People's Socialist Republic of Albania (1946–1992)

This article is about the government which existed between 1946 and 1992. For the present country, see 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 Republic of Albania (1991–1992) Republika e Shqipërisë
1946–1992
Flag Coat of arms
Capital	Tirana
Official languages	Albanian
Religion	State atheism
Dominant mode of production	Socialism
Government	People's Socialist Republic
• First Secretary (1946-1985) (1985-1991)	Enver Hoxha Ramiz Alia
Legislature	People's Assembly
History
• Established	1946
• Dissolution	1992
HDI (1989)	0.790
Currency	Franga (1946-1947) Albanian Lek (1947-1991)
Calling code	+355

The People's Socialist Republic of Albania was a Marxist-Leninist state that existed from 1946 to 1992. The country emerged from the struggle against Italian fascist invaders, and through the leadership of the Party of Labour of Albania. It was led for most of its existence by Enver Hoxha, whose ideas and leadership formed the branch of Marxism-Leninism known as Hoxhaism.

The People's Socialist Republic of Albania is a generally viewed as complicated case for scientific socialists to analyze. The following assessment of the revolution is given by a University of London study:

Overall, how can we characterize communist Albania? Clearly, in spite of considerable economic development relative to its previous level, it remained poor and mostly rural. However, the social agenda of development made much more progress. Education and social security became virtually universal, and health care was available to all. Moreover, traditionally severe discrimination against women was greatly reduced.

Some achievements of the communists are acknowledged even by reactionaries:

The reduction of long-standing traditions of discrimination against women, and the provision of universal education and primary health-care were achievements which even the regime’s enemies acknowledge.

The communists also greatly developed the nation's economy, developed its infrastructure, and liberated it from foreign domination. One of the best summations of the achievements of socialism in Albania is given by the Encyclopedia Britannica, in its article on Enver Hoxha:

Albania’s economy was revolutionized under Hoxha’s long rule. Farmland was confiscated from wealthy landowners and gathered into collective farms that eventually enabled Albania to become almost completely self-sufficient in food crops. Industry, which had previously been almost nonexistent, received huge amounts of investment, so that by the 1980's it had grown to contribute more than half of the gross national product. Electricity was brought to every rural district, epidemics of disease were stamped out, and illiteracy became a thing of the past. Encyclopedia Britannica | Enver Hoxha

History

World War II and fascist occupation

Prior to World War II, Albania was the poorest nation in Europe. The country had not gone through industrialization, and it was an entirely feudal and agricultural nation. Up to 90% of the total national income was derived from agriculture with only up to 9% of the land under cultivation. About 88% of the people lived in rural areas, but 53% of peasants had no land ownership in 1938, and over four fifths of the population was illiterate. At the time, Albania was under the monarchical rule of Ahmet Zogu, which established a political and economical relationship with fascist Italy since 1925, effectively allowing Italy to exploit Albania's mineral resources and export capital there.

By 1928, a quarter of Albania was let out in concessions to Italian, British and Statesian corporations which profited from oil and mineral resources. From 1925 to 1939, the Italian fascist government lent several loans to Albania which was turned into debts used to extract more concessions in favor of Italian interests, including placing the Albanian army under control of the fascists. On March 1939, the Italian government pressured Zogu to sign a treaty allowing Italian troops in Albanian land, taking control of the country's strategic infrastructure, and allowing Italian farmers to settle in Albania, enjoying full citizenship rights and other privileges. In that year, up to 70% of Albania's exports was headed to Italy.

In April 7th, 1939, the Italian fascists invaded Albania with around 40,000 troops. The Albanian army was already under Italian control, and resistance against the invaders was existent, although insufficient, and by April 10th, Albania was almost completely conquered by fascist forces. This act of aggression did not render any protest from the Western powers at the time, and the United Kingdom still maintained the Anglo-Italian agreement signed a year before. The fascist invaders suppressed the Albanian army as an independent force and made it subordinate to the Italian army. The Italians sent agents from Rome to set up the Albanian Fascist Party, with subsidiary organizations for youth, children, women and workers in an attempt to indoctrinate them with fascist ideology.

The Italian effort to colonize Albania brought tens of thousands of Italians into the country from different backgrounds – workers, farmers, teachers, technicians, merchants, industrialists and state officials. By 1940, there were more Italian workers than Albanians. The Italian language was imposed into the education system and the Albanian culture was subjected to "Italianization." Within the first year of colonization, there were nearly 140 Italian capitalist enterprises profiting from cheap labor and exploiting the country's natural resources to fuel the war economy of fascist Italy. Several military bases and strategic roads were built to further Italian aggressive interests in the Balkan region. Albania was quickly turned into a source of raw materials for Italy and a market for Italian goods. The working conditions of the Albanian workers were deplorable, but nonetheless, a handful of Albanian merchants benefited from Italian invasion through speculation.

On 29 November 1944, Albania was liberated from the Italian fascist occupiers. National liberation councils had existed during the war in much of the country but were extended to the north in this period. In early 1945, new elections were held throughout the country. During the war, the fascists destroyed hundreds of villages and over 62,000 houses. All bridges had been destroyed, and roads, seaports, and power stations were badly damaged. The Soviet Union provided wheat to Albania at the end of the war.

Counterrevolution attempt

From 1949 to 1953, the USA and UK sent anti-communist guerrillas into Albania to overthrow the new socialist government. Most of the guerrillas were monarchists or fascist collaborators.

Communist government

The People's Socialist Republic of Albania experienced a significant transformation under communist rule, marked by substantial economic reforms and rapid industrial growth. When the communists came to power, they swiftly set about transforming the nation's economy, nationalizing all industries, enacting land reform programs, and establishing a Soviet-style planned economy. This resulted in impressive economic growth, as well as the rapid development of industry. The average growth of industry from 1951 to 1975 was 82.5% and the share of agriculture decline from 80% during the first five year plan (1951-55) to 36% in the fifth plan (1971-75). The average growth of the net material product from one five-year plan to the next was nearly 44%.

Infrastructure development was a major focus alongside industrial growth. By 1985, Albania had developed an extensive highway system spanning 6,900 kilometers and a modest rail network of 603 kilometers. The nation also became a leading producer of chrome, ranking first globally in per capita production during the late 1950s and third in total output by the 1980s. Leveraging its abundant river systems, Albania invested heavily in hydroelectric power, achieving an estimated capacity of 2,500 MW, making it second only to Norway in Europe. This capacity facilitated energy agreements with neighboring Yugoslavia and Greece.

In 1969 direct taxation was abolished, and during this period the quality of schooling and health care continued to improve. It was during this period that Albania achieved full electrification, becoming one of the first nations on Earth (possibly the first, according to some sources) to do so. Electricity was brought to every rural district in the country (the vast majority of the population was rural), and cities were given full power as well.

However, the economic progress began to falter post-1975. The latter half of the 1980s was characterized by economic stagnation, exacerbated by Albania's increased isolation and significant investments in military and fortification projects. Real GDP growth slowed markedly, with an average annual increase of just 1% from 1980 to 1990, and no growth recorded in the latter half of that decade. This downturn reflected both internal inefficiencies and the broader challenges posed by Albania's isolationist policies.

Counterrevolution

After the PPSh won the elections in March 1991, the NED organized mass protests and a general strike and gave over $100,000 to the opposition, leading the government to collapse in June. The U.S. threatened to refuse all aid from the country if the Communists won the next elections in March 1992. With major U.S. support, the Democratic Party won the 1992 elections.

Governance

Education

Education was a top priority of the communist government, due to the extremely poor educational conditions of the country post-WWII. According to the earlier cited study:

The end of the second World War found Albania in a very poor educational state. At that time 80% of the population was illiterate, and in the rural areas this figure reached 90-95%. Illiteracy was widespread in rural areas and in particular among women. Immediately upon seizure of power in 1944, the communist regime gave high priority to opening schools and organizing the whole educational system along communist lines. An intensive campaign against illiteracy started immediately.

This resulted in enormous improvements in the educational system:

In terms of enrollments, Albania had a broad-based education system, with almost 90% of the pupils completing the compulsory basic 8-year school and 74% of them continuing into secondary school. From these, more than 40% went to the university. According to official figures, at the end of 1972 there were 700,000 schoolchildren and university students, which meant that every third citizen was enrolled in some kind of educational institution. The number of kindergartens in urban areas increased by 112% from 1970 to 1990, while in rural areas it increased by 150%. The number of primary schools in urban areas, for the same period of time, rose 31%, and in rural areas 24%. The total number of secondary schools increased by 291%, and that of high schools by 60%. A similar trend is seen for the number of students that graduated. Thus the number of pupils that graduated from primary schools for the period 1970-1990 increased by 74.8%, for the secondary school, the number rose 914.2%, and for university 147%. Education tuition was free of charge. Students whose families had low incomes were entitled to scholarships, which gave them free accommodation, food, etc.

As a result, illiteracy was virtually wiped out across the country:

At the end of eighties, Albania had a rate of illiteracy of less than 5%, placing it among the developed countries.

This is a remarkable advancement. As the study says:

The achievement of universal education must be judged one of the communist regime’s main achievements.

Healthcare

Healthcare was another area in which the communists made enormous progress. After WWII, Albania's healthcare situation was rather desperate:

As explained earlier in this Chapter, when the communists took over in Albania in 1945, the state of the population's health and the Albanian health system were in a very bad state. Before the War, the health system consisted only of 10 state hospitals and an Institute of Hygiene founded in Tirana in 1938. The number of doctors was very low - only 102 Albanian doctors and a very small number of foreign doctors. Thus, the number of physicians (doctors and dentists) per 10,000 of the population was only 1.17, while the number of beds for 1,000 of population only 0.98.

Life expectancy and mortality were among the worst in the world:

According to the League of Nations in 1941, the crude death rate for Albania in 1938 was 17.7 per thousand. In a later study a figure on life expectancy at birth is given for 1938 as 38 years. Even these figures are thought not to be accurate, because death registration was not complete. There was no death certificate form, the posting of registers was always in arrears, and very little information on cause of death was recorded. The majority of villagers died without any medical intervention. In the early twenties over half of the country's 2,540 villages had never been visited by a doctor.

Because of this, the communists made healthcare a top priority:

In order to address this situation, the government starting in 1947, introduced a wide-ranging social insurance and medical scheme. Most medical treatments (thought not the medicines) were provided free. Legislation was introduced to protect the mother and child, and set up the pension scheme, as well as other regulations on sanitary conditions and control, and for the treatment of infectious diseases.

As a result of communist healthcare policy, life expectancy increased rapidly in Albania:

Most of the improvement in life expectancy at birth occurred in the first decade, when life expectancy at birth increased by 10.4 years for both sexes, more than one year for each year of the decade. In the next three decades mortality continued to improve, although not at the same pace as in the first decade.

The following table charts life expectancy in Albania from 1950-1990, as given by the aforementioned study (recall that life expectancy in 1938 was approx. 38 years):

Years	Life Expectancy (Male and Female)
1950	51.6
1954-55	55.0
1960	62.0
1964-65	64.1
1969	66.5
1975-1976	67.0
1979	68.0
1989	70.7

From these statistics, it is clear that the communists achieved an enormous increase in life expectancy, from 38 years in 1938, to 68 years in 1979, an increase of thirty years in just four decades. It continued to improve until 1989, albeit more slowly.

The communists also succeeded in eliminating various infectious diseases which had plagued the country, particularly malaria, which had been the biggest killer in pre-war Albania:

A number of endemic diseases were brought under control, including malaria, tuberculosis and syphilis... If one looks at the mortality transition from 1950 to 1990, it is clear that the pattern changes as life expectancy improves. Thus, the infectious and parasitic (tuberculosis included) diseases decline and almost disappear in the seventies and eighties.

The Albanian communists made a number of extremely impressive achievements in the field of healthcare. Unfortunately, this too began to suffer at the tail-end of the communist period.

Social security

The social security system was a major priority of the communist government. Based on the Soviet model, the communists developed a cradle-to-grave social welfare system throughout the nation:

Social Insurance was first introduced by the Albanian communist government in 1947. The initial social security scheme covered approximately 75,000 people. The social insurance program was administered by state organisations and covered medical care, compensation for disability, old-age pensions, family allowances, and rest and recreation. Several modifications were made latter to the basic program. The law of 1953 provided a program closely resembling that of the Soviet Union, i.e. a classic cradle-to-grave system of social security. For a number of years trade unions administered a large number of social insurance activities. In 1965 the state took over the administration of all phases except those for rest and recreation facilities.

Maternity leave and disability insurance were provided:

If people lost their capacity to work totally or partially, they were granted invalidity pensions. The amount of the pension varied between 40-85% of the wage depending on the scale of invalidity, cause of invalidity and the number of years that the person had been working. Pregnant women were given eighty-four days leave under normal circumstances and were paid at 95% of their wage if they had worked for more than five years and 75% if they had worked less than five. The pregnancy leave period was extended to six months in 1981. Workers could stay at home for limited periods to care for the sick and during this period received 60% of their pay.

Old-age pensions were also provided to all retired workers:

Old-age pensions were based on age and years of work. Payments were calculated at the rate of 70% of the worker’s average monthly wage. Two exceptions were the veterans of the Second World War and the Party leaders who received an additional 10%. The law also provided for widow’s and orphan’s pensions.

All workers were guaranteed time off from work, with pay:

All insured persons were entitled to a paid vacation. The duration of the vacation depended on the type of work and the length of active employment.

Childcare insurance was also an aspect of the social security system:

When children under seven years of age were ill, one of the parents was permitted up to ten days leave during a three month period. A one-time payment was made to the family for each child that was born. In case of death a fixed sum was paid to the family for funeral expenses.

Eventually, the system was expanded to include peasants in farming cooperatives:

From 1st July 1972 the system of pensions and social security was extended to cover peasants working in agriculture cooperatives. This aimed at the narrowing of the differences between urban and rural areas. Some agricultural cooperatives had already introduced some forms of pensions and social insurance providing help for their members in old age and when they were unable to work. The financing of this social security system in the rural areas came from the contributions of the cooperatives with some subsidization from the state.

The provision of a cradle-to-grave social welfare system is an enormous achievement, and one of the main advances made by the communist government.

Women's rights

Pre-war Albania was one of the most reactionary societies on Earth with regards to women's rights:

For most women, traditional Albanian life was characterized by discrimination and inequality compared with men, reinforced by a wide range of cultural norms... In the immediate pre-war period there were just 21 female teachers in the country, a couple of women doctors and no female engineers, agronomists or chemists. Only 2.4 percent of secondary school students were girls.

The Code of Leke (the traditional pre-war Albanian code of law relating to women) was harshly discriminatory. Even murder of a pregnant woman was punished differently depending on the sex of the fetus she was carrying:

... the dead woman [is] to be opened up, in order to see whether the fetus is a boy or a girl. If it is a boy, the murderer must pay 3 purses [a set amount of local currency] for the woman's blood and 6 purses for the boy's blood; if it is a girl, aside from the three purses for the murdered woman, 3 purses must also be paid for the female child.

In order to rectify this situation, the communists placed an enormous emphasis on women's rights:

When the communists came to power they considered the emancipation of women as an important political measure, linking it with the destiny of socialism and communism... Equality between men and women was stressed continuously and was even included in the Constitution. The Introduction to the Constitution of the PSR of Albania says that “In the unceasing process of the revolution, the Albanian woman won equality in all fields, became a great social force and is advancing towards her complete emancipation." Article 41 of the constitution says: “The woman enjoys equal rights with a man in work, pay, holidays, social security, education, in all social-political activities as well as in the family.”

Women became an active part of the workforce, while previously they had been almost entirely excluded:

Equal rights included amongst others the equal right to have a job. Subsidized day-care nurseries and kindergartens, launderettes and canteens at both workplace, and in residential areas were provided, to make it easier for mothers to work. By 1980 women made up 46% of the economically active population, an increase over one quarter compared with 1960.

Women also made huge advanced in access to education, as well as in positions of government power:

Educational opportunities for women also improved considerably. Table 2.5 shows the increase in the percentage of students who were women graduating from university according to specialties. The table shows that the increase in the percentage during the period 1960-1990, for women engineers was 258.6%, while that for agronomists was 206%, for economists 192%. The same policy was adopted for the participation of women in governing of the country.

Edwin E. Jacques discusses this issue in his book The Albanians: An Ethnographic History from Prehistoric Times to the Present:

• Google Books | The Albanians: An Ethnographic History from Prehistoric Times to the Present

According to Jacques, during the Cultural and Ideological Revolution, women were encouraged to take up all jobs, including government posts, which resulted in 40.7% of the People's Councils and 30.4% of the People's Assembly being made up of women, including two women in the Central Committee by 1985. In 1978, 15.1 times as many females attended eight-year schools as had done so in 1938 and 175.7 times as many females attended secondary schools. By 1978, 101.9 times as many women attended higher schools as in 1957.

The People's Socialist Republic of Albania made a number of enormous achievements in terms of women's rights. Even the most reactionary of commentators have acknowledged this. For example, take the following article from the Telegraph, authored by a reactionary writer who grew up in communist Albania:

• The Telegraph | Growing Up Under Communist Rule Made Me the Tough Feminist I Am Today

As she says in the article:

Inspired by the ongoing debate on women’s inequalities, I have recently reflected on my own childhood politics and have come to the surprising conclusion that the place to look for solutions to gender inequality is the Communist model.

She comments on the communist encouragement of women in the workforce:

The Communist promise that women should be equal players in the workforce was not an empty one. Women were positively encouraged by government campaigns to embark on all professions, including “manly” jobs, building on the fact they had fought in large numbers alongside the men as partisans during the Second World War. To achieve this they were given trainee-ships, professional qualifications and scholarships... Growing up, I never encountered any suggestion that women in these professions were in any way less capable than men by virtue of their gender and additional role as mothers. On the whole, they faced no barriers of gender discrimination. I remember my parents and their friends frequently praising excellent female doctors and teachers... This form of equal partnership was commonplace in the Albanian society I grew up and importantly women’s role in the family informed how women were viewed in the workplace and vice-versa. If men suggested that women should be relegated to the house they were mocked for their anachronistic ideas.

When even a reactionary writer whose parents sent her to clandestine Italian lessons (the language of the fascist occupiers) is praising the communist policies towards women's rights, that is a strong indication of their success.

Further reading

• All library works about Albania
• All library documents from Albania

References

University of London | Mortality Transition in Albania: 1950-1990

Google Books | The Albanians: An Ethnographic History from Prehistoric Times to the Present

The Telegraph | Growing Up Under Communist Rule Made Me the Tough Feminist I Am Today

Encyclopedia Britannica | Enver Hoxha