Moscow–Hanoi–Tirana Relations in the Context of the Split in the Socialist Camp

Abstract

Declassified documents from Russian archives and official Vietnamese and Albanian materials and memoirs permit consideration of under-studied topic of relations between Soviet Union and ruling Communist regimes in Albania and Vietnam and of Albanian–Vietnamese bilateral relations in context of two countries' relations with USSR and with People's Republic of China. The split in international Communist movement from late 1940s onward meant that, in early 1960s, Chinese Communist leadership set out to create a counterweight to Moscow composed of the true Marxist-Leninist parties. Hanoi and Tirana had to define their places in this Sino–Soviet confrontation. Hanoi maintained normal relations with both Moscow and Tirana until end of 1980s, despite severing of all bilateral ties between Soviet Union and Albania in early 1960s.