Enver Hoxha

The Iron Fist of Albania

Blendi Fevziu, Robert Elsie, Majlinda Nishku

• Publisher: I.B. Tauris
• Year: 2016
• Print ISBN: 9781784534851
• eBook ISBN: 9780857729088
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Political Biographies
• Index: Politics & International Relations

Stalinism, that particularly brutal phase of the Communist experience, came to an end in most of Europe with the death of Stalin in 1953. However, in one country - Albania - Stalinism survived virtually unscathed until 1990. The regime that the Albanian dictator Enver Hoxha led from 1944 until his death in 1985 was incomparably severe. Such was the reign of terror that no audible voice of opposition or dissent ever arose in the Balkan state and Albania became isolated from the rest of the world and utterly inward-looking. Three decades after his death, the spectre of Hoxha still lingers over the country, yet many people – inside and outside Albania – know little about the man who ruled the country with an iron fist for so many decades. This book provides the first biography of Hoxha available in English. Using unseen documents and first-hand interviews, journalist Blendi Fevziu pieces together the life of a tyrannical ruler in a biography which will be essential reading for anyone interested in Balkan history and communist studies

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Blendi Fevziu is a journalist, based in Tirana. He was the co-founder of the RD (Democratic Renaissance) newspaper and presents the popular TV talk show Opinion. He has written several books in Albanian.

Robert Elsie is an expert in the field of Albanian studies. He is the author of over ninety books, including Albanian Literature: A Short History and A Biographical Dictionary of Albanian History (both published by I.B.Tauris and the Centre for Albanian Studies).

Majlinda Nishku is a London-based translator who taught English at the University of Tirana. Since 2000 she has been working as a freelance conference interpreter and translator for various international organisations.

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‘Blendi Fevziu’s work is extraordinary. Written like a crime novel, based on unparalleled access to once closed Albanian archives, the book is a must read for anyone who wants to understand communist Europe and how dictatorships get set up and eventually survive. Fevziu succeeds brilliantly in capturing the horrors of Hoxha’s 41 years in power and brings to life many of the voices he silenced. Not only that, given the Hoxha legacy, Fevziu helps us better understand why… Albania’s path to democracy is so difficult. This biography is a major achievement.’

Robert C. Austin, Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto

‘Based on archival, oral, and published sources, Blendi Fevziu’s Enver Hoxha provides a fascinating, compelling and realistic account of the life and times of Albania’s unremittingly Stalinist dictator and the country he ruled with an iron hand for four decades. This book is a masterful combination of biography and history.’

Nicholas C. Pano, Professor Emeritus of History, Western Illinois University

Published in 2016 by
I.B.Tauris & Co. Ltd
London • New York
www.ibtauris.com

Copyright © 2016 Blendi Fevziu
Copyright, editorial and Foreword © 2016 Robert Elsie
English translation copyright © Majlinda Nishku

The right of Blendi Fevziu to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by the author in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or any part thereof, may not be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Every attempt has been made to gain permission for the use of the images in this book. Any omissions will be rectified in future editions.

References to websites were correct at the time of writing.

ISBN: 978 1 78453 485 1
eISBN: 978 0 85772 908 8
ePDF: 978 0 85772 703 9

A full CIP record for this book is available from the British Library
A full CIP record is available from the Library of Congress

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: available

Text design, typesetting and eBook by Tetragon, London

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Contents

• List of Illustrations
• Foreword
• List of Abbreviations
• 1 Death Comes Knocking
• 2 28 November 1944
• 3 From Gjirokastra to Korça
• 4 From France to Belgium: The Dropout
• 5 Teacher of Moral Education
• 6 The Founding of the Communist Party
• 7 A Leader with an Iron Fist
• 8 Nationalists and Communists
• 9 Head of the Provisional Government
• 10 The Plenary Meeting in Berat – An Interlude
• 11 Tirana and the Wedding
• 12 A Reign of Terror
• 13 Departure of the British and the Americans
• 14 The Yugoslavs: A Matter of Love and Hate
• 15 Stalin and the Soviets
• 16 The Bllok
• 17 Enver Hoxha and Mother Teresa
• 18 Split Personality
• 19 The Medical Team
• 20 The Great Purges
• 21 Demise of a Prime Minister
• 22 The Final Purges
• 23 The Years of Solitude
• 24 Death and What Remained
• Chronology of the Life of Enver Hoxha
• Glossary of Key Figures
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Plates

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‌List of Illustrations

‌1. The communist leaders arrive in Tirana on 28 November 1944 (Archives of the Centre for Albanian Studies, London).

2. Congress of the Democratic Front on 5 August 1945 (Archives of the Centre for Albanian Studies, London).

‌3. Portrait of Enver Hoxha, ca. 1945 (Archives of the Centre for Albanian Studies, London).

4. Enver Hoxha and jubilating party members, 1972 (Archives of the Centre for Albanian Studies, London).

‌5. Stalin and Enver Hoxha in Moscow (Archives of the Centre for Albanian Studies, London).

6. Enver Hoxha and the mostly aged members of the Politburo, on the occasion of the 7th Party Congress in November 1976 (Archives of the Centre for Albanian Studies, London).

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‌Foreword

Stalinism, that particularly sombre phase of Eastern European communism, came to an end in most of Eastern Europe with the death of Josef Stalin in 1953, or at least with the Khrushchev reforms that began in the Soviet Union in 1956. However, in one country – Albania – Stalinism survived unscathed until 1990.

The regime that the Albanian dictator Enver Hoxha (pronounced hodja) led from the time of the communist takeover in November 1944 until his death in April 1985, and that continued unabated under his successor Ramiz Alia until 1990, was severe indeed. Such was the reign of terror that no audible voice of opposition or dissent ever arose in the little Balkan state, a European country that was as isolated from the rest of the planet as North Korea is today.

When the Albanian communist system finally imploded and multi-party democracy was introduced in 1990–1, it left behind a weary population, frightened and confused after decades of purges and political terror. It also left behind a land with a sub-Saharan economy, a country where extreme poverty was the norm.

It has been over two decades since the communist regime in Albania came to an end. The people of Albania, who woke up to find themselves at the bottom of the barrel in European terms, have been struggling since that time to keep pace with the new world around them. In their struggle, they have not had much time to look back dispassionately and reflect on the man who dominated their lives for almost half a century. Yet the spectre of Enver Hoxha looms heavy over the land and most observers would agree that the Albanians are still coping in one way or another with the after-effects of his regime.

Few Albanians today will have a good word to say about the man who was once their god, but what do they actually know about him? Some still have recollections of the public image, created by official propaganda at the time, of their supreme leader as a benevolent ‘father Enver’, and imagine that, in his isolation in the Bllok with no one daring to contradict him, he may perhaps not have known how dire the situation at the grass roots really was. Others curse him as the devil incarnate who was directly responsible for all of the regime’s failings, yet they, too, have no precise idea of the role he played in the calamities that beset the nation during communism. Who was Enver Hoxha? Or are people still too frightened to ask? It is curious amidst all the speculation associated with his name that in the 25 years since the fall of the dictatorship, not one serious book has been published about Enver Hoxha. Until now.

In the early years of the new millennium, Tirana journalist and TV personality Blendi Fevziu began broadcasting a series of programmes on the communist dictatorship and on the life of Enver Hoxha, based on previously unpublished archival material and unseen film footage – revelations that shocked the nation. He also conducted exclusive interviews with leading personalities of the communist period who had known Enver Hoxha pers...

Table of contents

• List of Illustrations
• Foreword