REFLECTING ABOUT THE CIVIL WAR IN ALBANIA

Abstract

Albania was considered "a wild province" by the British missions that served in the "land of the eagles"during the Second World War. First, the Italian occupation and then the German occupation created the ground forthe anti-fascist national liberation war, carried out by various political forces operating in the country at that time.This paper aims to analyze the approaches and controversies of the civil war in Albania through the lens of Britishmilitary missions’ (SOE) official documents, Albanian archival documentation as well as from the literature ofvarious authors. Referring to this documentation, the beginning of the civil war in Albania is related to thecapitulation of Italy in September 1943 and the arrival of the German army, which occupied Albania, Yugoslaviaand Greece in three weeks. Domestic political situation in Albania was strained because off encountered difficultiesin creating a common front by the nationalist forces. The main rivalry was between a part of National Front calledBalli Kombetar (BK) and Albanian Communist Party (ACP). BK was a republican, liberal and nationalist wingorganization with an anti-communist program. Meanwhile, ACP identified itself with the National Liberation Front.In the vortex of these events, in August 1943 it was organized a meeting called “Mukje Meeting” due to the name ofthe village where it was held. The two rival political forces concluded an agreement, which lasted only one month;the communists cancelled it under the directives of the Yugoslavs because it meant equal power for both politicalforces and territorial unification with Kosovo after the war. These and other decisions were officially announced atthe next conference organized by APC, called Labinot Conference II (September 1943). At the Central Archives ofAlbania it is found a circular - letter of October 1, year 1943 addressed to the APC Committees. Through it EnverHoxha, as the secretary of APC opposed the union of BK forces with National Front, describing them as enemies.From this moment and on began the civil war. The confrontations are confirmed by the reports of SOE addressed tothe British Foreign Ministry; it was reported that only 10% of the British weapons given to the communists wereused in the war against the Germans, while the rest, 90% of them were used to fight the opponents (BK). Communisthistoriography denied the existence of civil war by censoring the history learned by Albanians for 45 years. After thefall of the communist regime, it was a necessary reviewing and rewriting the history of Albania. Even today,historians share different opinions regarding the period of World War II and especially the (in)existence of the civilwar. The fact that Albania has had a civil war reflected in the struggle for power, just like the countries of the region,does not at all diminish the organization of a liberation war and its commitment to the Allies. To reflect about thisperiod of Albania's history, we will refer to historical facts, arguments and various sources, which prove theexistence of the civil war even after the liberation of the country. In January 1945, when the Germans had leftAlbania, it happen another confrontation, known as the Battle of Tamara. In the time when the victory of thecommunists was a fact and they were full of glory, this event is interpreted as the last step towards the power. Withthe coming of the communists in power, the civil war was replaced by the class war, which marked countlessvictims during the entire communist dictatorship.