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 for
the 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 British
military missions’ (SOE) official documents, Albanian archival documentation as well as from the literature of
various authors. Referring to this documentation, the beginning of the civil war in Albania is related to the
capitulation of Italy in September 1943 and the arrival of the German army, which occupied Albania, Yugoslavia
and Greece in three weeks. Domestic political situation in Albania was strained because off encountered difficulties
in creating a common front by the nationalist forces. The main rivalry was between a part of National Front called
Balli Kombetar (BK) and Albanian Communist Party (ACP). BK was a republican, liberal and nationalist wing
organization 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 of
the 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 political
forces and territorial unification with Kosovo after the war. These and other decisions were officially announced at
the next conference organized by APC, called Labinot Conference II (September 1943). At the Central Archives of
Albania it is found a circular - letter of October 1, year 1943 addressed to the APC Committees. Through it Enver
Hoxha, 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 to
the British Foreign Ministry; it was reported that only 10% of the British weapons given to the communists were
used in the war against the Germans, while the rest, 90% of them were used to fight the opponents (BK). Communist
historiography denied the existence of civil war by censoring the history learned by Albanians for 45 years. After the
fall 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 civil
war. 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 this
period of Albania's history, we will refer to historical facts, arguments and various sources, which prove the
existence of the civil war even after the liberation of the country. In January 1945, when the Germans had left
Albania, it happen another confrontation, known as the Battle of Tamara. In the time when the victory of the
communists was a fact and they were full of glory, this event is interpreted as the last step towards the power. With
the coming of the communists in power, the civil war was replaced by the class war, which marked countless
victims during the entire communist dictatorship.