History of Albania
 The history of Albania dates back to ancient
times. Reputedly the descendants of
the Illyrian and Thracian tribes, these people dwelled in an area originally
known as Illyria (traveled through by the Apostle Paul in Acts 17).
This land was valuable to the ancient Greeks for its mines.
After the division of the Roman Empire
in 395, Albania fell under Byzantine rule.
Over the course of the next several centuries Albania was invaded and
divided between the Serbs, Bulgarians, Venecians, Normans and Turks. In the 15th century, a group of Albanians led by
chieftain Scanderbeg resisted the Turkish domination. Though he failed to win Albania’s independence he is hailed
as Albania’s first national hero. Under Turkish rule, Islam became the
predominant religion of Albania.
The highlanders to the north were
never fully subjected, retaining their tribal organizations.
Under the Treaty of San Stefano, large parts of Albania were given to the
Balkan Slavic nations. Albania
was further dismembered during the Balkan wars of 1912 & 1913 with large
tracts ceded to Serbia, Montenegro, and Greece.
Albanian independence was reasserted
in the 1920 Congress of Lushnje. Italy,
whose political and economic influence in Albania had steadily increased,
invaded the country in 1939. In
1943/44, a civil war also raged between partisans and non-Communist forces
within Albania. It was then
liberated from the Axis invaders without the aid of direct Soviet assistance.
In late 1944 partisan’s under Enver
Hoxha seized most of Albania and formed a provisional government.
The Communists held elections with an unopposed slate of candidates and
in 1946 proclaimed Albania a republic with Hoxha as premier.
The new rulers inherited an Albania plagued by a host of ills: pervasive
poverty, overwhelming illiteracy, blood feuds, epidemics of disease, and gross
subjugation of women. In order to obtain the economic aid needed for
modernization,  as well as the political and military support to enhance its
security, Albania turned to the communist world. Soon it became a satellite of
the USSR. With hundreds of millions
of dollars in aid and credits, and with the assistance of a large number of
technicians and specialists sent by its allies, Albania was able to build the
foundations of a modern industry and to introduce mechanization into
agriculture. As a result, for the first time in modern history, the Albanian
populace began to emerge from age-old backwardness and, for a while, enjoyed a
higher standard of living. Soon, however Albania’s disapproval of de-Stalinization led
to a break between Moscow and Tirane. Chinese
influence and economic aid replaced Soviet, and Albania became China’s only
ally in Communist Eastern Europe.
To eliminate dissent, the government
resorted periodically to purges, in which opponents were subjected to public
criticism, dismissed from their jobs, imprisoned in forced-labour camps, or
executed. Travel abroad was forbidden to all but those on official business. In
1967 the religious establishment, which party leaders and other atheistic
Albanians viewed as a backward medieval institution that hampered national unity
and progress, was officially banned, and all Christian and Muslim houses of
worship were closed.
The alliance with China lasted until
1977 when Hoxha broke ties in protest of China’s liberalization. Alienated
from both East and West, Albania adopted a "go-it-alone" policy and
became notorious as an isolated bastion of Stalinism.
After Hoxha's death in 1985, his
handpicked successor, Ramiz Alia, sought to preserve the communist system while
introducing gradual reforms in order to revive the economy, which had been
declining steadily since the cessation of aid from former communist allies.
He strengthened ties with other European countries and restored
diplomatic relations with the USSR and the United States.
The government began to allow tourism, promote foreign trade, and
permitted the formation of the opposition Democratic party.
Elections
in 1992, influenced by poor living conditions and an exodus of Albanian refugees
to Greece and Italy, brought the end of the communism to Albania.
Sali Barisha became Albania’s first democratically elected president at
a time of accelerating unemployment
and inflation. Albania joined the
NATO Partnership for Peace plan and was admitted into the Council of Europe,
formally bringing to an end its notorious isolation. Efforts to establish a
free-market economy caused severe dislocations, but they also opened the road
for Albania to obtain vast amounts of aid from developed countries. Albania was
thus well on its way toward integrating its politics and institutions with the
West, which Albanians have historically viewed as their cultural and geographic
home.
|
