Abstract
This article examines some unprecedented political events in post-Stalin Europe which have been the subject of much mystery and speculation but no proper scholarly analysis. Based on archive documents, the study explores the purge of several of the highest-ranking political officials in communist Albania from 1981 to 1983, including the ministers of the interior, health, foreign affairs, and defence. Analysing how and under which conditions this happened, the overall aim is to gain a deeper knowledge of the country’s ruler Enver Hoxha and his inner circle. Ultimately, the article contributes to the study of the Stalinist character of Hoxha’s dictatorship during the last years of his life. The analysis shows that, like Stalin, Enver Hoxha was a master of a crisis and a state of emergency. Through a similar rhetoric of alarmism and demolition, he was able to incite his associates to his course of violence while also reducing them to objects of his omnipotence. Under these conditions, cadres were forced to fight for their lives, meetings of leading organs of the communist party resembling battlefields. Ultimately, the bloody purges of 1981 to 1983 represented the final act in Hoxha’s definitive ascent as master over life and death in “his” party.
Highlights
The night before 18 December 1981, Mehmet Shehu, communist Albania’s prime minister since 1954, committed suicide after severe criticism from his politburo comrades and under circumstances that have yet to be fully established
When Enver Hoxha was informed of the court sentences by his confidant Ramiz Alia at a meeting of the Central Committee (CC) Secretariat, he expressed nothing but hatred and contempt for the “dog” Hazbiu and the other “dung heaps and vile traitors.”[104]. At the CC plenum of 20-21 September, he presented the “uncovering” and “destruction” of the “conspiracy” as “a great lesson for all” which needed to be reflected upon in depth.[105]
Through a similar rhetoric of alarmism and demolition, he was able to incite his associates to his course of violence
Summary
The night before 18 December 1981, Mehmet Shehu, communist Albania’s prime minister since 1954, committed suicide after severe criticism from his politburo comrades and under circumstances that have yet to be fully established. When Enver Hoxha was informed of the court sentences by his confidant Ramiz Alia at a meeting of the CC Secretariat, he expressed nothing but hatred and contempt for the “dog” Hazbiu and the other “dung heaps and vile traitors.”[104] At the CC plenum of 20-21 September, he presented the “uncovering” and “destruction” of the “conspiracy” as “a great lesson for all” which needed to be reflected upon in depth.[105] In a manner typical of him, Hoxha painted a picture of a state of emergency in which everyone was to be maximally vigilant and mobilised on all fronts He praised the “deadly fists” and the “sword of the party” that had destroyed all enemies and would continue to do so.[106] He ended his speech by proclaiming “Long live the party.”. The party had become Hoxha’s “possession” and its members, including the entire leadership, his hostages
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