Albania is a country that is rarely and rarely written and spoken about. For a long time, this small state in the southwestern part of the Balkans existed in almost complete isolation and was a kind of European analogue of North Korea. Despite the fact that Albania was on the list of "socialist-oriented countries", there was practically no information about Albania in the Soviet press. Indeed, back in the 1950s, after the start of Khrushchev's policy of de-Stalinization, a black streak passed in Soviet-Albanian relations. The situation worsened in 1961, when Albania refused to allow the Soviet Union to create a naval base of the USSR Navy on its coast. In the postwar years, Albania was unique in its own way among other states of the socialist camp. The peculiarities of its political development in the second half of the twentieth century were the result of the rule of Enver Hoxha, the “last Stalinist”. It was with this man that the external isolation of Albania was associated for a long time - a convinced Stalinist, Enver Hoxha positioned himself not only as an enemy of the capitalist world, but also as an enemy of "Soviet revisionism" and later "Chinese revisionism".
Albanians are descendants of the ancient Illyrian population of the Balkan Peninsula. They did not know developed statehood, although Albania for a long time was a field of intersection of interests of various neighboring states - Byzantium, the Epirus kingdom, Venice, Serbia. At the beginning of the twentieth century, Albania remained part of the Ottoman Empire. The territory of modern Albania fell under the rule of the Turks in 1571, when the Ottomans were able to finally eradicate the Venetian influence in the country. A gradual Islamization of the Albanian population began, and by now over 60% of Albanians are Muslims. Since the Turks managed to Islamize a significant part of the Albanian population, linguistically and culturally also different from the Slavs of the Balkan Peninsula and neighboring Greeks, there was no developed national liberation movement in Albania. The Albanians were considered a reliable pillar of Ottoman rule in the Balkans and played an important role in the military-political system of the Ottoman Empire. However, when Turkey was defeated in the Russian-Turkish war of 1877 - 1878, in accordance with the Treaty of San Stefano, in the future, the land of modern Albania was expected to be divided between Serbia, Montenegro and Bulgaria. Concerned about the unhappy prospect of being ruled by one of the Orthodox Slavic states, the Albanians became more politically active. Circles appeared that advocated the autonomy of Albania as part of the Ottoman Empire, and after Sultan Abdul-Hamid II was overthrown, in November 1908, a national congress of the Albanians was held, at which the question of autonomy and the creation of a single Albanian alphabet in Latin was again raised. basis. In 1909, uprisings broke out in Albania and Kosovo, which were brutally suppressed by Turkish troops. 1911-1912 were marked by new uprisings in different regions of the country. When Ottoman Turkey lost the First Balkan War, on November 28, 1912, the political independence of Albania was proclaimed and the first national government was formed under the leadership of Ismail Kemali.
Youth in a young state
The birth and first years of life of the future Albanian leader Enver Hoxha fell on the “Ottoman” period in the country's history. Enver Hoxha was born on October 16, 1908 in the small town of Gjirokastra, located in the southern part of Albania. Founded in the XII century, the city was part of the Epirus despotate, and since 1417 it was under the control of the Ottoman Turks.
home of the Khoja surname in Gjirokastra
Having entered the Ottoman Empire earlier than other Albanian cities, Gjirokastra also became a hotbed of the emergence of the national movement of the Albanians in the late 19th - early 20th centuries. Among the inhabitants of Gjirokastra, many belonged to the Bektash order - a very interesting and peculiar trend in Islam. The founder of the Bektashiyya Sufi order, Haji Bektashi, was known for not following traditional Muslim precepts, including namaz. The Bektashi revered Ali, which made them related to the Shiites, had a ritual meal of bread and wine, which united them with Christians, were distinguished by their freethinking and skeptical attitude towards orthodox Islam. Therefore, Bektashiyya became widespread among former Christians who were forced to convert to Islam in order to get rid of the increased tax and other discriminatory measures of the Ottoman government against non-believers. The parents of Enver Hoxha also belonged to the Bektashiyya order. Since the father of the future Albanian “communist number one” was engaged in the textile trade and was completely focused on his business, he entrusted the upbringing of his son to his uncle Khisen Khoja. A supporter of the independence of the Albanian people, Khisen at the same time adhered to relatively liberal ideas and criticized the repressive actions of the Ottoman and then independent Albanian governments.
The Hoxha family was wealthy and young Enver received a very good education for a native of a country in which at that time 85% of the inhabitants were generally illiterate. Enver graduated from elementary school in Gjirokastra in 1926, after which he entered the Lyceum in the city of Korca, which he graduated four years later, in the summer of 1930. It is known that in his youth the younger Khoja gravitated towards culture and art, loved to write poetry and read a lot. He perfectly mastered the French and Turkish languages. The Turkish language in Albania was widespread due to centuries-old cultural ties and the powerful influence of Turkish culture on Albanian, and the Albanian intelligentsia felt quite understandable gravitation towards France - it seemed to the Balkan provincials an unattainable model of high culture, political and economic development. After graduating from the Lyceum in Korca in the summer of 1930, young Enver Hoxha went to France, where he entered the University of Montpellier, the Faculty of Natural Sciences.
To obtain higher education, Enver was awarded a state scholarship. It was during his student years in France that Enver Hoxha began to familiarize himself with socialist literature, including the works of Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels and Vladimir Lenin. For his increased interest in socialist ideas, Enver was soon expelled from the university. However, sympathy for socialism did not prevent Hoxha from getting the post of secretary of the Albanian embassy in Belgium - it is obvious that the Hoxha family had good "garters" at the highest level, but the individual abilities of the future Albanian leader cannot be discounted.
European universities and instability at home
Just in those years when young Enver Hoxha was finishing his studies at the Lyceum, large-scale changes were taking place in the political life of Albania. As you know, after the proclamation of independence of Albania in 1912, the country received the status of a principality. For a long time they were looking for a possible candidate for the Albanian throne. In the end, in 1914, Wilhelm Vid (1876-1945) became the Albanian prince - the offspring of one of the aristocratic Germanic families, the nephew of the Romanian Queen Elizabeth. He adopted the Albanian name Skanderbeg II. However, his reign did not last long - three months after ascending to the throne, Wilhelm Weed left the country. This happened due to the prince's fears for his life - the First World War had just begun and Albania turned into an "apple of discord" between several states - Italy, Greece, Austria-Hungary. But formally, Wilhelm Vid remained an Albanian prince until 1925. Although there was no centralized power in the country at that time, it was not until 1925 that Albania was proclaimed a republic. This was preceded by turbulent political events.
In the early 1920s. power in the country was actually concentrated in the hands of Ahmet Zogu. Coming from the influential Albanian family of Zogolla, whose representatives held government posts during the Ottoman rule, Ahmet Zogu (1895-1961) was called Ahmed-bey Mukhtar Zogolla at birth, but later "Albanized" his name and surname. By the way, the mother of Akhmet Zogu Sadiya Toptani traced her family to the famous hero of the Albanian people Skanderbeg. However, in 1924, Ahmet Zogu was overthrown as a result of the uprising of the democratic forces. After some time, the Orthodox bishop of the Korchino diocese Theophanes came to power in the country, and Fan Stylian Noli (1882-1965) came to the world. He was a unique person - a high-ranking clergyman, but a supporter of the complete separation of church from state; come from a Hellenized environment, but a fiery Albanian nationalist; a polyglot who spoke 13 languages and translated Khayyam, Shakespeare and Cervantes into Albanian; a former theater prompter and actor who traveled the world before becoming a priest and making a career in the church. Looking ahead, let us say that after emigrating to the United States, at the age of 53, Bishop Theophan entered the Boston Conservatory and graduated brilliantly, and then defended his doctoral dissertation in philosophy on Skanderbeg. Such was the man Theophan Noli, who never succeeded in creating a democratic republic in Albania. In December 1924, Ahmet Zogu staged a coup d'etat. He returned to the country accompanied by a detachment of Russian White émigrés stationed in Yugoslavia. The famous Colonel Kuchuk Kaspoletovich Ulagay commanded the Russian guardsmen of Zog. The overthrown Theophanes Noli fled to Italy.
King of Albania Ahmet Zogu
In January 1925, Ahmet Zogu officially declared Albania a republic and himself its president. However, three years later, on September 1, 1928, Ahmet Zogu proclaimed Albania a kingdom, and he himself was crowned as a monarch under the name Zogu I Skanderbeg III. Zogu's reign in the late 1920s - 1930s characterized by attempts to modernize Albanian society and transform Albania into a modern country. This task was given with difficulty - after all, Albanian society was actually a conglomerate of mountain tribes and clans that lived according to their own laws and had a very vague idea of statehood. Economically and culturally, Albania was also the most backward country in Europe. In order to somehow overcome this backwardness, Zogu sent the most gifted Albanians to study at European universities. Apparently, young Enver Hoxha also fell under this program.
During his stay in Europe, Hoxha became close to a circle led by Lazar Fundo (1899-1945). Like Hoxha, Fundo came from the family of a wealthy merchant and was also sent to France in his youth, only he studied legal, not natural, sciences. Returning to Albania, he participated in the overthrow of Zog in 1924 and the establishment of the regime of Bishop Theophanes of Noli. After Zog returned to power, Lazar Fundo emigrated to Europe again - this time to Austria. However, later the paths of Lazar Fundo and Enver Hoxha parted ways. Fundo sympathized with the Trotskyists (for which, later, he paid with his life, despite his obvious merits in the communist movement), and Enver Hoxha became an ardent follower of Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin and expressed undoubted support for the course of the CPSU (b). During his time in France and Belgium, Hoxha worked closely with the French communist newspaper L'Humanite, translated Stalin's speeches into Albanian, and joined the Belgian Communist Party. Since the position of the communist movement in Albania was very weak, Khoja's senior comrades recommended that he return to his homeland and establish contacts with the local communist movement. Enver did just that - in the spring of 1936 he arrived in Albania and settled in the city of Korca, where he got a job as a teacher of French. In parallel, Enver Hoxha was actively involved in social activities. He was elected to the leadership of the local communist group in Korca and also led the communist group in Gjirokastra, the city of his childhood. After the leader of the communist organization of the city of Korca Kelmendi died in 1938 in Paris, with the support of the leader of the Bulgarian communists G. Dimitrov, Enver Hoxha was elected the head of the city committee of communists in Korca. Thus began his ascent to the very top of the Albanian communist movement, and later - the Albanian state.
Italian occupation of Albania
Meanwhile, Albania's foreign policy position remained rather difficult. When Ahmet Zogu proclaimed himself king, he designated his title not as “King of Albania”, but as “King of the Albanians”. This contained an unequivocal allusion to the division of the Albanian people - part of the land inhabited by the Albanians was part of Yugoslavia. And Zogu argued that his goal was to unite all ethnic Albanians in a single state. Naturally, this position of the Albanian king caused a sharp negative on the part of the Yugoslav leadership, which reasonably saw in Zogu's policy an attempt on the territorial integrity of Yugoslavia. On the other hand, Turkey, with which Albania had very long and developed cultural and political ties, was also unhappy with Zogu's policy, only for another reason. The convinced republican Mustafa Kemal Ataturk was very dissatisfied with the proclamation of Albania as a monarchy, and until 1931 the Turkish state did not recognize the Zogu regime. Finally, relations between Albania and Italy were not cloudless. Italy, as its political positions in Europe strengthened, increasingly aspired to a leading role in the Balkans, and it saw Albania as an outpost of its influence in the region. Since Albania was once under the rule of the Venetians, the Italian fascists considered the incorporation of Albania into Italy as a restoration of historical justice. Initially, Benito Mussolini actively supported Zogu, and the Albanian king was impressed by the fascist regime established in Italy. However, Zogu did not intend to completely subordinate Albania to Italian influence - he pursued a rather cunning policy, bargaining for all kinds of loans from Mussolini, especially relevant for the Albanian state in the context of the global economic crisis and the related impoverishment of the Albanian population. At the same time, Zogu was looking for new patrons among other European powers, which greatly annoyed the Italian leadership. In the end, Zogu went to aggravate relations with Rome. September 1932 was marked by the prohibition of the education of Albanian children in schools owned by foreign citizens. Since most of the schools were Italian, this decision of the Albanian government caused a sharply negative reaction from Rome. Italy recalled the teachers and removed all the equipment, after which in April 1933 Zogu broke off negotiations with Italy on the fulfillment of Albania's promissory notes.
Mid 1930s marked for Albania a further increase in internal political instability. So, among the Albanian feudal lords and officers, dissatisfied with the policy of Zog, an organization was formed that planned an armed uprising in Fier. According to the plans of the conspirators, after the overthrow of Zogu, the monarchy in Albania was to be liquidated, and Nureddin Vlora, a representative of one of the noblest Albanian feudal families, a relative of the founder of the Albanian state, Ismail Kemali, was to become the head of the republic. However, the government managed to forestall the plans of the conspirators. On August 10, Nureddin Vlora was arrested. On August 14, the opponents of the Zog took place in Fier, during which the insurgents killed the inspector general of the royal army, General Gillardi. Government forces and the gendarmerie succeeded in suppressing the uprising, 900 people were arrested, and 52 were sentenced to death. However, the power and authority of Zogu were seriously shaken. The next blow to Zog was the story of his marriage. Initially, Zogu was engaged to the daughter of Shefket Verlaji, the largest Albanian feudal lord, but canceled the engagement, intending to marry the daughter of the Italian king. The princess of Italy, however, refused the Albanian king. But Zogu seriously spoiled his relationship with Verlaji, who considered the king's behavior a terrible insult to his family. Subsequently, the Italians occupying Albania will stake on Verlaji. In the end, Zogu married the Hungarian Countess Heraldine Apponyi. The wedding of Zogu and Apponya, held on April 27, 1938, was also attended by Galeazzo Ciano, the Italian foreign minister, who took over the leadership of the "Albanian operation". Zogu, knowing full well that Italy would sooner or later invade the territory of Albania, held meetings to strengthen the country's defenses, although it was initially clear that the Albanian army would not be able to protect the state from the many times superior forces of Italy.
- Albanian fascists
In April 1939 Italy presented an ultimatum to the King of Albania. Delaying the response time in every possible way, Zogu began to transport the treasury and court to the borders of Greece. The capital of Albania, Tirana, left most of the highest dignitaries of the royal regime. On April 7, 1939, units of the Italian army under the command of General Alfredo Hudsoni landed in the ports of Vlore, Durres, Saranda and Shengin. King Zogu fled, and on April 8, the Italians entered Tirana. On April 9, Shkodra and Gjirokastra surrendered. Shefket Verlaji became the new prime minister of Albania. Albania and Italy entered into a "personal union", according to which the Italian king Victor Emmanuel III became the new head of Albania. On April 16 he was presented with the "Skanderbeg crown". The Albanian Fascist Party was formed, which in fact was the local branch of the Italian fascists. Albanian fascists, inspired by Rome, put forward territorial claims against Greece and Yugoslavia, demanding that all the lands inhabited by Albanians be transferred to Albania. The creation of "Greater Albania", which was supposed to include proper Albania, Kosovo and Metohia, part of the territories of Montenegro, Macedonia and Greece, became the strategic goal of the party, and for the Italian leadership the idea of "Greater Albania" subsequently became one of the most important pretexts in unleashing an aggressive war against Greece. The leader of the Albanian Fascist Party was Prime Minister Shefket Verlaji, and the secretary was Mustafa Merlik-Kruya, who later replaced Verlaji as head of the Albanian government.
Formation of the partisan movement
Meanwhile, the Albanian communist movement was developing underground. Enver Hoxha in March 1938 was sent to study in the USSR, where he studied at the Marx-Engels-Lenin Institute and the Institute of Foreign Languages. In April 1938 g.his first meeting with Joseph Stalin and Vyacheslav Molotov took place, which further strengthened his sympathy for Stalin's domestic and foreign policy. He promised his Moscow patrons to create a united and strong communist party in Albania. Returning to Albania, Khoja was dismissed from his teaching job in April 1939 due to his refusal to join the Albanian Fascist Party. As a teacher, he was supposed to become a member of a fascist organization, but, of course, refused this offer. Khoja took up illegal propaganda work, for which he was sentenced to death in absentia by an Italian court. However, Enver continued to be on the territory of his native country, engaging in propaganda activities among the workers of seaports and oil fields. Dissatisfaction with the Italian occupation grew among the Albanians, with anti-fascist sentiments spreading across different strata of Albanian society. The inhabitants of the country, which gained political independence less than thirty years ago, were very burdened by the foreign occupation regime. The first Albanian partisan detachments appeared, which began to sabotage and sabotage. Enver Hoxha himself opened a tobacco shop in the capital of the country, Tirana, which became the epicenter of the capital's underground. On November 7, 1941, on the anniversary of the October Revolution, the creation of the Communist Party of Albania was proclaimed at a secret meeting in Tirana. Kochi Dzodze (1917-1949) was elected its first secretary, and Enver Hoxha became his deputy and commander-in-chief of partisan formations controlled by the communists, operating mainly in the regions of southern Albania.
- the creation of the Communist Party of Albania. Painting by artist Shaban Huss
In 1942, Enver Hoxha visited Moscow again, where he met with top Soviet leaders Stalin, Molotov, Malenkov, Mikoyan and Zhdanov, as well as with the Bulgarian communist Dimitrov. He once again emphasized his intentions to start building socialism of the Leninist-Stalinist type in Albania, and also stressed the need to restore the full political independence of Albania after its final liberation from foreign invaders. This statement by Hoxha violated the plans of the British and American allies of the USSR, since Churchill admitted the possibility of a post-war partition of Albania between Greece, Yugoslavia and Italy. However, these plans of Churchill put an end to the political independence of Albania and the very future of the Albanians as a single nation. Therefore, not only Khoja and the communists, but also other representatives of the patriotic forces of the Albanian people were categorically against the implementation of the "British project" and supported the idea of post-war construction of an independent Albanian state.
National Liberation Front and "ballista"
Supporters of the anti-fascist movement in Albania were not only communists, but also representatives of the so-called. "Real nationalism" - that is, that part of the Albanian nationalist movement that did not recognize the collaborationist government and saw only negative consequences in the occupation of Albania by Italy. On September 16, 1942, a conference was held in the village of Bolshaya Peza, in which communists and "real nationalists" took part. As a result of the conference, it was decided to unite efforts in the struggle for an independent and free democratic Albania, to develop armed resistance to the Italian fascists and Albanian collaborators, to unite all the patriotic forces of Albania in the National Liberation Front. The General National Liberation Council was elected, which included four nationalists - Abaz Kupi, Baba Faya Martaneshi, Mueslim Peza and Hadji Leshi, and three communists - Umer Disnitsa, Mustafa Ginishi and Enver Hoxha. In June 1943, the communist Seyfula Malesova, who had returned to the country, was also included in the council.
Enver Hoxha and his wife Nejiye Rufi (Hoxha)
Also, another political movement of the country - "Balli Kombetar" - the National Front, led by Mehdi-bey Frasheri, went over to armed resistance to the Italians. Another insurgent organization that tried to switch to armed resistance to the Italian occupation was the Legalitet movement, led by a former official of the royal government, Abaz Kupi. "Legality" adhered to royalist positions and advocated the liberation of Albania from the Italian occupation and the restoration of the monarchy with the return of King Zogu to the country. However, the royalists did not have a serious influence on the partisan movement, since among the majority of the country's population, the king and the royal regime were discredited by their policies long before the Italian occupation of Albanian territory. In December 1942, the countries of the anti-fascist coalition officially recognized and supported the national liberation struggle of the Albanian people against Italian fascism. Gradually, ever wider sections of the country's population were included in the anti-fascist partisan movement, and interaction between the two main political forces of an anti-fascist orientation - the National Liberation Front and the National Front - grew. On August 1-2, 1943, in the village of Mukje, at a conference of the National Liberation Front and the National Front, the Provisional Committee for the Salvation of Albania was created, which included 6 delegates from each organization. Since the National Front was represented by six nationalists, and three nationalists and three communists came from the National Liberation Front, the nationalists became the main force in the Committee for the Salvation of Albania.
On July 10, 1943, the General Council of the National Liberation Front issued a decree on the creation of the General Staff of Albanian partisan detachments, and 17 days later, on July 27, 1943, the National Liberation Army of Albania (NOAA) was created. Thus, the partisan movement in the country acquired a centralized character. NOAA was divided into brigades of four to five battalions. Each battalion included three to four partisan detachments. The country's territory was divided into operational zones with their own headquarters subordinate to the general staff. Enver Hoxha became the supreme commander of NOAA. In September 1943, fascist Italy surrendered, after which Wehrmacht units invaded Albania. It is significant that the 9th Italian Army, stationed in Albania, almost in full strength went over to the side of the Albanian partisans and formed the partisan detachment "Antonio Gramsci", which was led by Sergeant Tercilio Cardinali.
- the exit of the Albanian partisans from the encirclement. Painting by F. Hadzhiu "Leaving the Encirclement".
The German occupation of the country entailed serious changes in the alignment of political forces in Albania. Thus, the National Front ("Balli Kombetar"), which consisted of nationalists, entered into an agreement on cooperation with the Germans and turned into an enemy of the Albanian National Liberation Army. The fact is that the political program of the "ballista" implied the creation of a "Great Albania", which, in addition to Albania proper, should also include Kosovo and Metohija, part of Greece, Macedonia and Montenegro. Mehdi-bey Frasheri, who created the "Bally Kombetar", focused on the reunification of all Albanian lands divided after the defeat of the Ottoman Empire, within a single state, and in addition, he proclaimed the Albanians "Aryans" - the heirs of the ancient Illyrian population of the Balkans, with full rights to the South Balkan territory. The Nazis, promising to assist in the implementation of these plans, enlisted the support of Bally Kombetar. The leadership of the National Front proclaimed the political independence of Albania and concluded an agreement with Germany on joint actions. Armed formations of "ballista" began to take part in security and punitive measures of Hitler's troops not only in Albania, but also in neighboring Greece and Macedonia. "Ballista" served in the 21st Albanian SS division "Skanderbeg", the "Kosovo" regiment and the "Lyuboten" battalion. In addition to SS units, there were also Albanian collaborationist formations of the so-called "independent" government of Albania, which included the 1st and 4th rifle regiments, 4th battalion of the fascist militia and the gendarmerie, which was formed in the spring of 1943 by General Prenk Previsi. However, the number of Albanians who served Hitler in the ranks of the SS and collaborationist formations was significantly inferior to the number of fighters of the partisan brigades. The SS units staffed by the Albanian fascists were distinguished by low combat effectiveness and in clashes with partisan formations inevitably suffered defeat, but they showed themselves well in punitive operations. "Ballista" from these units of Hitler's troops participated in numerous ethnic cleansings in the territory of Kosovo and Metohija, Macedonia and Montenegro, becoming famous for incredible cruelty and further contributing to the growth of national enmity between the Slavic and Albanian populations of the Balkan Peninsula. It is on the hands of the Albanian fascists from the Skanderbeg division, the Kosovo regiment and some other units - the blood of thousands of Serbian, Macedonian, Greek, Jewish residents of the Balkan Peninsula.
The National Liberation Army fights and wins
Naturally, the cooperation of the anti-fascists from the NFF with the "ballistas" came to an end immediately, especially since even before the agreement with the Nazis, the collaboration of the NOF with the "ballistas" caused an extremely negative reaction from the Yugoslav and Greek communists, who directly characterized the "ballistas" as fascists and threatened the Albanian communists with a complete severance of relations and termination of any assistance in case of continued cooperation of the latter with "Balli Kombetar". In turn, after the invasion of German troops and the proclamation of the formal independence of Albania under the leadership of "Balli Kombetar", the "ballista" declared war on the National Liberation Army of Albania and the People's Liberation Army of Yugoslavia. In 1943, the first armed clashes began between the NOAA guerrilla units and the "ballista". However, at the turn of 1943-1944. NOAA was a far more powerful force than ballistae and collaborators. The number of NOAA combat units reached 20 thousand fighters and commanders. Nevertheless, the Germans managed to inflict a number of serious defeats on the Albanian partisans, as a result of which NOAA was pushed into the mountainous regions. The headquarters of the partisan movement was blocked in the Chermeniki area.
However, despite all efforts, the Wehrmacht units did not manage to capture Permeti, which was of great strategic importance in the NOAA defense system. It was in Permet on May 24, 1944 that the creation of the Anti-Fascist National Liberation Council was announced, which assumed the powers of the supreme power in the country in the face of resistance to the German fascist invaders. The communist Omer Nishani (1887-1954), the oldest Albanian revolutionary, who back in 1925 participated in the creation of the Albanian National Revolutionary Committee in Vienna, was elected as the chairman of the ANOS. Communist Kochi Dzodze, non-partisan Hassan Pulo and nationalist Baba Faya Martaneshi became deputy chairmen of the council. Communists Kochi Tashko and Sami Bakholy were elected secretaries of the council. By decision of the council, the Anti-Fascist National Liberation Committee was formed, which has the powers of the Albanian government. In accordance with the decision of the ANOS, military ranks were introduced in the National Liberation Army of Albania. Enver Hoxha, as the commander-in-chief of the army, received the military rank of "Colonel-General". Chief of General Staff Spiru Moisiu, who previously served in the Albanian Royal Army with the rank of Major, was promoted to Major General. In the same May 1944, the 1st NOAA division was formed, which included the 1st, 2nd and 5th partisan brigades. In August 1944, the NOAA 2nd Shock Division was formed, which together with the 1st Division made up the 1st Army Corps. By this time, the strength of the National Liberation Army of Albania reached 70,000 fighters and commanders, united in 24 brigades and territorial battalions.
By the summer of 1944, the Albanian patriots had succeeded in significantly ousting the German occupiers and by the end of July gaining control over a number of important areas in Northern and Central Albania. During the period under review, NOAA consisted of 24 brigades and fought not only against the Wehrmacht and the Albanian SS "Skanderbeg" division, but also against the armed formations of the Albanian feudal lords. In the fall of 1944, by the efforts of the National Liberation Army of Albania, the Wehrmacht formations were driven out of the country and retreated to neighboring Yugoslavia, where they continued to fight with local partisans, as well as with Albanian patriots and Italian anti-fascists pursuing them. On October 20, 1944, the 2nd ANOS meeting transformed the Anti-Fascist National Liberation Committee into the Provisional Democratic Government. Also, a law was passed on elections to national liberation councils and the goal was set for the complete liberation of Albania from foreign invaders in the near future. The current military situation testified in favor of the feasibility of this goal. On November 17, 1944, Tirana was liberated by units of the National Liberation Army of Albania, and on November 29, 1944, the Wehrmacht formations and the formation of Albanian collaborators were forced to leave Shkodra, which remained the last stronghold of Hitlerism in the north of the country. In 1945, the 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th divisions of the National Liberation Army of Albania were formed, which were sent to neighboring Kosovo - to help the People's Liberation Army of Yugoslavia in the fight against the formations that were defending on Yugoslav soil. SS and collaborators. In June 1945, the commander-in-chief of the National Liberation Army of Albania, Colonel-General Enver Hoxha, visited the Soviet Union, where he attended the Victory Parade and met with I. V. Stalin. A new, post-war era began in the life of the Albanian state.
