29-628: Qemal Stafa (20 March 1920 – 5 May 1942) was an Albanian politician and one of the founding members of the Albanian Communist Party , and the leader of its youth section. Stafa was born in Elbasan in 1920, into a Gheg Albanian family originating from the Zabzun village, which was part of the Dibra Region at the time. His father Hasan was in the military, and moved in 1923 to Shkodër as Director of
58-509: A Marxist-Leninist party, and was powerless to prevent the adoption of a new interim constitution that formally stripped it of its monopoly of power. In 1991, the PPSh dissolved and refounded itself as the social-democratic Socialist Party of Albania , which is now one of the two major political parties in Albania. A group called "Volunteers of Enver", led by Hysni Milloshi , laid claim to the identity of
87-497: A socialist society. Hoxha led the party and state more or less without resistance until his death in 1985. Hoxha's successor, Ramiz Alia , was forced to initiate gradual reforms in order to stop the country's economic downspiral. However, in late 1989, various elements of society began to speak out against the restrictions still in place. The execution of Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceauşescu led Alia to fear he would be next. In response, he allowed Albanians to travel abroad, ended
116-668: The Comintern . In August 1928, the first Albanian Communist Party was formed in the Soviet Union. The most prominent figure of the party was Ali Kelmendi who left Albania in 1936, to fight in the Spanish Civil War . He was later regarded as the leader of a small group of Albanian Communists in France. However, no unified organisation existed in Albania until 1941. Following the German attack on
145-780: The Democratic Front . Its daily publication was Zëri i Popullit (Voice of the People) and its monthly theoretical journal was Rruga e Partisë (Road of the Party). The highest organ of the Party, according to the Party statutes, was the Party Congress, which met for a few days every five years. Delegates to the Congress were elected at conferences held at the regional, district, and city levels. The Congress examined and approved reports submitted by
174-781: The Soviet Union together with other 13 Albanians based on a study-related invitation from COMINTERN . He passed one year in the Dzerzhinsky Academy in Leningrad (today's "Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich"), and after that he moved to Odessa to work as customs official. There he joined the Albanian communist group affiliated to the Balkan Confederation of Communist Parties belonging to the Communist International . In 1930,
203-517: The Adriatic sea with Hoxha's blessing. However, following Stalin's death , the party became the most rigidly anti-revisionist party in the Soviet Bloc . In 1961, Hoxha broke with Moscow over Nikita Khrushchev 's supposed deviations from fundamental principles of Marxism-Leninism, though relations between Tirana and Moscow had begun to chill as early as 1955. During this time, pro-Moscow elements of
232-497: The Central Committee elected a Politburo and a Secretariat . The Politburo, which usually included key government ministers and Central Committee secretaries, was the main administrative and policy-making body and convened on a weekly basis. Generally, the Central Committee approved Politburo reports and policy decisions. The Secretariat was responsible for guiding the day-to-day affairs of the Party, in particular for organising
261-451: The Central Committee, discussed general Party policies, and elected the Central Committee. The latter was the next-highest level in the Party hierarchy and generally included all key officials in the government, as well as prominent members of the Sigurimi . The Central Committee directed Party activities between Party Congresses and met approximately three times a year. As in the Soviet Union,
290-622: The Communist International sent Kelmendi to Albania as an organizer of the communist movement. He also made some organizational work in Kosovo. However, his work bore no considerable fruit since Marxism hadn't found any favorable soil in Albania and the clandestine work was very difficult because of the activity of the security police. Kelmendi was arrested several times and in 1936 he was exiled. He went shortly back to Russia in March 1932, and after
319-573: The Main Stand in the current national stadium, Arena Kombëtare . Although he was glorified in the People's Socialist Republic of Albania , his fiancée and his siblings' families were imprisoned and persecuted by the same administration, a fact not known by most Albanians. Albanian Communist Party The Party of Labour of Albania ( PLA ), also referred to as the Albanian Workers' Party ( AWP ),
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#1732885001243348-544: The PPSh as the Communist Party of Albania . The ideology of the PPSh was an anti-revisionist variant of Marxism–Leninism known as Hoxhaism . The party organisation was built up following democratic centralist principles, with Hoxha as its First Secretary. Article 3 of Albania's 1976 Constitution identified the Party as the "leading political force of the state and of the society." To help carry out its ideological activities it had an associated mass organization known as
377-839: The Party: Ali Kelmendi Ali Kelmendi (3 November 1900 – 11 February 1939) was a Kosovar Albanian communist, an organizer of the communist movement in Albania and was posthumously a Hero of Albania under the communist government. Ali Kelmendi was born on 3 November 1900 in a poor peasant family in the town of İpek in the Kosovo Vilayet of the Ottoman Empire (in present-day Kosovo ), son of Sulejman Kelmendi. In 1920 he fled to Albania after all communist activities were banned in Kingdom of Yugoslavia . There he joined
406-768: The Recruiting Office for the Prefecture of Shkodër. Qemal Stafa studied in Shkodër at the Saverian College . With the educational reforms established by the Minister Mirash Ivanaj , private schools were closed and Stafa moved to the public high school of Shkodër. After the death of his father in 1936, his family moved to Tirana , where he studied at the Tirana Lyceum (subsequently named Qemal Stafa High School ). He
435-622: The Soviet Union in June 1941, Yugoslav leader Josip Broz Tito under Comintern directives sent two Yugoslav delegates Miladin Popović and Dušan Mugoša to Albania. These two helped unite the Albanian communist groups in 1941. After intensive work, the Albanian Communist Party was formed on 8 November 1941 by a delegates from Shkodër with Enver Hoxha from the Korça branch as its leader. The PKSh
464-534: The execution of Politburo decisions and for selecting Party and government cadres. The staunchly orthodox stand of the PPSh attracted many political groupings around the world, particularly among Maoists who were not content with the Chinese Communist Party 's attitude in the late 1970s. A large number of parties declared themselves to be in the "PPSh line", especially during the period 1978–1980. However, many of them abandoned this certain affiliation after
493-529: The exile from Albania to Greece and then Moscow . He later server as an intermediary between COMINTERN and Albanian communist groups. Kelmendi participated in the Spanish Civil War , fighting with the Garibaldi International Brigade. In 1939, he edited a propagandist newspaper in France together with other Albanian communists. He died in Paris, France, on 11 February 1939 after complications from
522-526: The fall of the socialist government in Albania. Today, many of the political parties upholding the political line of the PPSh are grouped around the International Conference of Marxist-Leninist Parties and Organisations . The following parties were followers of the PPSh during the Cold War: Various friendship associations were also formed by international Communist sympathizers who supported
551-602: The helm of out-and-out Communist regimes. King Zog was barred from ever returning to Albania, though the monarchy was not formally abolished until January 1946. In the elections for the Constituent Assembly held on 2 December 1945 , voters were presented with a single list from the Democratic Front , organised and led by the PKSh. The Front received 93.7% of the vote. In a meeting with Joseph Stalin in July 1947 Stalin suggested
580-518: The left-wing political movement "Bashkimi" (English: Unity ) of Avni Rustemi , Llazar Fundo , and Fuat Asllani. In June 1924, he participated in the resurgence led by Fan Noli in Albania as a fighter. After the fall of Noli's regime (December 1924) he emigrated to Brindisi , Italy , thereafter to Austria . Kelmendi joined the anti-Zogist group KONARE (English: Revolutionary National Committee , Albanian : Komiteti Nacional Revolucionar ) founded by Noli. On 8 October 1925 Kelmendi went then to
609-498: The party be renamed to the "Party of Labour of Albania" because peasants were a majority in the country. Hoxha accepted this suggestion. During the period from 1947 to 1953, relations between the Party of Labour of Albania and the Soviet Union were close, as Hoxha steered the party towards a firm Stalinist line. For their part, the Soviets gave significant technological and economical aid to Albania, and also stationed military forces on
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#1732885001243638-546: The party was dominated by its First Secretary, Enver Hoxha , who was also the de facto leader of Albania from 1944 until his death in 1985. In the 1920s, Albania was the only Balkan country without a communist party. The first Albanian communists emerged from the followers of Albanian clergyman and politician Fan S. Noli . Once in Moscow, they formed the National Revolutionary Committee and became affiliated to
667-590: The party were purged, including Liri Belishova and Koço Tashko. Having once again eliminated his rivals, Hoxha opted instead to align his party with the People's Republic of China under Mao Zedong . In 1968, Albania formally withdrew from the Warsaw Pact . The party even went as far as to engineer an Albanian version of China's Cultural Revolution . After Mao's death , the PKSh felt increasing chagrin as Mao's successors moved away from his legacy. In 1978, Hoxha declared that Albania would blaze its own trail to
696-466: The regime's longstanding policy of state atheism, and slightly loosened government control of the economy. However, these measures only served to buy Alia more time. Finally, bowing to the inevitable, on 11 December 1990, Alia announced that the PPSh had abandoned power and legalised opposition parties. The PPSh won the Constitutional Assembly elections of 1991 . However, by then it was no longer
725-564: Was arrested on 24 January. He was sentenced to three years due to his age, while he accepted all accusations. With the turmoils of the Italian invasion of Albania of 7 April 1939, he was released from jail. Stafa spent some time in Florence as a law student, on a scholarship from the Albanian government. Stafa was one of the founding members of the Albanian Communist Party in Tirana on 8 November 1941. He
754-480: Was killed in a house on the outskirts of Tirana by the Italian fascist forces, who had occupied Albania . The 5 May, the anniversary of his death, was chosen after the end of the war as the Martyrs' Day of Albania to commemorate all those who gave their lives for Albania's liberation. Many streets, squares and schools in different cities bear his name as well as a military base, Albania's former national stadium and
783-521: Was one of the co-founders of the Communist Group of Shkodër, one out of three groups that would join in 1941 to form the Communist Party of Albania . In February 1939, a special court sat in Tirana against 73 people suspected for performing communist activities and propaganda. Among others there were, Tuk Jakova , Vasil Shanto , Vojo Kushi , Branko Kadia , Zef Mala , Emin Duraku and the young Stafa who
812-502: Was the ruling and sole legal party of Albania during the communist period (1945–1991). It was founded on 8 November 1941 as the Communist Party of Albania ( Partia Komuniste e Shqipërisë , PKSh ) but changed its name in 1948 following a recommendation by Joseph Stalin . The party was dissolved on 13 June 1991 and succeeded by the Socialist Party of Albania and the new Communist Party of Albania . For most of its existence,
841-635: Was the dominant element of the National Liberation Movement (LNC), formed in 1942. The LNC drove out the German occupiers (who had taken over from the Italians in 1943) on 29 November 1944. From that day onward, Albania was a full-fledged Communist regime . In every other Eastern European country, the Communists were at least nominally part of a coalition government for a few years before seizing power at
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