People's Socialist Republic of Albania
People's Republic of Albania (1946–1976) Republika Popullore e Shqipërisë People's Socialist Republic of Albania (1976–1991) Republika Popullore Socialiste e Shqipërisë | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1946–1991 | |||||||||
Flag
Emblem
| |||||||||
| Motto: Ti Shqipëri, më jep nder, më jep emrin Shqipëtar "Albania, you give me honor, you give me the name Albanian" Proletarë të të gjitha vendeve, bashkohuni! "Proletarians of all countries, unite!" | |||||||||
| Anthem: Himni i Flamurit "Hymn to the Flag" | |||||||||
The People's Socialist Republic of Albania in 1989 | |||||||||
| Status | Member of the Warsaw Pact (until 1968) and Comecon (until 1987) | ||||||||
| Capital and largest city | Tirana | ||||||||
| Official languages | Albanian | ||||||||
| Religion | State atheism | ||||||||
| Demonym(s) | Albanian | ||||||||
| Government | Unitary communist state | ||||||||
| First Secretary | |||||||||
• 1946–1985 | Enver Hoxha | ||||||||
• 1985–1991 | Ramiz Alia | ||||||||
| Chairman of the Presidium of the People's Assembly | |||||||||
• 1946–1953 | Omer Nishani | ||||||||
• 1953–1982 | Haxhi Lleshi | ||||||||
• 1982–1991 | Ramiz Alia | ||||||||
| Prime Minister | |||||||||
• 1946–1954 | Enver Hoxha | ||||||||
• 1954–1981 | Mehmet Shehu | ||||||||
• 1981–1991 | Adil Çarçani | ||||||||
| Legislature | People's Assembly | ||||||||
| Historical era | Cold War | ||||||||
• Democratic Government | 20 October 1944 | ||||||||
• People's Republic formed | 10 January 1946 | ||||||||
| 1956–1961 | |||||||||
• Constitution amended | 28 December 1976 | ||||||||
• Sino-Albanian split | 1972–1978 | ||||||||
| 11 December 1990 | |||||||||
• Democratic elections | 31 March 1991 | ||||||||
• Communist state abolished | 29 April 1991 | ||||||||
| Area | |||||||||
• Total | 28,748 km2 (11,100 sq mi) | ||||||||
| Population | |||||||||
• Estimate | 3,266,790 (1990) | ||||||||
| GDP (PPP) | 1990 estimate | ||||||||
• Total | $2.049 billion | ||||||||
| HDI (1990 formula) | 0.790[1] high | ||||||||
| Currency | Franga (1946–1947) Albanian lek (1947–1991) | ||||||||
| Calling code | +355 | ||||||||
| |||||||||
| Today part of | Albania | ||||||||
| Eastern Bloc |
|---|
The People's Socialist Republic of Albania (Albanian: Republika Popullore Socialiste e Shqipërisë) was the communist state[2] that existed in Albania from 10 January 1946 to 29 April 1991. Originally founded as the People's Republic of Albania from 1946 to 1976, it was governed by the Party of Labor of Albania (PLA), which had a constitutionally enshrined monopoly on state power.
The PLA enforced its state power monopoly by colonising the state and other mass organisations, and by controlling Albania's supreme organ of state power, the People's Assembly.
Communist Albania was established after the end of World War II, succeeding the communist-dominated National Liberation Movement-led (or LANÇ) Democratic Government of Albania. Under the leadership of the PLA and especially Enver Hoxha, Albania pursued an anti-revisionist Stalinist form of Marxism-Leninism, which led to the Albanian-Soviet split in 1956 and then the Sino-Albanian split in 1978. The state was first led by Enver Hoxha from 1946 to 1985, and then by Ramiz Alia from 1985 to 1991. The period of Enver Hoxha's leadership is commonly referred to as Hoxhaist Albania and as the Hoxhaist regime.[3][4][5][6]
Governed as a totalitarian dictatorship with dictator's ideology called Hoxhaism,[7][8][9] travel and visa restrictions made Albania one of the most difficult countries to visit or travel from. Being Europe's only Muslim-majority country at the time, it declared itself the world's first atheist state in 1967.[10] It was the only Warsaw Pact member to formally withdraw from the alliance before 1990, an action which was occasioned by the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia in August 1968. The government implemented reforms which were aimed at modernizing Albania, and they resulted in significant gains in the areas of industry, agriculture, education, the arts, and culture, which contributed to a general increase in the Albanian population's standard of living. However, these developments coincided with political repression by the secret police, the Sigurimi, for the purposes of preventing a counter-revolution, which included dismissal from employment, imprisonment in forced labor camps and executions.[11]
The first multi-party elections in Socialist Albania took place on 31 March 1991 – the Communists gained a majority in an interim government. The Republic of Albania was proclaimed on 29 April 1991 and the country's first parliamentary elections were held on 22 March 1992 leading to the anti-communist oppositional victory. On 7 April 1992, all communist symbols were removed and the legal foundation of the People's Socialist Republic of Albania was only repealed on 28 November 1998 upon the adoption of the new Constitution of Albania.
- ^ Human Development Report 1990, p. 111
- ^ Osman, Ahmeddin (24 June 2025). "Enver Hoxha and Isaias Afwerki: A Tale of Two Strongmen". erisat.org.
- ^ "Living Red: My father's life under Hoxha's Albania (Part 1)".
- ^ Kushtetuta e Republikës Popullore Socialiste të Shqipërisë: miratuar nga Kuvendi Popullor më 28. 12. 1976 [1]
- ^ Idrizi, Idrit (27 April 2021). "Debates About the Communist Past as Personal Feuds: The Long Shadow of the Hoxha Regime in Albania". Cultures of History Forum. University of Vienna. Archived from the original on 9 January 2025.
- ^ Walker, Shaun (28 June 2019). "The house that Hoxha built: dictator's villa to become public space". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 25 December 2024. Retrieved 9 January 2025.
- ^ Pajo, Matilda (September–December 2016). "Consequences of the Totalitarian Past on Albanian post-communist society" (PDF). Revistia. 3 (1): 138–141 – via European Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies.
- ^ Balliu, Mine (3 July 2015). "Totalitarianism of Arendt and the Case of Albania". Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences. 6 (4): 415. ISSN 2039-2117.
- ^ www.berghahnjournals.com https://www.berghahnjournals.com/view/journals/aspasia/16/1/asp160113.xml. Retrieved 7 June 2025.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ Majeska, George P. (1976). "Religion and Atheism in the U.S.S.R. and Eastern Europe, Review". The Slavic and East European Journal. 20(2). pp. 204–206.
- ^ "Socialist Albania: The Stalinist state". Encyclopædia Britannica.