COOPERATION BETWEEN YUGOSLAV AND ALBANIAN YOUTH 1945-1948

Abstract

Yugoslavia and Albania began cooperation after the Second World War, which intensified after the signing of the Treaty of Friendship in 1946. That cooperation was ideological, political, cultural, medical, military, etc. The crisis in Yugoslav-Albanian relations occurred when the Soviet and Albanian party leadership established direct cooperation, with Enver Hoxha's visit to Moscow in mid-1947. Finally, Yugoslav aid and co-operation were forgotten when the Informbiro resolution was passed and when Albania sided with the USSR. Relations between Yugoslavia and Albania were normalized after 1955. Our research is based on the analysis of archival sources and professional literature, with the help of which we obtained a basis to upgrade the set topic and put it in the context of relations between Yugoslavia and Albania 1945-1948.The paper refers to the youth cooperation between Yugoslavia and Albania. The aim of the paper is to show the intensity of that type of cooperation and what it was reflected in. Youth organizations promoted mutual cooperation and held congresses. Albanian students studied in Yugoslavia, which provided a number of scholarships. Albanian youths were taught in Yugoslav factories. Youth organizations, following the example of the Yugoslav ones, participated in voluntary works in the country and its renewal in that way. An example of Yugoslav-Albanian youth co-operation was the construction of the Durres-Elbasan railway. However, the collapse of Yugoslav-Albanian relations from mid-1947 to the peak of 1948 also affected this aspect of cooperation. Yugoslav and Albanian youth returned to their homes, and youth cooperation was severed.