1949-1968 Recent History







Albania 1968-1989


Administration . Albania had been proclaimd a People's Republic in 1945 and had adopted a communist constitution in 1946. Parliamentary elections were held in 1945, 1970, 1974, 1978, 1982 and 1987. The dominating political figure was Enver Hoxha, until his retirement in 1981 First Secretary of the Communist Albanian Party of Labour. From 1982 to 1992 Ramiz Tafe Alia held the reigns of the country, until 1991 as Chairman of the Presidium of the People's Assembly, from 1991 to 1992 as President.

Foreign Policy . Since 1958/1960, Albania sided with the PR China in the ideological conflict between the USSR and China. Albania also withdrew from the Warsaw Pact in 1968.
When the P.R. China went through the transfer from the post-cultural revolution to a policy of opening to the west and pursuing economic reforms, in 1978 Albania declared itself to be the only remaining true communist state in the world.
When European governments' delegations met in Helsinki to attend the CSCE, Albania was the only government not represented, and subsequently the only government not signing the Helsinki Accord of 1975.
Relations with Britain, since 1945, were strained; Albania and Britain did not maintain diplomatic relations.
Relations with neighbour Yugoslavia were strained since Tito broke with Stalin in 1948; a rapprochement took place in the early 1980es. One factor leading to the breach of relations with the PR China was the decision by the PR China to enter into diplomatic relations with Yugoslavia.

Political History . The Communist Albanian Party of Labour was in firm control of the country. In 1981, just before his retirement, Enver Hoxha had a number of Communist politicians excuted.

The Economy . Fourth Five Year Plan 1966-1970, Fifth Five Year Plan 1971-1975, Sixth Five Year Plan 1976-1980, Seventh Five Year Plan 1981-1985, Eighth Five Year Plan 1986-1990.
In 1968, Albania produced 168,000 metric tons of wheat, in 1988 633,000 (IHS p.255).
In 1971 the eletrification of Albania was completed. In 1984, the country's first and only rail connection with another country (Yugoslavia's Montenegro) was opened.

Social History . The census of 1969 counted 2.0 million Albanians, the census of 1979 2.59 million, the census of 1989 3.18 million (Lahmeyer).
Years of political and economic isolation lead only to stagnation and deterioration. When the communist system collapsed in eastern Europe and Albania, too, laxed border controls, a large number of Albanians tried to emigrate.

Cultural History . Television broadcasting began in 1969. The Albanian Academy of Sciences was established in 1981.
Albanian athletes participated in the Summer Olympics at Munich 1972, but were not represented at Mexico City 1968, Montreal 1976, Moscow 1980, Los Angeles 1984 and Seoul 1988.






EXTERNAL
LINKS 		Articles History of Communist Albania, Sino-Albanian Split, Constitution of Albania, Elections in Albania, Enver Hoxha, Albania at the 1972 Summer Olympics, from Wikipedia
HSH Albanian Railways, by F. Valoczy and G. Sarbutt
The Communist Regime, 1944-1985, from History of Albania by CCL-AL
Country Study Albania, from Library of Congress
DOCUMENTS Albanian Statesmen, from World Statesmen (B. Cahoon)
Historical Population Statistics, from Population Statistics, (Jan Lahmeyer)
Albanian banknotes, from Ron Wise's World Paper Money and from Currency Museum
REFERENCE IHS : B.R. Mitchell, International Historical Statistics : Europe 1750-1988, NY : Stockton Press 1992 [G]
Miranda Vickers, The Albanians - a Modern History, (1995) London : Tauris 2001, 282 pp., KMLA Lib.Sign. 949.65 V637a
Article : Albania, pp.612-618 in : Encyclopaedia Britannica, 15th edition, Macropaedia, vol.14, KMLA Lib.Sign. R 032 B862n v.14
Article : Albania, in : Britannica Book of the Year 1970 p.92, 1971 p.89, 1972 pp.78-79, 1973 pp.75-76, 1974 pp.79-80, 1975 pp.69-70, 1976 pp.120-121, 1977 p.124, 1978 pp.179-180, 1979 p.175, 1980 p.174, 1981 p.176, 1982 pp.175-176, 1983 pp.169-170, 1984 p.168, 1985 pp.547, 623, 1986 pp.541-542, 619, 1987 pp.513, 587, 1988 pp.468, 539, 1989 pp.468-469, 539, 1990 pp.485, 555 [G]
Article : Albania, in : Statesman's Yearbook 1970-1971 pp.722-726, 1975-1976 pp.732-736, 1976-1977 pp.738-743, 1978-1979 pp.73-77, 1979-1980 pp.71-76, 1980-1981 pp.71-76, 1981-1982 pp.71-76, 1983-1984 pp.68-73, 1984-1985 pp.68-73, 1985-1986 pp.66-71, 1986-1987 pp.66-71, 1987-1988 pp.66-71, 1988-1989 pp.66-72, 1989-1990 pp.68-73 [G]
Article : Albania, in : The World in Figures 1st ed. 1976 p.208, 2nd ed. 1978 p.208, 4th ed. 1984 p.208 [G]
Article : Albania, in : Americana Annual 1970 pp.71-72, 1971 pp.91-92, 1972 pp.91-92, 1973 pp.84-85, 1974 p.87, 1976 p.83, 1988 p.100, 1989 p.103 [G]
Article : Albania, in : Funk & Wagnalls New Encyclopedia Year Book 1983 p.65 [G]
Article : Albania, in : Yearbook on International Communist Affairs 1980 pp.1-11 (Nicholas C. Pano) [G]


This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted on January 10th 2002, last revised on July 7th 2007

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