANIA  10 

1.4. FIRST CONTACT WITH COMMUNIST AND HIS CAREER IN THE PARTY  13 

1.5. HOXHA ON POWER  17 

V. RESUMEÉ  24 

X. LITERATURE AND INTERNETSOURCES  25 

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I. Introduction 

Question to the Topic: I dedicate my work to the dictator, Enver Hoxha, who

moved Albania into an age of the isolation and a state of underdevelopment.

Important in the work is an exactly sequence of his life, because every event

has led to the next one and flattened him therefore the way to his rise. It is a

personality incomparable to any other leader in the 20th century. All people

that were close to him or have helped him on his way, were executed or

interned. It has been a personality of the contradictions and has led the

country in the darkest isolation. His cult lives even today in the population,

especially above all those who have profited by his power. Who was this

person and how was it possible that he could stay so long in power? Which

role does his family play in Albania until his coming into power?

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1. Enver Hoxha an incomparable dictator  

1.1. His first years

Hoxha was born in Ergiri (today known as Gjirokastër) on 16th of October

1908, a city in southern Albania. But his birth date can also be the 3rd of

October, as Hoxha wrote in his diaries of “Vitet e Rinisë” that was published

in 1988 in Tiranë, which has a document published that gives this other date.

He was grown up by his uncle Hysein Hoxha after his Father Halil Hoxha

migrated to the US. But his character was formed and influenced by the

brother of his grandfather, Mullah Beqir Hoxha who has killed his wife with

his own hands.

In his memoirs Hoxha mentions mostly his uncle and gives just a few details

about his father.

“He was the one who grew us up and educated us as long as we have

been children, because my father with my brother emigrated to the US to

find a job, and I was left back home the only son in the middle of the girls

(sisters).” (Enver Hoxha, Vite të vegjëlisë. Kujtime për Gjirokastër,

Tiranë).

The relation to his father was never close, which was shown in 1921, when his

older brother died and Halil Hoxha told his closest friends, that his good son

died and the devil was left alive. He also mentioned often that, who sees

Enver Hoxha, is attracted by his presentation but who lives with him knows

his true nature. Tragically how much will suffer this nation through my son.

He visited primary school “Drita” in his district Palorto in Gjirokastër, where

he was known to have a lingual titubation. His uncle was worried about the

future of his nephew and wanted to send him to a Madres (islamic school) to

Turkey, but in case of that he was sent to the French Lycée in Gjirokastër that

was closed in the middle of the 1920ies. Because of the good connections of

his family to the Elite in Albania and their influence on Ahmed Zogu made it

possible to grant him a scholarship to visit the French Lycée of Korçë from

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1927 to 1930. It is told that he was not a good student and passed the exams

with much luck.

As Hoxha remembers this period of time,

“Although I was listening to the lessons very carefully, I was not able to

understand many things. The home works or exams we had to do in

class, especially theorems, I solved them but mostly with much

difficulties or much luck. So I was able to get a positive mark, but not far

away from a negative one. I liked physics, but I was average student, but

chemistry was abstract for me. I didn’t understand the formula and the

combinations, so I passed also like in mathematics.” (Hoxha, Vite të

vegjëlisë).

The students mentioned also, that he was a very tall guy and good looking,

who had always money in his pocket. It was not easy to have so much money,

as his family was not economically in good condition.

This is the way in which Hoxha describes,

“When the month passed and I asked for the traditional amount of

money, he gave it with many difficulties. He gave it to me just when I

accompanied him with the words ‘you shaved my skin’. When the second

month came, I needed also Anes to help me to get the money out of the

pocket of my uncle. He was not somebody that will not give the money to

me, but we really didn’t have much. We have been barely poor

economically.” (Hoxha, Vite të Vegjëlisë).

During the end of the 1920ies the formation of the communist Party in Korçë

took place, but he didn’t have any contacts to them, as he mentioned in his

books.

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1.2. Scholarship and life outside Albania

After he finished the Lycée in Korçë he achieved a new scholarship, although

he didn’t fulfil the criteria to get it. Many historians nowadays are pointing in

the fact that Hoxha had a close relation to the secret service in Albania, and

for that reason the scholarship was granted to him.

Agim Musta says in an interview for the Albanian TV (TVSH) that,

“There is a questions. At that time there was the criteria that only

students with the marks 9 above can get a scholarship. How comes that

Enver Hoxha got a scholarship to study in France even he didn’t fulfil

the criteria.”

The scholarship was accorded (given) to him from the Minister of Education

at that time, Hil Mosi, who had also a close relation to the secret service, and

knew all the names of the agents working for the state. That fact was never

told by Enver Hoxha in his memoires and with the death of Hil Mosi in the

year 1933 many secrets around the case Hoxha and the scholarship got lost.

Vedat Kokona writes about that period,

“How can it be that he, a student with average qualities in Lyceé of

Korçë, was able to go for study in France with a scholarship, another

enigma (strange case), because the scholarship was just given to good

students. He was not able to finish his studies, not able to pass exams,

they cancelled his scholarship, to become a worse teacher and later a man

on the top of a country that will be a part of the history?” (Vedat Kokona,

Endur në tisin e Kohës).

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So he started his study at the University of Montpellier in 1930 at the faculty

of natural science.

It is said that the Ministry of Internal Affairs gave the scholarship to him, to

get in touch with the political movement against Zogu in Paris. Bahri Omari

was the one who used his contacts to grant him the studies outside Albania.

He was the husband of his sister and had in the beginning a very close

relation to Enver Hoxha, as Hoxha writes in his memoires.

“My sister was very good to me, and Bahri Omari at that time was also

very close to us, he did everything to make us happy. At that time Bahri

Omari seemed not to be a bad person, in opposite he was very kind. My

sister and he did everything, not only in case of meal but also for

clothing, like new shoes or shirts. And when I lost the scholarship in

France and lived in Paris, I asked my sister for 200 franc, she and Bahri

sent it immediately.” (Enver Hoxha, Vitet e Rinisë).

From 1932 to 1933 Hoxha was a Delegate for the “Bashkimi” where he had the

order to spread informations around Europe. For that reason, he moved

around to Rome, Paris and Vienna.

Hoxha gives a reason for his weak success in his diaries, when he mentions

that he came in touch with some communist ideas.

“Studies like that brought me away from the studies I came to do with

my scholarship. I would not say that the ones I came for where less

worth. Last but not least I finally made a decision. I will focus on that

what my feelings are leading me to do. I will stay by their side and help

them as much as possible. I came to this conclusion, especially after I lost

my scholarship in 1934. (Hoxha, Vitet e Rinisë).

But in many cases the friends of that time describe him as a person who was

hanging around in Bars and Public Houses.

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“In Paris I came in touch with some political emigrants like Kol Tomara,

Qazim Koculi, Ali Këlcyra, Beqir Valteri and others. All of them played

poker and set bets in horse running with the exception of Sejfi Vllamasti

and Rexhep Mitrovica.” (Hoxha, Vitet e Rinisë).

After he lost the scholarship, because he didn’t pass any exams during his

studies in Montpellier, in the year of 1934, he was sent as a secretary at the

Albanian consulate in Brussels from 1935 to 1936.

“I left that place much more educated and with a better understanding of

life, although I couldn’t manage to get a Diploma from the University.

The case of the Diploma was, to win or not the exams. (Hoxha, Vitet e

Rinisë).

The Minister of Education at that time who cancelled the scholarship was

Mirash Ivanaj, who was interned into a working camp in 1947 and died 1953

on mysterious circumstances in prison. (Documentary – Story of a Dictator /

Albanian language, broadcasted 2006).

There is also a period where he moved after Montpellier to Paris to stay for 10

months before he left for Brussels. In that time he was economically weak and

has to count on his friends, that they possibly help him through that bad

situation.

He remembers the time of Paris like this,

“This time my stay in Paris was different as I had more experience and

was much more prepared to live and to learn there. I was with a bigger

horizon but with empty pockets. I hoped to get help from my friends.”

(Hoxha, Vitet e Rinisë).

But it seems that the only person who reacts to his begging for money was his

sister Fahrije that never kept money back, but gave him as often as he asked

her.

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“The ten months I stayed in Paris, I never had enough to eat. I went

mostly with an empty stomach to bed. There were days I didn’t have to

eat for 24 hours until I got my salary from the job I did. My shoes were

in a disastrous condition and that for I asked my sister Fahrije to send me

200 franc, and she immediately sent it to me. With that money, I bought

a pair of shoes and a blue shirt.” (Hoxha, Vitet e Rinisë).

He had no touch with communist activists during his stay in France even he

writes in his memoirs that he was reading communist papers and was also

writing for L'Humanité. There is no evidence that can prove his memoires,

although you can find in his writings that he has been in touch with them.

“I bought the daily paper of the Communist Party of France,

‘L'Humanité’. I bought also communist brochures, which were a must

for me as a student with a deep love for Communism. When I achieved

the goal to get in touch with the labour clubs of the Communist Party of

France, I got most of the materials for free.” (Hoxha, Vitet e Rinisë).

There is an evidence which proves that Hoxha didn’t get in touch with the

Communist Ideas and Parties before the 1940ies, which is written by Kristo

Frashëri a famous Albanian historian. (wikipedia.com)

After he left Paris he was sent to Brussels as Secretary for the Albanian

Embassy, with the help of Eqerem Libohova who was the Albanian

Ambassador in Paris, who was a close friend of Bahri Omari. Because of those

connections he got this possibility. He came into the Diplomacy without any

experience and without finishing the Military and also being Attaché for two

years that was necessary for the job as Secretary in the Embassy.

During this period he had the possibilities to get in touch with many different

personalities in the Diplomacy. It would be worthy to see how Hoxha came to

all this contacts and in what relations he had with the secret service in

Albania. But in that case we have to wait until the Achieves are going to be

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opened. Many documents are also lost, like the document that Zogu has

named him as Secretary in the Embassy of Brussels.

Agim Musta wrote in his Biography about Hoxha, that Hoxha was suspended

by the Consul because of his abuse of money and mentions also that he got a

document from a Belgian Priest about a sensitive case that was treated in the

judge of Brussels in 1936 where the name of Hoxha was mentioned in

connection with the Russian secret service.

Hoxha tries to excuse his return to Albania with the spreading of communist

materials, but if that was so, than he should have been brought to political

court in Albania and to be judged for some months imprison as the law of

that time says. But none of them happened, and if we have an eye on the

communist lists of that time, than we will not find his name in any of them

before the 7th April of 1939.

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1.3. Back in Albania

Back in Albania form Brussels, he wrote an Article for the funeral of Bajo

Topulli. He also had the possibility to get public attention in Shkodër during

another funeral where he was pictured with some other delegates. Beso Gega

was the one who took him to that ceremony. A picture taken by Marup fixed

this event of that time that Hoxha will use to present himself as initiator of

that event. The tragically side effect of the others on the picture will be

internal camp, execution and imprison.

The first year in Albania he had economically problems and was looking for a

job there.

This is the way in which Hoxha remembers that time,

“It was urgent to find a job. That for in the beginning of autumn I moved

to Tiranë, where I contacted some friends and relatives. I got some money

from Syrja Selfo and some other friends, and sometimes I was invited to

eat there and sometimes on other places. At that time during that bad

situation and without a job, Syrja Selfo and Nexhat Peshkopia were the

one who helped me a lot. Syrja gave me from time to time around 30-50

franc and invited me for lunch and dinner, but also Nexhat invited me

for lunch and dinner.” (Hoxha, Vitet e Rinisë).

This two friends had many contacts to the government and could manage

that he can teach in a high school in Tiranë and later become a part-time

teacher in Lycée in Korçë in 1937. In Tiranë he stayed at the family of the high

school teacher Nexhat Peshkopia, whose wife was the daughter of the uncle

of Enver Hoxha. After he came to power this family was also persecuted and

wanted, like all the families and people that have helped Hoxha through his

worst time.

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Todi Lubonja describes him that way,

“He was one of that type of guys who was dressed well, tall with styled

hairs and very qualitative shoes. A boy of 29 years, whose face was bright

and altogether his face gave an impression that he was one of the sons of

that families who had the financial possibilities. Maybe of the short time

during his stay in our high school his presence didn’t left any sound or

even less the impression of a revolutionary.” (Todi Lubonja, Nën peshën

e dhunës)

In his time after 1937 in Korçë the Lyceé has turned into a communist place

and that the government has to work on destroying that movement. Hoxha

didn’t have contact to those communist groups. He was not even interested to

stay in touch with them as he mentioned in his memoires later.

“When I attended at a meeting of the movement of Korçë, my

contribution was just passive. I came closer with my friends and stood

next to Koço Tashko. The others thought that I was the leader of the

work, one of the heads, but I was just a sympathisant, I was not a

member.” (Hoxha, Vitet e Rinisë).

There is also a prove that he was not a member of the party and not really

interested in that kind of politics as Hoxha used to show off during his time

on power.

His roommate Vedat Kokona describes him in a different way,

“The 10 weeks we stayed together I didn’t see him working. He never

talked about politics neither about communism. If he had been a

communist, he would have tried to bring me on his side, because he knew

I would never betray him. I stayed together with him until the middle of

1940. I am sure that he had not these bad ideas, which brought him to

power 4 years later on that high lever of insanity where he persecuted

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and imprisoned the people who gave him to eat and brought suffer and

pain to friends, relatives and especially the place that gave him life.”

(Vedat Kokona, Endur në tisin e Kohës).

In that time Hoxha was teaching in Lyceé where he was allowed to give

lectures in French, but as he didn’t have a Diploma, he could work only part-

time there. There is also a memory of Vedat Kokona who tries to understand

the personality of Hoxha, when he makes an analysis of this person.

“I knew him very silent, calm, happy, smiled, very close in friend

relations, and how was it possible to become like that, angry, ominous,

monster. This figure is for me a sphinx close to the pyramid built with

the bones of the people he killed.” (Kokona, Endur në tisin e Kohës).

Hoxha stayed often in the house of Tefik Mborja who was the Leader of the

Fascist Party of Albania after Italy occupied the country in 1939. He was

dismissed from his teaching post from Korçë following the 1939 Italian

invasion.

He worked in the shop “Flora” as sells man for tobacco in Tirana from 1940

on until the shop got closed, but he was not the owner of it as it is mostly said.

There he came in touch with some important leaders of the communist

movement, like Anastas Lulo, Sadik Premte, Mustafa Gjenishi, Koço Tashko

and many others.

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1.4. First Contact with Communist and his career in the Party

Todi Lubonja remembers the first activity of Hoxha, which brought him into

illegality.

“Koço Tashko, Enver Hoxha and Pilo Pelisteri and someone else were

following the demonstrations from a distance. One captain of the

Carabineer attacked Gjikë Kuqali who had a small body. In that conflict

Enver Hoxha clashed with a colonel of the Italian Carabineer. His

intervention cached attention, and from that time he had to move to

illegality.“ (Todi Lubonja, Pse hesht shtëpia e muzikës.)

On 8 November 1941, the Communist Party of Albania (later renamed the

Albanian Party of Labour in 1948) was founded where 18 people have been

named to participate included two members of the Yugoslavian Communist

Party, Miladin Popović and Dušan Mugoša. Hoxha was chosen as one of

seven members of the provisional Central Committee and had the control

over the finances.

Hoxha remembers the founding of the Party like that,

“When the Party was founded I had no experience at all, or more less

than the others, like the group of Korçë or Shkodër. They were more

active in the activities of the groups. I had no experience and perspectives

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in the organizing and clear political views. We started an organised

work. There we learned the first ABC.” (Plenum of Berat in 1944)

After the Conference at Pezë in September 1942, the National Liberation Front

was founded with the purpose of uniting the anti-Fascist Albanians,

regardless of ideology or class.

Kristo Frashëri says that Enver Hoxha was not a main part on founding the

Communist Party.

“The contribution of Enver Hoxha on founding the Albanian

Communist Party was modest, because of the fact that the practices and

theories of the communist were unknown for him. As more passed Enver

Hoxha wanted to present his self as the founder of the Albanian

Communist Party. The insanity of Hoxha to become the only protagonist

who founded the Party, left behind the Albanian historiography for

around half a century not only to clear the founding of the ACP based on

documents of that time, but in some cases to hide many important

documents of that time.” (Documentary).

The Committee, which was founded, had seven members of whom 5 got

executed or imprisoned and just Halim Petrela got expelled from his position

where Hoxha became the last leader left in the Committee. In March/April of

1942 he became the first Political Secretary of Tiranë. To get to this position he

was helped by Miladin Popović and Dušan Mugoša, but later Hoxha denied

any contact to the Yugoslavian Party.

By March 1943, the first National Conference of the Communist Party elected

Hoxha formally as First Secretary. During the war, the Soviet Union's role

was negligible, making Albania the only nation occupied during World War

II whose independence was not determined by a great power. On 10 July

1943, the Albanian partisan groups were organized in regular units of

companies, battalions and brigades and named the Albanian National

15

Liberation Army. The General Headquarter was created with Spiro Moisiu as

the commander and Enver Hoxha as political commissary.

During his first two years in World War II, he started eliminating possible

political opponents which were fighting on his side before he declared them

enemies, like Ramize Gjebrea, Anastas Lula, Mustafa Gjinishi, Sadik Premtja,

Zai Fundo and many others until his death.

A letter send to Nako Spiro from Hoxha on 4th of April 1944 shows some

details how he was dealing with his opponents.

“Zef Mala should not go to Kosovë. In opposite you have to decorate him

with a bullet. He has to vanish. Find a way that nobody will understand

what happened. The case of Zai Fundo is the same as it was before. He is

still an enemy. Therefore he should find the same fate. In that point tell

your friends that they should make no mistakes.” (Documentary).

The Yugoslav Party had the control over Hoxha who made everything he was

asked for. He started also war against the Balli Kombëtar in 1944 that he was

able to defeat. All the leaders of the Balli Kombëtar were executed.

The American Corporal Peter Lucas describes him in the way he really was.

“I froze in front of Hoxha. He was a strong person and beautiful, like a

film star. A guy like him could be seen only in movies. He had an

uniform that fits well. He could await you and have a discussion with a

smile. But afterwards he could turn against you and change his position.

He had no honour.” (Peter Lucas, Misioni Amerikan në Shqipëri).

The Anti-Fascist Committee for National Liberation was founded, with

Hoxha as its chairman. On 22 October 1944, the Committee became the

provisional government of Albania after a meeting in Berat and Hoxha was

chosen as interim Prime Minister with the help of Miladin Popivić. Tribunals

were set up to try alleged war criminals that were designated "enemies of the

people" and were presided over by Koçi Xoxe. Hoxha executed Lirie Gegën

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and her husband Dalim Dhreu to establish his power in the Central

Committee.

Because of his harsh dealing with the opponents he had no good reputation in

the Party but also not in the population.

“He was called the person who fought against the fractions. This part is

for free. He was more active in that area than working something. He

hasn’t done anything by himself. Implementer of Miladin without any

perspectives. Mediocre intelligence. In school and as a Professor with

mediocre. During all this time without a regular life. In the Party

sectary. Created his clique around himself. He wants to be the first in

everything and to kick everybody. No mature for leadership. He is not

famous in the country and there where people know him, he doesn’t have

any good reputation. The Party is trying to make him famous. This is the

only way how he started to become known.” (Documentary).

On November 28 of 1944 he went to Tirana to celebrate the victory and

liberation of the country.

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1.5. Hoxha on Power

The first elections in post-war Albania were held on 2 December 1945 for the

National Assembly (Kuvendi Popullor). The Front was the only legal political

organization allowed standing in the elections, and the government reported

that 93% of Albanians voted for it.

In his first year, he begins to implement communist policies including rural

land reform and the nationalisation of resources, utilities and infrastructure.

He went on distance of the Kosovo issue and agrees to restore Kosovo to

Yugoslavia as an autonomous province.

Thousands of his opponents are branded as "war criminals" or "enemies of the

people" and tried and executed. Thousands more are imprisoned in work

camps and jails before being sent into internal exile on state farms. During the

new government's first two weeks in power more than 600 social leaders are

executed.

“The war experience made the traditional xenophobia stronger for which

the Albanians are legendary. A xenophobia strengthen and used by the

Stalinist government of E. Hoxha during the after war period. Hoxha

understood that the Albanian experience during the war was the weak

protection of the state, based of the mentality of the so-called situation of

the surrounded, or the casern state, which pointed on the danger from

outside.” (Documentary).

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The property of political opponents in exile and anyone designated an

"enemy of the people" is confiscated. Wealthy Albanians are made to pay a

"war-profits tax." All German and Italian assets in Albania are confiscated and

all foreign economic concessions revoked. All political parties except the

Communist Party are banned.

By the end of 1946 all non-communists have been purged from the

government, giving the communists a monopoly on power. Those purged

from the People's Assembly will subsequently be executed.

Future dissent will be crushed by the Sigurimi secret police. It is estimated

that by the time the communist regime finally falls, one out of three Albanians

will have either served time in labour camps or been interrogated by Sigurimi

officers.

The new parliament annuls the monarchy and, on 11 January 1946, proclaims

the 'People's Republic of Albania' with a new Stalinist constitution.

Hoxha is named prime minister, foreign minister, defence minister, and the

army's commander in chief. He is also the Albanian Communist Party's first

secretary.

A prime goal of the government will be the improvement of the education

system and the elimination of the country's high rate of illiteracy (it is

estimated that in 1946 about 85 percent of Albanians are illiterate). All schools

will be placed under state management and all citizens between the ages of 12

and 40 who are illiterate will be required to attend classes in reading and

writing. Nevertheless, under communist rule, Albania will become the most

closed and isolated society in Europe. Travel to and from the country is

severely restricted and will remain so until the beginning of the 1990ies.

A personality cult will be developed around Hoxha. He will be portrayed as

the saviour and supreme commander of Albania and given epithets such as

'Great Teacher' and 'Sole Force'. A museum will be dedicated to his life,

placards and bulletin boards proclaiming his thoughts will be displayed in

towns and villages, and statues of the dictator will be erected throughout the

country.

19

In the 1946 the implementation of the Stalinist-style central planning of the

economy begins. All industries are nationalised, the government takes over

trade, and agricultural land is redistributed, with peasant smallholdings

replacing large estates. At the same time, farm tools and draft animals are

nationalised, rural land sales and transfers are banned, and peasants are

required to obtain government permission to slaughter animals. Peasants are

also encouraged to join collective farms.

Yugoslavia responds by attempting to buy support within the Albanian

government with large loans and by accusing Hoxha of following

"independent" policies and turning the Albanian people against Yugoslavia.

In 1947 Albania refuses to participate in the Marshall Plan for the

reconstruction of the European Economy that was planning to help Albania

with US$26.3 million by the United Nations (UN) and US$20.4 million from

the US. Hoxha called for better relations with Stalin, and he visited him in

July of this year followed by some other visits until 1951.

In 1948 the break up with Josip Broz Tito is followed after Yugoslavia was

expelled from the Cominform (an organisation of Soviet, East European,

Italian, and French communist parties). Albania now turns to the Soviet

Union, which quickly agrees to compensate Albania for the loss of Yugoslav

aid.

In January 1949 the government issues a 'Decree on Religious Communities'

that requires all religious orders to comply with "the laws of the state, law

and order, and good customs." Religious orders based outside the country are

told to cease all activities in Albania, religious institutions are banned from

participating in the education, health and welfare systems, and all religious

orders are prohibited from owning property.

More Stalinist economic policies are implemented within Albania during the

1950s, including the introduction of country's first five-year plan in 1951. The

plan seeks to accelerate production in the industrial sector but is

compromised by shortfalls in agricultural output and a lack of suitably

trained workers.

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At the same time, the health care and education systems are improved,

leading to a decline in infant mortality and the level of illiteracy.

In September 1952 a new law is introduced requiring the death penalty for

anyone over 11 years of age found guilty of conspiring against the state,

damaging state property, or committing economic sabotage.

In July 1954 he gives up his post as prime minister to his ally Mehmet Shehu.

However, Hoxha remains as party first secretary, the most powerful position

in the country.

In May 1955 Albania becomes a founding member of the Warsaw Pact.

When Stalin and his policies are denounced by Nikita Khrushchev, first

secretary of the Soviet Communist Party, at the 20th party congress in

February 1956, Hoxha comes to the defence of the former Soviet dictator.

At the same time, Hoxha magnifies his rhetoric against Tito, a stance that

along with his criticism of the Soviet Union will continue for the remainder of

the decade. Nevertheless, the Soviets continue to support Albania, cancelling

about US$105 million in outstanding loans and providing about US$7.8

million in additional food assistance.

The Enver Hoxha University is founded in Tirana in 1957.

After Albania begins to receive large amounts of aid from China from 1960

on, Hoxha and Shehu decide to draw the country away from the influence of

the Soviets. Hoxha now amplifies his criticism of the Soviet Union, publicly

attacking its leadership of the international communist movement during a

conference of the world's 81 communist parties held in Moscow in November.

In the face of the ongoing criticism, the Soviet Union cancels aid programs

and lines of credit to Albania in 1961. In December the Soviets finally break

diplomatic relations. All Soviet economic advisers and technicians are

withdrawn from Albania and shipments of supplies and spare parts are

halted.

China again makes up the shortfall, although their intervention is not enough

to prevent damage to Albania's already weak economy.

21

In the wake of the economic decline following the split with the Soviet Union

an austerity program is introduced in 1962. Meanwhile, Albania becomes

China's chief mouthpiece at the UN.

One year after Chinese leader Mao Tse-Tung unleashes the 'Great Proletarian

Cultural Revolution' on the people of China, Hoxha launches his own

'Cultural and Ideological Revolution' in 1966.

“In practical way Hoxha was after the 1960ies as much Marxist-Leninist

and also Nationalist. He used even the Nationalism as a tool to protect

his personal power.” (Lubonja, Nën peshën e dhunës).

The military is politicised, salaries of white-collar workers are cut, and

bureaucrats and technicians are sent for work experience in factories and on

farms. Dissidents come under attack from the government and students,

school curricula are further restricted, farm collectivisation is widened,

foreign travel is banned, and the country is turned more in on itself, with

thousands of bunkers being built along Albania's borders and in its interior as

a defence against invasion.

As cultural traditions are broken down women are given equal rights and

encouraged to take up paid work. Hoxha declares that anyone who stands in

the way of the extension of women's rights should be "hurled into the fire."

During 1967 the suppression of religion intensifies. As part of the Cultural

and Ideological Revolution, Hoxha calls on students to embark on a struggle

against "religious superstition." He declares that "the Religion of Albania is

Albanianism." By May over two thousand churches, mosques, monasteries,

and other religious institutions have been closed or converted to other uses.

Clerics of all faiths are imprisoned or forced to seek work in industry or

agriculture. Finally, Albanian proclaims itself as the world's first atheistic

state.

In 1968 Albania denounces the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia and

withdraws from the Warsaw Pact.

22

During the 1970ies as China starts to wind back its aid, Albania begins to

broaden its contact with foreign governments, opening trade negotiations

with France, Italy, Asian and African states. In 1971 relations are normalised

with Yugoslavia and Greece.

Nevertheless, the fragile Albanian economy goes into decline, reportedly

resulting is widespread purges.

Hoxha suffers a heart attack in 1973. He recovers, but with some impairment.

In 1976, after Mao Tse-Tung dies on 9 September Hoxha becomes critical of

the new Chinese regime and the developing rapprochement between China

and the West. The Chinese respond by moving closer to Yugoslavia and, in

July 1978, ending all assistance to Albania.

Now, with nowhere else in the communist world to turn to for support,

Hoxha begins to stress the need for the country to become more self-reliant.

At the same time he seeks to expand ties with Western Europe and the

developing nations. However, when this results in some calls for greater

openness Hoxha launches a new series of purges.

Meanwhile, in December 1976 Albania becomes a people's socialist republic

with a new constitution that formalises self-sufficiency (autarky) as a guiding

principal of the regime, names Marxism-Leninism as the country's official

ideology, and prohibits the government from entering into any financial

dealing with capitalist or revisionist communist countries.

The constitution also bans all "fascist, religious, warmongerish, antisocialist

activity and propaganda." In 1977 prison sentences of three to 10 years are

introduced for "religious propaganda and the production, distribution, or

storage of religious literature."

Albanians with Christian names that do not conform to "the political,

ideological, or moral standards of the state" are required to change them.

Towns and villages with religious-based names also must be renamed.

The self-sufficiency policy will be a failure, with productivity falling

throughout the 1980s, an outcome that is made worse by an attempt to extend

the collectivisation of farms to include livestock.

23

Hoxha's long-time ally Mehmet Shehu dies on 18 December 1981 under

mysterious circumstances. Shehu, who had been refusing to step-aside for

Hoxha's handpicked successor, Ramiz Alia, is reported to have committed

suicide after being criticised by the party executive. Other reports claim that

Hoxha had him killed.

Following Shehu's death, Hoxha purges members of Shehu's family and his

supporters within the police and military. In November 1982, Hoxha claims

that Shehu had been plotting with US, British, Soviet, and Yugoslav

intelligence agencies to have him assassinated.

Hoxha goes into semi-retirement in 1983 with his health impaired by diabetes,

following a minor stroke. He suffers another minor stroke in 1984.

Hoxha has a heart attack at his home in Tirana and falls into a coma in the

morning of 9 April 1985. He dies in the early hours of 11 April. He is later

interred in a tomb at the Cemetery of the Martyrs of the Nation in Tirana.

Genuinely grieved by the death of the only leader most of them have ever

known, Albanians mourn their loss.

Ramiz Alia succeeds Hoxha. With Albania's Stalinist economy teetering on

the brink of collapse, the slow process of casting off the legacy of Hoxha and

his regime now begins.

 

24

 

 

V. Resumeé 

We can say that Enver Hoxhaj had no idea how to rule a country and even to

work for a pupil. He executed most of the potential political opponents and

isolated the country. This period of 45years of isolation made the country one

of the poorest in Europe.

We can describe his personality with a citation that gives a view of this person

that is still part of the Albanian political life, because many people which

came at that time to power is now leading the country.

“He was a kind of half intellectual with a coward that destroyed the lives

of others, but with no power in front of the strong, the more arrogant

with them under his feet. He could have singed a sentence to death with

the sweetest smile on is face and at the same time he could fall into the

mania of persecution being afraid of a complot after the other. He was

someone with mediocre who wanted to life like the chosen one from fate.

There was a kind of monster saying born.” (Amik Kasaruho, Një ankth

gjysëm shekullor).

25

X. Literature and Internetsources 

Amik Kasoruho, Një ankth gjysëm shekullor. Tiranë 1996.

Enver Hoxha, Vite të vegjëlisë. Kujtime për Gjirokastër, Tiranë 1983.

Enver Hoxha, Vitet e Rinisë. Tiranë 1988.

Peter Lucas, Misioni Amerikan në Shqipëri. Tiranë 2008.

Todi Lubonja, Pse hesht shtëpia e muzikës. Tiranë 2002.

Todi Lubonja and Përparim Xhixha, Nën peshën e dhunës.Tiranë 1998.

Vedat Kokona, Endur në tisin e Kohës. Tiranë 2005.

Documentary – Story of a Dictator, broadcasted on TVSH in 2006.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enver_Hoxha

http://www.albanian.com/main/history/hoxha.html

http://www.marxists.org/glossary/people/h/o.htm#hoxha-enver

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/273593/Enver-Hoxha

http://www.moreorless.au.com/killers/hoxha.html

http://www.mltranslations.org/Albania/EnverNL.htm

http://biography.yourdictionary.com/enver-hoxha

http://www.spiritus-temporis.com/enver-hoxha/biography.html