Enver Hoxha Page

The following article was published by the EMEP, the Labour party of Turkey:

100th Anniversary of Enver Hoxha

We’re here to celebrate the 100th birthday of Enver Hoxha. He was the resolute defender of proletarian socialism, the leader of the International Communist Movement and of the anti-revisionist struggle, the great friend of the oppressed peoples and the architect of the revolution and socialist construction in Albania.

After the 22 years of his death, we must talk about his struggle to build socialism in Albania and help to the international workers’ movement. We don’t need to compliment him, but we need to introduce him to the new generations. Because, his struggle against all types of revisionism, such as Khruschevism, Titoism and Euro Communism; his resistance to defend Marxism-Leninism; and his estimation on the imperialist strategies of the Soviet Union have great importance.

It’s obvious that, preserving the proletarian character of Marxism-Leninism; developing and practising it by analysing the concrete situation lies on the bases of this big resistance and comprehension. Comrade Enver Hoxha characterised the reason for the attacks of these counterrevolutionary currents and the imperialist bourgeoisie on Marxism-Leninism, and the importance of defending it as follows: “It is not a coincidence that the imperialists, the bourgeoisie and the revisionists are directing the sharp point of their spear at our victorious doctrine Marxism-Leninism. Without Marxism-Leninism there can be no genuine socialism.” (Report to the 8th Congress of the PLA)

With this correct point of view, Comrade Enver Hoxha considers the defence of Marxism-Leninism as a corner stone of all the victories and successes of the people: “The boundless loyalty of our party to the immortal doctrine of Marx, Engels, Lenin and Stalin, its ability to apply this doctrine in a creative manner, in conformity with the conditions of the country and the complicated international situations, its determination to defend the purity of the principles of this doctrine from the attacks and distortions of many enemies, internal and external, have been and remain the fundamental basis of all the successes and victories of our people.” ( Report to the 8th Congress of the PLA)

Against the internal and external enemies

So, who were the “attacks and distortions of internal and external enemies?” The biggest attack to the Hoxha’s struggle to construct the socialism in Albania had came from Khrushchevites. In the beginning, the Khrushchevites directed their attacks to Stalin. This was because the imperialists and revisionists were quite aware that Stalin’s name and works were inseparably tied to the establishment of socialism in the Soviet Union. Also, they knew that if this reactionary attack was successful socialism, for the establishment of which Stalin spent his whole life, would be dealt a fatal blow, be destroyed, and the desire of hundreds of millions of proletarians and labourers to establish a society without classes and exploitation would suffer a heavy blow.

Knowing this fact the Khrushchevites launched their attack and betrayal on this point. They attacked the theory and practice of socialist construction which was identified with Stalin’s name. Their successors continued these attacks. And what happened next is quite well known. No communist or sympathiser of the revolution who can assess what is happening today can deny the fact that revisionist betrayal and imperialist attack were not limited to Stalin. On the contrary, it involved a fundamental settling of accounts with and taking revenge on socialism and its history.

Later, the Euro-communists came onto the stage as the most ferocious anti-Leninists. By attacking Stalin Khrushchev wanted to destroy socialist construction and its practice. The Euro-communists, on the other hand, wanted, as Enver Hoxha stated, to destroy the theory and practice of proletarian revolution by attacking Lenin. The Titoists and Maoists attacked the fundamentals of proletarian revolution and socialist construction, and announced that “ they had entered the path of a self styled socialism”. They put aside socialist construction, the struggle for revolution against imperialism, and all the fundamental principles of Marxism-Leninism. They betrayed the international working class and the peoples of the world, taking refuge in bright and sharp rhetoric.

Leader of the struggle against the revisionism

Evaluating Enver Hoxha only by what he did in Albania means not to see or understand his contributions and efforts to defend and develop the scientific doctrine of the international working class, his leadership in the anti-revisionist struggle, and the moral support he gave to the peoples of the world for their national and social emancipation. It must also be emphasised that Enver Hoxha must be defended and remembered, in the first place, for the contribution he made to the great cause of the international working class, rather than what he did in his own country.

This is because Comrade Enver Hoxha’s struggle, together with the PLA under his leadership, against modern revisionism and its various currents -Khrushchevism, Titoism, Euro-communism, etc., and Maoism, his great efforts to defend Marxism-Leninism, his resistance against the encirclement by the imperialist capitalist system, and its attempts to destroy socialism, and his analysis which revealed the strategies and current tendencies of imperialism and the super powers, have far greater importance than his successes in establishing and defending socialism in Albania. This is because what lays behind this great effort and resistance is the resolute defence of Marxism-Leninism, the protection of its proletarian nature, its development through contributions based on the analysis of the current situation, and its successful application.

All communists remember well how Bolshevism led by Lenin defended and developed Marxism on the basis of current and theoretical questions against the opportunism of the Second International which had degenerated and given up its revolutionary traditions. It should also be remembered that this defence and development of Marxism was achieved through a broad- fronted struggle including the defence of the Marxist theory of the state and the doctrine of revolution which were concealed by the opportunist leadership of Second International, of imperialism and war, of the organisation of communist parties of a new type, the condemnation of empty daydreams about bourgeois democracy and criticisms of its exaltation, defence of Marxism in socialist construction, etc. Lenin characterised the grave harm caused by the opportunism of Second International as follows: ”What is necessary today is to start digging to re-find Marxism whose purity has not been degenerated and to place it in the consciousness of broad masses.” (State and Revolution)

No serious-minded communist can deny the fact that Enver Hoxha, the leader of the PLA, carried out a similar struggle against revisionism in power and opportunism of all shades. Today, we can see better the gravity of the harm caused by Khrushchevite, Brezhnevite, Titoite, Maoist, Euro-communist, etc. currents to the cause of revolution. Thus, the great importance of Comrade Enver Hoxha’s determination in defending Marxism-Leninism can be understood better.

What happened was a many-sided struggle against all these anti-proletarian ideologies to defend the principles of Marxism-Leninism in various fields such as the state and revolution, the Leninist party, imperialism and its contradictions, socialist construction and the understanding of proletarian socialism, Stalin’s masterpiece (the construction of socialism in the USSR), philosophical materialism, and even Marxist aesthetics in arts and literature. The purity of Marxism-Leninism and proletarian socialism was maintained. Furthermore, Marxist-Leninist theory was enhanced in daily struggle.

In the fight against Titoism, Khruschevism -modern revisionism- Euro-communism and Maoism, Comrade Enver Hoxha did not only defend the fundamental theses of Marxism-Leninism such as imperialism, the state, revolution, the class struggle, socialist construction, etc. and enrich them through actual facts, but also strongly defended philosophical materialism.

He exposed the efforts of Maoism to place dialectical materialism in the service of Maoist revisionism distorting it in the same way as all the other fundamental theses of Marxism-Leninism and turning it into metaphysics in essence, and to whitewash the path taken by China.

With great self confidence we can claim that in the same way that Lenin is the leader of the period of getting rid of the opportunism of the Second International, realising the socialist revolution and making Marxism stand more firmly on its feet, and that Stalin is the leader of the period of realising socialist construction and of the struggle against Trotskyism, other deviations and imperialist encirclement, Enver Hoxha is the leader of the period of the struggle against setback and modern revisionism.

If the International Communist Movement is beginning to stand firmly on its feet again, it is doing so on the basis of a heritage and a platform which Enver Hoxha played a leading role in establishing and passing on to the next generation. It owes its very existence and its ideological platform -which is insufficient today and which needs to be renovated in such a way that it can respond to current conditions in every aspect- in great part to Enver Hoxha.

Enver Hoxha did not simply repeat the fact that there was no change in the nature of imperialism and that our era is the era of imperialism and proletarian revolutions, as was stated by Lenin at the beginning of our century, but also defended and developed this theory on the basis of current developments.

”The concentration and centralisation of production and capital, creating giant monopolies which have no technological unity, is widespread today. Enterprises and entire branches of industrial production, construction, transport, trade, services, of the infrastructure, etc., operate within these gigantic ‘conglomerate’ monopolies. They turn out everything, from children’s toys to intercontinental missiles.”

”The mergers and combinations of industrial, trading, farming and banking enterprises have led to the creation of new forms of monopolies, to the creation of big industrial-commercial or industrial-agrarian corporations, forms which are finding wide application not only in the capitalist countries of the West, but also in the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, and other revisionist countries. In the past the monopoly combines carried on the transport and selling of goods with the help of other independent firms, whereas today, the monopolies control production, transport and marketing.” (ibid.)



Throughout his life and struggle, Comrade Enver Hoxha has been a sound guide for the communist parties of various countries comprising the International Communist Movement. He always encouraged and gave moral support to them not to feel hopeless in the face of hardships and temporary failures, to constantly renew themselves and take up their revolutionary tasks as struggling parties. He valued the revolutionary work carried out by Marxist-Leninist parties, even though they were small at that moment, and encouraged them to feel more courageous and to take the initiative in taking up greater tasks.

Comrade Enver Hoxha wrote the following with great self confidence and determination:

”The Marxist-Leninist parties, all revolutionaries, however few in numbers establish themselves among the people, organise the masses systematically, with great care and patience, convince them that they are a great force, that they are able to overthrow capital, to seize state power and wield it in the interest of the proletariat and the people. Such parties do not think that, being small, they cannot stand up to the coalition of the parties of the bourgeoisie and the opinion formed by them.” (Imperialism and the Revolution)

This revolutionary position was the basic guide for Enver Hoxha and his party in the most difficult days. Even in 1966 he was determinedly saying the following:

”Our party believes that the present situation does not allow anyone calling themselves communist or revolutionary to wait for the attacks of revisionists, watch it and be satisfied with saluting the struggle against revisionism carried out by others. Time does not wait. Marxist-Leninists must be in the offensive not in defence. They have never been afraid of revisionist attacks and threats. Fear is a concept which is alien to them. They do not recognise this concept in their struggle against imperialism and revisionism. Those who are afraid of imperialism are the revisionists. Being afraid of revisionism would mean being more afraid of imperialism and having no belief in the power and victory of Marxism-Leninism.” (Struggle Against Modern Revisionism)

This was the position of Enver Hoxha in his whole life and struggle. As one can clearly see in these quotations, frontal attack was his position against imperialism and reactionary forces. He did not write this with an empty confidence or without taking into account the conditions and without thinking in order to encourage action. On the contrary, he showed where the real possibilities of the revolution and revolutionary work lay. It is for this reason that he greatly valued the daily practical work and every small step of the communist parties especially in the imperialist-capitalist countries, and encouraged them to go forward.

”The genuine Marxist-Leninist parties stand in the vanguard and not at the tail-end of revolutionary action. The temporarily limited possibilities of the struggle and efforts by means of which they must and do oppose the great force of capitalist reaction, do not discourage them.” (Imperialism and Revolution)



Comrade Enver Hoxha emphasised that genuine communist parties must orientate themselves towards daily practical revolutionary work, learn together with the masses in this work and struggle and that the masses will gain experience on the basis of their struggle. He also drew attention to the absolute necessity of giving importance to theoretical education. He never accepted being inadequate in theory and considered it an important reason for the degeneration of old communist parties. He specially stressed the fact that the work of studying Marxism-Leninism cannot be separated from revolutionary action.

All these criticisms made by Enver Hoxha and his defence of Marxism-Leninism throughout his life are not a simple repetition of the sum of this scientific doctrine until then. On the contrary, this defence involves efforts of renovation/development of this science on the basis of actual facts and phenomena. This is what Enver Hoxha did in a simple and modest manner and this is what makes him more valuable. The international working class and every communist will not forget Enver Hoxha. They will defend him against all attacks in a determined way and hold on to this great son of the international working class.

FOR ENVER HOXHA THERE IS NO DEATH

(ADDRESS DELIVERED BY ETHEM HALILI AT THE GRAVE OF ENVER HOXHA ON THE 15th ANNIVERSARY OF HIS DEATH, 11 APRIL 2000).

Like the people as a whole, the Communists remember Comrade Enver Hoxha with deep respect and honour. It is fifteen years since the day when the heart of the greatest figure who has emerged from the Albanian nation in its entire history ceased to beat, from the day when Enver Hoxha was physically separated from the Party which he created and led for almost half a century, from the people who loved him and which he served unsparingly.

Leaders like Enver Hoxha come rarely. They are thrown up by great epochs and have as their mission the revolutionary transformation of the world. Such was Enver, whose influence was so powerful that the time in which he lived and worked may justly be called the epoch of Enver.

Enver Hoxha was a great statesman, a distinguished diplomat, an able soldier, a brilliant political analyst and organiser — qualities which made him a far-sighted, even visionary, leader.

With the deep Marxist-Leninist thought of Enver Hoxha are indissolubly linked victory in the Anti-Fascist War of National Liberation and the position of Albania on the side of the victorious United Nations. This opened the way to the period of socialist construction, to the creation of a many-sided industry and a modern agriculture which not only met the needs of the country but produced a growing surplus for export. This opened the way to the construction of a secure defence system and the development of an educational system which transformed the country from one with 90% illiteracy into one with a university and an Academy of Sciences.

Enver Hoxha was the distinguished founder and leader of the Party of Labour of Albania (PLA), which he directed with wisdom for fifty consecutive years. He was the commander of the Army of National Liberation and of our People’s Army, a tireless defender of the country’s freedom and independence. With Enver Hoxha at the head of the Party, Albania was truly an independent, sovereign country whose voice was heard in the international arena, a country which no one dared to attempt to bully and which indisputably enjoyed the respect of oppressed people and revolutionaries all over the world.

The greatness of the figure of Enver Hoxha stands out all the more when we look at what the country has suffered since his death, with the return of reaction and the restoration of capitalism. Everything the people had constructed with effort and sacrifice over fifty years under the leadership the PLA and Enver Hoxha was totally destroyed from the foundations, the country and the people faced mass unemployment, as a result of which Albanians were forced into emigration or into employment to work as the servants of others. Crime, corruption, prostitution and other evils associated with capitalist society spread. Albania lost not only its good name but also its sovereignty. For ten years a whole team of propagandists inspired and directed by the international bourgeoisie has poured out insults and demagogy with the aim of distorting the truth, denying the work of Enver Hoxha and striving to blacken his figure.

But this was in vain. The people understand very well what has happened, and long for the return of the time of Enver. The more time passes, the higher his figure towers on the horizon, the brighter the rays of his teachings shine.

By communists and by honest people Enver Hoxha has always been loved and respected. He has left to us a very precious inheritance — the theory and practice we need to guide us in the great and difficult battles which lie ahead.

His teachings call for the unity of communists into a single party, for the broadening of the links of the communists with the people, for the strengthening and tempering of that unity. Only in this way can we put ourselves in a position to fulfil these tasks successfully, to realise the historic mission to which we have dedicated ourselves.

As we commemorate today the figure of Enver Hoxha, his work and his name, we bow with deep respect and at the same time pledge ourselves to work with revolutionary dedication and without sparing ourselves, to keep alive communist ideals, to be guided at all times and at every step by the compass of the teachings of Enver, to work to realise his last wish that Albania should always march forward red, like the hearts of the communists and partisans.

Eternal glory to the immortal work and name of Enver Hoxha!

Why Enver Hoxha?

100th Anniversary of Enver Hoxha

Extracts from the Letter from the CC of the Party of Labor of Albania to the CC of the Communist Party of China (1978)

Comrade Hoxha on the 1956 Counterrevolution in Hungary

Enver Hoxha’s “Reflections on the Middle East”

The Albanian People Will Stand By the Yugoslav Peoples

Concerning certain distortions of Stalin’s work and L. Martens’ revisionist view of socialism

J.V. Stalin’s Last Speech (Enver Hoxha Present)

The Warmongering Plans of the Chinese Leaders & the Visit of Hua Kuo-feng to Yugoslavia & Rumania

Excerpts from: Enver Hoxha – Report to the 7th Congress of the PLA

Enver Hoxha’s first reaction to 20th Congress of the CPSU

Albania’s Communists Seek Revival at Polls

Video: Short History of the Foundation of the PLA in English

Interview with the Communist Party of Albania

Albanians protesting the destruction of the Enver Hoxha Museum

Albanian Civil Movement Protests Against Demolition of Enver Hoxha’s Mausoleum

Interview with Hysni Milloshi in “The Telegraph”

Against Chinese Revisionism and the “Theory of the Three Worlds”

The Communist Party of China and the 20th Congress of the C.P.S.U.

Down with the “RCP-USA’s” Shameful Anti-Communist Attack on the Glorious Party of Labor of Albania!

Enver Hoxha – “It Is Not Right to Receive Nixon in Beijing. We Do Not Support It”

Why the Albanian Bunkers Should Not be Mocked

Enver Hoxha: “The Revolutionary Communists Expect China to Come Out Openly Against Khrushchevite Revisionism”

Video: 100th Anniversary of Enver Hoxha Celebrated in Kosova

Enver Hoxha Quotes on Maoist Revisionism pt. 1

Enver Hoxha Quotes on Maoist Revisionism pt. 2

Enver Hoxha Quotes on Maoist Revisionism pt. 3

Enver Hoxha Quotes on Maoist Revisionism pt. 4

Enver Hoxha Quotes on Maoist Revisionism pt. 5

Enver Hoxha on Soviet Revisionism

The Chinese Leadership headed by Deng Xiaoping have Launched a Military Attack on Vietnam

Joint Statement in Opposition to the Cutting Off of Aid to Socialist Albania by the Government of China

Enver Hoxha on the Hungarian Counterrevolution & Stalin’s Legacy in 1957

Enver Hoxha on the Sabra and Shatila Massacres

Article on Capitalist Albania

Happy Birthday Enver Hoxha!

Regarding China’s Withdrawl of Aid from Albania

The Sino-Albanian Split & Khrushchev’s Attempted Coup against Socialist Albania

Enver Hoxha on Pol Pot

Outstanding Contribution to the Exposure of the Strategy of Imperialism & Modern Revisionism

Communist Party of Spain (Marxist-Leninist) on Enver Hoxha

Enver Hoxha on Israel & Arab Liberation: “The Anti-Imperialist Struggle of the Arab Peoples is Just”

Enver Hoxha: A Life for Communism

Albania, this small country at the Adriatic Sea, was at the beginning of the 20th Century a very poor country. There were more than 90% illiterates, almost no schools, few doctors, no industry, vast marshes, hardly any roads, no means of transport, no railways, etc. etc. Those who had bread were considered rich. There were reactionary, medieval ideologies and practices such as blood vengeance. The relations between people among each other were feudal. Woman was the slave of man.

In November 1917 the working class and the poor peasantry of Russia, led by the Bolshevik Party, overthrew the power of the capitalists and established the dictatorship of the proletariat. The echo of the October Revolution was also felt in Albania. The first brochures about Russia and communism came from abroad. They were read within small circles of workers and intellectuals.

The Comintern made valuable contributions to the building of a communist party. In 1928, Albanians in exile in the Soviet Union founded the Albanian Communist Group. According to the statute of this group it was their task to build further illegal communist groups in Albania and to spark a revolutionary activity. Connections were made to the already existing small communist groups in Albania. Already during his youth Enver Hoxha (born at 16th October 1908 in Gjirokastër) experienced the activities of the various occupiers and superpowers which oppressed and exploited Albania. In 1924 he joined the democratic movement. In 1930 he graduated from the high school of Korca. There he was for the first time thrown into jail by the reactionary Zog officials because he protested fellow comrades against theft committed against students.

For some years Enver Hoxha stayed in France to study at the university. He began to sympathise with the French Communist Party and published materials about the Zog regime in Albania in their newspaper “Humanite”. His scholarship was revoked, so that Enver Hoxha was forced to accept work at the Albanian consulate in Belgium. But here, too, Zog’s agents had him dismissed (Ahmet Zog came to power in 1924 through the military overthrow of the bourgeois-democratic government of Fan Noli). He returned to Albania in 1936. The years of struggle had turned Enver Hoxha into a communist.

He first worked as teacher at the secondary school in Tirana, then at the high school of Korca. In Korca he became one of the most active members of the Communist Group of Korca. He was also active in the organisation “Rinia Korcare” (Korca Youth). On 7th April 1939 the Italian fascist troops invaded Albania. The Albanian people felt consequences of the occupation very soon. Hundreds of patriots were imprisoned or detained to concentration camps. But the Fascists were met with the bitter resistance of the people. The communists put themselves at the top, although they were not yet organised into a single party. On the decision of the Communist Group of Korca, Enver Hoxha was sent to Tirana in order to develop the anti-fascist work there. He used this task to determinedly struggle for the unity of the various communist groups in Albania and for the foundation of the Communist Party.

There was much resistance from the ranks of the communist groups against establishing a uniform CP. Opportunism, group spirit, sectarianism, etc., inhibited this process. The “Korca” group, the “Shkodra” group, the “Youth” group or the “Zjarri” group – all posed as the “Communist Party of Albania”. No leader wanted give up his position. “His” group was more important than the movement. The “Theory of Cadres”, for example, was spread which said that the communists should not organise and mobilise the masses, but encapsulate themselves in their cells and deal primarily with theoretical education, with the “training of cadres.” Only afterwards the revolutionary activity could begin.

The “Youth” Group was of the opinion that there is no proletariat in Albania, and therefore no class struggle. Fascism was considered beneficial for Albania, because this way capitalism develops and the proletariat grows. The leaders of the “Shkodra” group saw no problem with testifying in court. In January 1939 they betrayed their comrades in court. The court sentenced 52 defendants to various punishments. The leaders of the “Shkodra” group regarded the denunciation as a mean to test the comrades in the face of torture by the enemy. Trotskyism and Anarchism was widespread in all groups. But enough examples. These leaders of the communist groups were not suited to create a unified communist party. On the contrary, they were an obstacle.

The Albanian communists fought actively against the fascists, they organised the resistance of the people. They fought as partisans in the mountains. However, the fragmentation was a hindrance. It had to be overcome. In a backward country such as Albania and under the conditions of the fascist occupation it was extremely difficult to unite the local communist groups. From 8th – 14th November 1941, representatives of various communist groups gathered in Tirana.

The pressure of the base, and Enver’s efforts led to this meeting. 15 representatives of the communist groups took part: Qemal Stafa, Vasil Shanto, Pilo Peristeri, and others. A provisional Central Committee was elected and Enver Hoxha was put at the head. Furthermore it was decided that the leaders of the communist groups had to assign all links to members of their group to the Central Committee. Thus, the fragmentation in different groups was brought to an end. The merger did not happen through negotiations, but by the pressure of the base. The need for a single CP became more and more obvious to the communists. Each group fought the fascists on its own.

The Communist Party was born in the fire of class struggle, in the struggle against its own leaders. The party was initially very small. It counted about 400 members (In comparison: Albania at that time had about 1 million inhabitants, Germany has today over 80 million, thus an equally small party would then have to have 80 x 400, approximately 32,000 members. We are still far away from this). The CPA, which later renamed itself into Party of Labour of Albania, immediately started to organise a National Liberation Army and lead the armed struggle against the fascists.

Besides of the CPA there was no other political party or force in Albania which pursued this goal. This way the CPA united not only the small number of workers but also farmers, craftsmen, etc. in the anti-fascist resistance for the liberation of Albania. With the CPA the force had emerged which could do this great work. It was a battle full of sacrifices. First the Italian, then German fascists resided inhumanely in Albania: 28,000 Albanian women and men left their lives for freedom, 7.3% of the population were killed or severely wounded, 21% of houses were destroyed, one third of the livestock was annihilated, the few bridges, factories, workshops, ports, etc. destroyed or damaged.

The liberation of Albania

Although more than 700,000 fascist soldiers set fascist foot on Albanian ground during WW2 (the population of Albania was at that time around one million), although the fascists resided brutish, they were beaten. Comrade Enver Hoxha was the head of the CPA and the National Liberation Army. All the revolutionary, national, democratic and progressive forces were united. People’s councils were elected. And finally, on 28th November 1944 the Democratic Government of Albania took residence in Tirana and took power. A day later, on 29th November ’44, the last Albanian town, Shkodra, was freed. Thus, the decades-long struggles and efforts of the Albanian people to achieve independence and freedom from foreign powers were crowned with success. Enver Hoxha and the Albanian Communists and together with them the entire Albanian people took over a troubled legacy – the term “difficult” is actually flattering.

For the Zog regime and the fascists had left nothing on which one could have built an independent, progressive Albania. On the contrary! They had destroyed everything. The Albanian communists and Enver Hoxha did not shy away from these difficulties. They rolled up their sleeves and set about to satisfy the most urgent needs of the people. Marshes were drained, the grain production expanded, irrigation systems were built in order to secure bread. Schools were built, literacy courses were run, professionals were trained to provide a minimum of culture and education. Factories were rebuilt and expanded, water power stations and railway lines were built, new industrial facilities were constructed to go the first steps on the way to a modern industry. Health and hygiene were developed, doctors and nurses were trained in order to dam the worst epidemics and diseases. The success of the first years of the construction of the People’s Republic of Albania alone surpassed all developments of the previous decades in Albania by far. In Albania development had stopped. The people lived in hunger and misery. Now the country awakened, lived, and stormily went forward.

Constant struggle

Soon Albania and the Albanian party had to make the experience that not everyone who calls himself a communist really is one. Tito in Yugoslavia turned to the Western capital, took loans from the US imperialists, tried to break down the socialist countries, etc. He also targeted Albania. Under “fraternal kisses” he wanted to turn Albania into a province of Yugoslavia. Tito called himself “Marxist”, but he bent Marxism in every way to fit his power interests. He revised Marxism – therefore such people are called revisionists. Tito became the agent of capital in the socialist camp, who wanted to sow his revisionism, his betrayal of Marxism, in all communist parties. The Party of Labour of Albania and Albania were in immediate danger. Tito and his men had already created groups in Albania and in the Albanian party, who worked for his goals. Tito talked about “democracy”, but in practice he worked with the means of conspiracy and his secret service (a characteristic of all revisionists by the way). Comrade Enver Hoxha was the one who defended Marxism as well as the independence of Albania and the PLA against Tito’s attacks. Together with Stalin and the Cominform office he led a determined fight against Tito’s betrayal. But this was only the beginning of a disastrous development for Marxism and socialism.

The adherence to Marxism-Leninism and not least the experience with the Titoists made the Albanian communists ears and sensitive to the developments in the Soviet Union after Stalin’s death. Nikita Khrushchev was the one who advised the Albanians to make their country an orchard, he would send the bread: “The wheat you need is less than that consumed by our mice!”, said Khrushchev. Additionally there were plans to massively extend the Albanian port of Vlorë as a base for the Soviet fleet. Albania’s independence was once again in danger. “We have fought barefoot without bread, but we never bent!” – this answer by Enver describes the Albanian position. When it became clear that Khrushchev and his associates had irrevocably taken the path of treason and could not be moved to return to the principles of Marxism-Leninism and proletarian internationalism, the Party of Labour of Albania and Enver Hoxha argued for dealing with the traitor as enemies and draw a clear dividing line. After the severance of diplomatic relations by Khrushchev in 1961, the withdrawal of Albania from the Warsaw Treaty.

Struggle against Maoism

The PLA had closer ties with the Chinese only after 1956. These contacts increased as a result of the battle the PLA led against Khrushchevite modern revisionism. As the Khrushchevites intensified their attack against Marxism-Leninism in the late 50’s they targeted the Communist Party of China. The PLA came to the aid of the CP of China in this period. Under the assumption that China was a socialist country and the Communist Party a Marxist-Leninist party, the PLA always showed solidarity with China. At the same time the PLA viewed the anti-Marxist attitudes and actions, that could be found on many instances among the Chinese leaders, with concern; it expressed critical opinions about what happened in China, as far as it was really possible. In the summer of 1971, the US Secretary of State made a secret visit to Beijing, held talks and arranged a visit of US President Nixon in China. The visit took place in 1972. Mao received Nixon personally. This event marked a fundamental turning point in Chinese politics. China had taken its place in the dance of the imperialist rivalries to redistribute the world in order to secure its share, taking the side of one superpower, the USA, against the other superpower, the Soviet Union. For this reason, it was necessary indicate through a letter to the Central Committee of the CP of Chinas that Albania objects determinedly against this new course.

“We Albanian Communists”, Enver said in Imperialism and Revolution, “have gradually formed our opinions and conviction about the danger presented by ‘Mao Zedong Thought’.” Comrade Enver analysed the Chinese policy based on the Chinese press and foreign press. The Albanian Embassy in Beijing was the most important source of information. The PLA only rarely received information on Chinese policies through the official channels and by the Chinese leaders. Since the information was fragmented and inadequate, the Albanian communists were forced to speculate and draw conclusions. Comrade Enver Hoxha subjected Chinese revisionism to a comprehensive analysis. Chinese revisionism openly showed itself in the early seventies, but it did not emerge only at that time, let alone only after the death of Mao Zedong. It is rooted ideologically and theoretically in the so-called “Mao Zedong Thought” which began to form in particular after 1935, when Mao Zedong came to the party leadership. “Mao Zedong Thought” is fundamentally different from Marxism-Leninism. They are an amalgam of views, where ideas and theories borrowed from Marxism have been mixed with Confucian, Buddhist, Anarchist, Trotskyist, Titoite, Khrushchevite and Eurocommunist ideas and theories together with strong nationalist and racist impact. It is exactly this mix of all sorts of idealistic, pragmatic and revisionist philosophies which has made “Mao Zedong Thought” into a weapon of every fractionalist current and line in China in the fight of each against everybody or in the frame of temporary co-existence.

For these reasons, the CP of China never succeeded at any time to become a truly proletarian party on questions of ideology, politics, composition and organisational structure. For these reasons the bourgeois-democratic revolution in China did not proceed into the socialist revolution, did not lead to the establishment of the true proletarian dictatorship and did not bring the country on the true path of socialist development. Mao Zedong had a reputation of a great Marxist-Leninist and described himself as a communist. But he was not. He was just a democratic revolutionary who united some elements of Marxist-Leninist philosophy with idealism, with bourgeois-revisionist philosophy and with the ancient Chinese philosophy in an eclectic way.

The 7th Party Congress of the PLA

As the Party Congress had predicted, the imperialists and revisionists increased the pressure on Albania to prevent it proceeding forward on the path of socialism. The Albania-hostile activities of the Chinese leadership in particular were reinforced under the banner of revenge against the PLA, which had exercised a principled critique of the anti-Marxist theory of “Three Worlds” at its 7th Party Congress. It tried to sabotage the Party Congress by directed provocations. The exiled president of the illegal Communist Party of Poland, Kazimierz Mijal, had been incited by the Chinese and was supposed to provoke at the Party. So he rioted in Tirana under the influence of alcohol, called the Central Committee of the PLA and Enver Hoxha traitors and much more. Soon it would show that the CP of Chinas used its influence on the international Marxist-Leninist world movement to divide it. They invited Tito to Beijing, whom they now called a “great Marxist-Leninist” leader. In Germany the “Peking Review” (45/77) spread the “The Worlds Theory” as “new general line” (“The Theory of Chairman Mao on the division of the world into three – an important contribution to Marxism-Leninism”). Under the pretext that there are little differences between the organisations calling themselves Marxist-Leninist and that one could come to terms and unite with all of them, the Chinese Maoists officially got into contact with all organisations (KPD/AO, KBW, etc.).

Simultaneously, the only party previously recognised as Communist Party, the KPD/ML, was fought. By means of repression, division attempts, slander and intrigue the CP of China tired to drag the Marxist-Leninist movement on its counter-revolutionary side. It was clear that the Chinese revisionists would suffer defeat in the ideological field against the PLA. But within the framework of intergovernmental relations, particularly in the economic and military sphere, they thought to punish Albania. Immediately after the 7th Party Congress numerous goods, machinery and equipment, which China was under a contractual obligation to supply, arrived defect or not at all. Meanwhile, the Chinese specialists working in Albania committed various acts of sabotage on instructions from above. In order to be prepared for the emerging new situation, the Central Committee took all necessary measures to ensure that the communists and the whole people were prepared and ready in all respects to strengthen the confidence in their own strength. Just as once the Khrushchevites, the Chinese leadership, to, turned to openly Albanian-hostile activities and announced on 7th July 1978 their decision to terminate Albania’s economic and military loans and aid with immediate effect and to withdraw all specialists from Albania. This act was the logical consequence of the course which they pursued for the capitalist development of China and for its transformation into a social-imperialist superpower.

When China broke all contracts, left works half-finished in which Albania had already invested millions, this did not lead to resignation and chaos in Albania, but to a rearing of the entire people and the PLA to overcome these difficulties. The clear, unwavering attitude of PLA and Enver had support among the people and was understood there. The working people were not masses to manoeuvre for him, but active participants in this struggle against the betrayal of socialism.

Modern Albania

Under Enver Hoxha’s leadership, the Albanian industry and agriculture was developed. It was a great victory for Albania that could independently produce spare parts now and thus reduce the dependence on the deliveries of capital, a dependence in which many developing countries are caught. It was a great victory for Albania to produce its own power and to even export it, because there was surplus. The electrification, the first own steel, an expanding resource extraction, a growing railway network, the first own tractor – all of these were victories. Under Enver Hoxha’s leadership, Albania managed to jump from a semi-feudal country to an industrial-agricultural state. All these successes could only have been achieved by socialism and a planned economy. Other developing countries on a comparable level, living in the blessings of the market economy, can only dream of such success. There the masses are impoverished more and more. The planned economy made it possible to put the few economic reserves of the country in the most important sectors and this way to enable a rapid and effective build-up. The plan was never something dead in Albania, but always a combat mission. Of course, the Albanian industry had not the level of major Western imperialist economies. This was hardly possible given the starting conditions and the conditions of an imperialist world market in which the small nations will be dictated.

The successes of the socialist planned economy must be evaluated even higher in light of these factors. The great economic development of Albania made social and cultural progress possible which previously was unthinkable in Albania and which remain unthinkable even in many industrialised countries. There were no taxes and inflation. Medical care was free and so good that Albania had the lowest infant mortality in Europe. Of course, many a medical device was simple. But in reality colourful pills and sparkling appliances do not say everything about the quality of medical care. Men could receive pension when 60 years old, women at the age of 55 years. Rents were extremely cheap. Where people once lived in mud huts, etc., now everyone had a roof over his/her head, even if not luxurious. Over 70% of the young people received a higher education. Technical colleges and the first university of the country, the Enver Hoxha University, were constructed. The list could be continued indefinitely.

Dictatorship of the proletariat

Under the leadership of Comrade Enver Hoxha, socialism was built in Albania and the dictatorship of the proletariat was realised. Dictatorship of the proletariat, in Albania this was not the dictatorship of bureaucrats over the proletariat, but in fact the rule of the working class. It decided together with its party the plan and the course. It could recall deputies and directors if they did not act in the interests of the working people. The party put itself and the state apparatus consciously under the control of the working people. This way it took the consequences from the degeneration of the USSR and Eastern European countries. Cadres regularly had to work in production. The wages of a factory director, a minister, a university professor were based on the average wage of a worker. Wage differences were 1:1.5. This sounds unlikely for us, but it is possible in a country that is actually governed by the working class. The prices for consumer goods, services, etc. did not rise like we are “used to it”, on the contrary: there have again and again been price reductions! New party members were checked by their colleagues. Each official and functionary could be publicly criticised and had to publicly comment on this. The Party discussed all major issues discussed with the masses. Only this way, e.g. the life-threatening situations during the attempted annexation by Yugoslavia, the military threats of Khrushchev, the Chinese economic sabotage, could be mastered. Enver Hoxha was a champion for the close connection between the Albanian Party and the working people. He fought tirelessly against all forms of bureaucracy, against any tendency of degeneration.

Enver Hoxha defended Marxism-Leninism against the revisionists of all shades

Getting to know the Tito revisionists shaped Enver’s further development. It was a fight to the death. The experience helped the Party of Labour of Albania to recognise the “false” Marxism, i.e. revisionism, as a lethal threat. “… that we have to deal with revisionists, tricksters, hypocrites, swindlers, with shameless individuals that are selling out Marxism-Leninism.” (Enver Hoxha, The Superpowers, p.35) The defence of Marxism-Leninism was from now on the driving force. After this poison affected most communist parties, made them degenerate into revisionist parties, Comrade Enver Hoxha supported and helped the new, developing Marxist-Leninist parties. The building of Bolshevik parties was and had to be carried out in the fight against modern revisionism. The lessons Comrade Enver Hoxha drew out of the degeneration, are an immeasurable treasure.

Revisionism in Albania



The experiences of the degeneration of communist parties state: Communists should not “be unconditionally loyal” to any apparatus nor party, because each apparatus, each party may change its class character under certain conditions or be previously used by hostile or wavering, opportunistic or certain forces pursuing self-interest to a certain degree.

Today, Enver Hoxha is portrayed as a monster by the bourgeois press, as somebody who bloodily suppressed a whole nation. This is the same game as for Stalin. Everywhere we hear talks about “errors” and Enver’s Albania is attacked. Of course Enver made errors. How could there be no errors in such a long life, full of battles? But above all: his errors are nothing compared to the merits and successes of Enver Hoxha. Under his leadership Albania was an encouragement for all progressive and revolutionary people around the world.

For decades Albania was the only country in the world where socialism existed. It was “a liberated zone” in the literal sense of the word. From Albania all world could hear the voice of the revolution, socialism and communism. Albania supported all progressive movements, all true Marxist-Leninist parties. It was a role model for the working people of the world. The experiences won in class struggle are available and are essential for re-building socialism. It is an encouraging fact that such a small country resisted the imperialist-revisionist encirclement that long. Even an anti-communist wave in Albania cannot darken Enver Hoxha’s merits for his country and the world revolution in the long run. On the contrary! The rapid integration of today’s Albania into the capitalist market economy emphasised the achievements of Albania under socialism even more. The sordid reality of reintroduced capitalism, unemployment, exploitation, dependence, poverty and hunger will make the work of Comrade Enver Hoxha even shine brighter.

***

As the Central Committee of the Party of Labour of Albania announced on 11th April 1985, that the heart of Comrade Enver Hoxha had stopped beating at 02.15 am, this message was received with great pain by the Albanian people. Millions of people around the world mourned one of the greatest Marxist-Leninists of the 20th Century.

THERE WILL BE NO DEATH FOR ENVER HOXHA, ONLY HIS DATE OF BIRTH EXISTS!

Millions of children left behind as Eastern Europe develops

Despite recent economic growth, two-thirds of Albania’s children still live in poverty.

By Nicole Itano, Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor / July 10, 2007

Tirana, Albania

It’s 10 o’clock in the morning and Shkelten Daljani, a rambunctious boy of 14 in a tattered “Route 66” T-shirt, should be in school. But if he wants to eat, he has to help his father collect scrap metal to sell. The previous day, he says, there was no metal and no food.

“If we have food, we eat,” Shkelten says with a shrug. “If we don’t, we don’t.”

Shkelten and his family live on the outskirts of Albania’s capital, Tirana, in the neighborhood of Breju Lumi, which means riverside, though the only nearby water is a dry streambed cluttered with trash. The houses are a collection of concrete blocks and tin shacks without electricity, running water, or sanitation. The streets are little more than dirt lanes.

Shkelten’s situation – inadequate housing and sanitation, poor medical care, and occasional hunger – is little different from that of millions of children throughout Africa, Asia, and Latin America. But his home is in the heart of Europe.

Millions of children in the formerly communist nations of Eastern Europe have been left behind as their countries made the transition from centralized economies to free-market capitalism. While in absolute numbers the number of poor children has fallen in recent years, advocates and researchers say that a new class of excluded children is emerging who suffer many of the same problems as children in the poorest countries of Africa – but receive far less attention.

“We used to say that everybody was equally poor,” says Arlinda Ymeraj, a social-policy officer with the UN Children’s Fund in Albania. “Now, if you compare, there are big disparities. A few people have gotten very rich, but more have stayed poor or gotten poorer.”

The situation of Albania’s children is among Europe’s worst. Once one of the most isolated nations, the country remains one of the continent’s poorest countries.

Despite recent economic growth, a third of Albania’s children live on less than $2 a day. And according to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), a staggering 35 percent of children in rural areas are malnourished; in urban areas, 17 percent are. In terms of child malnutrition – measured by the percentage of children under age 5 who are underweight – the World Bank puts Albania just above Republic of Congo and Zimbabwe.

Leonardo Menchini, a researcher for UNICEF’s Innocenti Research Center in Florence, Italy, says no one is certain why so many children in Albania are malnourished and that more research needs to be done since the statistics are based only on a handful of studies. Still, he says, “The data for Albania are quite shocking.”

Ms. Ymeraj says that it is difficult to compare the situation of children today with that during communist times, but that life has deteriorated for the poorest in a number of concrete ways.

The state no longer guarantees jobs, houses, or healthcare, as it did before. In rural areas, industry and state-farm collectives have collapsed, leaving people to fend for themselves, and many government services are no longer available. In rural areas, for example, 85 percent of secondary schools have shut their doors.

Researchers say that poverty is becoming increasingly entrenched, particularly in rural areas, among Albania’s minority Roma population and in families with children. Indeed, across the region, countries with the lowest birthrates also have the lowest poverty levels.

“What has emerged is the concentration of disadvantage. Families with children seem more disadvantaged than before, relatively speaking,” says Menchini, emphasizing that the state must do more to protect children. “It’s important for these counties to invest in social services. They have to break the intergenerational transmission of poverty.”

Jalldyz Ymeri, a young grandmother who lives near the Daljani family, says in communist days she would not have nearly lost her 3-year-old grandson Orgito – a spiky-haired boy with angelic eyes – whom races around the family’s dirt yard as she watches. A few months earlier, the boy fell seriously ill, and Ymeri had to bribe a doctor to see him.

“The medicines to cure him are very expensive,” she says. “Sometimes we have to choose between food or medicine. Nobody will treat us if we don’t pay.”

“For us it was much better in communist times,” insists Ymeri’s husband, Safet. “We were obliged to go to school. The government gave us housing. We like democracy, but this is not real democracy.”

Source

“Where Are You, Enver?”

16 Tetori: Albania today & yesterday

No. 22, Jul-Sept. 2010

Publisher: Dr. Laver Stroka

We have passed 20 years under ‘Democracy’. Education languishes at all levels from kindergarten to University. There are problems of different kinds. Kindergartens, schools and private universities are not free from problems despite advertisement and high prices. Texts are absent in large numbers. Even those texts that are available have utter deficiencies. The classes and auditoriums are insufficient. The level of teaching is low or below all standards in many classes and faculties. The problem is big not only in the villages, but also in the towns. There is a need for teachers.

Militants of parties without the respective education are nominated up to leading levels. Many schoolchildren and students have no financial income to attend school and studies. Not a few students work as waiters or elsewhere, being unable to participate in lectures, creating gaps and deficiencies in their preparation. For this reason they need money to buy the exams. The story of 10-20% of white children and 80-90% of Roma children is even more painful. They must beg or perform different jobs such as selling cigarettes, lights, pens and other things in order to live. Those who are orphans feel worse. We are talking of thousands of children lost these 20 years.

Still more painful is the fate of the children of the families in blood feuds. They do not see the daylight and their number reaches 6000. The state remains silent before this situation. On special days it must say something in order to fool the people.

The above-mentioned facts were unimaginable for the children and students in the time of Enver Hoxha. The children were all happy. The orphans were well treated in special institutions or received the wages of their deceased parents until they finished their higher studies. Then they were immediately given a place of work and were provided a house for free to live like all other citizens of the country. Nowadays the people in such situations rightfully and painfully say: ‘Where are you, Enver!’

The Time Has Come

At a time when the legal system has been spoken and is being spoken about for these two decades of ‘democracy’ in Albania, words and reality are extremely far apart. The judicial system is as discredited as the political system. Their credibility is almost inconsiderable. In a TV questionnaire at the beginning of September on the most watched TV channel for Albanians, ‘Top channel’, only 22% trust the court and the prosecutor’s office in their decision making, whereas 78% are sceptics. The questionnaire was related to the open processes against the power holders involved in great corruption areas, stepping on the law. This has already been proved tens of times.

The power holders, traffic dealers and big businessmen connected to power have never been accused or punished for the different crimes they have committed. The judicial processes have been postponed for months and years under the most absurd pretexts, helping them wash their hand for crimes that would not need much time to prove. In many cases the main witnesses have been sent out of the country with forged passports or have been found killed. The news of the ‘accidental’ death of Kosta Krebicka, ‘going hunting out of town of Korca’ was shocking. In a TV interview this witness had provided and given incontrovertible information concerning the involvement of the Berisha family in the weapons traffic and the Gerdec issue, where 26 people lost their lives, 300 others were wounded and many houses were destroyed.

Another scandal is the sheltering in London for many years of Ilir Kumbaro using the name of a Kosovo national as the only witness to the state crime of torturing and killing the patriot Remzi Hoxha by the National Informative Service (SHIK of Berisha). The event of Gerdec in addition to the economic damage of tens of millions of dollars, the sexual abuse of the minister Ylli Pango, the appropriation of hundreds of millions of Euros earmarked for the street ‘Rruga e Kombit, the ruining of the crossover of ‘Zogu i Zi’ under Sali Berisha’s orders are only the tip of the iceberg, which discredits the system of justice as the bulwark of state crime, as a part of a corrupt political and degenerate system.

The parliament is no less discredited. The investigative commissions raised for the events of the year 1997, and for many other issues have ended in real farces. At the time of Enver Hoxha, people from the head of the country to the simplest citizen were equal before the law. Today a person who has stolen a mobile phone or a ewe receives severe punishment of up to a decade of imprisonment, while the minister or the heads of institutions who have appropriated millions of dollars in a tender or other corrupt sphere can rarely be seen inside a court room not to say in a cell.

The present-day politicians hold forth this masquerade as a success of ‘democracy’ and the past equity as a punishment of their friends by the ‘Dictator’: everything is already clear. The last TV questionnaire shows 22% believing and 78% sceptical at the present system, the most discredited for inequality. It needs to be eradicated from the face of the earth as soon as possible. Time for action has come.

Why Did INSTAT Cheat?

The State Institute of Statistics (INSTAT) has been forging the economic – financial indicators during these years of the Berisha government. This has become the scandal of the Berisha government. This fact was discovered by ‘Gazeta Shqiptare’. However the manipulation of the real economic figures by INSTAT does not allow Berisha to hide the truth from the Albanian people. They are experiencing the reality of the cost of living rising by giant steps.

Many important items for living have become up to twice as expensive compared to one year ago. The cost of fruit has gone up by 10 percent, while vegetables by 11 percent. Sugar and its by-products have gone up 12 percent, energy 13 percent, drinking water 26 percent, health services 13 percent, premedication, medication and dental services 52 percent. These figures are the clearest evidence that for Albanians who work or receive social benefits, life is worse than one year ago. The rise of the price of bread and the doubling of the price of telephones for families remains a concern.

Such things could never even be thought of in the era of Enver Hoxha. The prices in agriculture were becoming continuously lower as was the cost of living. The reform in agriculture and farming assisted by the team of ‘experts’ of the agent Mehmet Shehu, as a necessary measure ‘to prevent capitalist tendencies in the country’, brought aftermaths that the renegade team of Ramiz Alia, instead of correcting them, used them to destroy the socialist system. The ordinary people understand better the treason of this renegade who put at the head of Albanian politics two of the worst examples that history has known for these two decades. They are Siamese twins Sali Berisha and Fatos Nano with their teams without political or national morals.

A Government of Thieves

The family and the court of Prime Minister Berisha have been transformed into a criminal organization, which steals and robs the efforts and properties of Albanians in the middle of the day. Corruption has reached scandalous dimensions, one minister more than the other. We are talking about tenders, privatizations, appropriations of large sums in a very short time. The courts and prosecutors’ offices remain silent or perform formal acts in order to fool the revolted Albanians.

Another act of robbery is the order of the Ministry of Finances to buy every trading unit with a price 10 times more than the actual price of the cashboxes brought by people related to the main officials. In such conditions the ordinary people’s revolt has reached their peak. The ex-Minister, involved in the scandal of stealing 1.8 million Euros, declared that anonymous persons asked him for 1 million Euro or they would threaten his life. In such a climate of poverty and wretchedness among the broad masses and fabulous enrichment of the leading people and persons related to them, within a few days the president, Bamir Topi, was forced to ask the High Council of Justice to remove incapacitated and corrupt judges and prosecutors in order to improve the fallen image of the court and prosecutors’ office. These are fairy tales. Here we are not talking about particular individuals but about a whole system of corruption and crime – capitalism.

There is no justice, freedom and equity before the law if this system does not vanish. Time has come for action.

Short Biography of Enver Hoxha

(Published by La Nostra Lotta, Italy)

Enver Hoxha was born in Gjirokaster, in the south of Albania, on October 16, 1908; his father was a modest employee, for many years an emigrant in America; his mother was a housewife.

A great influence on the spiritual growth of Enver Hoxha was exercised by his uncle Hyen Hoxha, a man who for that period was a definite revolutionary. He represented Gjirokaster on November 28, 1912, in the act of proclamation of independence of Albania, signing a document that consecrated the will of the Albanian people to free themselves from the yoke of the Turkish empire. He later also took a hostile attitude towards the reactionary regime of king Zog. This played a fundamental role in the formation of the political ideas of Enver Hoxha.

In his city he breathed the air of protest against a repressive government that culminated in the democratic revolution of 1924.

Having finished elementary school he attended the high school of Gjirokaster. At the age of 16 he was already among the first initiators and also secretary of the Society of the Students of Gjirokaster, which was permeated with a democratic-revolutionary spirit. He led the protest of progressive students when center was closed by the government after a year.

He left Gjirokaster to move to Korca, where he continued his studies in the French high school. Here he learned French history, literature and philosophy. In this city he read for the first time the “Manifesto of the Communist Party” given to him by a worker named Koçi Bako. In this period he also learned for the first time about the October Socialist Revolution; all that together with the ideas of the French Revolution which thrilled Enver Hoxha, determined his cultural development and his political tendencies.

In the summer of 1930 he finished his studies at the high school of Korca with excellent marks; in the same year he won a scholarship to attend the faculty of natural sciences at Montepellier in France. He wanted to study philosophy or law. Here he attended the lessons and the conferences of the Association of Workers organized by the French Communist Party.

After a year, not having much interest in biology he left Montepellier to go to Paris, hoping to continue his university studies. He took courses in the faculty of philosophy at the Sorbonne and, in the Marxist environment of the French capital, he collaborated with “Humanite”, writing some articles on the situation in Albania. Here he had the opportunity to study Marx’s “Capital” and Engels’ “Anti-Duhring.” For these reasons in November of 1933 he was denied his scholarship by the government of Zog.

For economic reasons and with the help of some Albanian friends he went to Brussels, where he found a job in the Albanian Consulate. He attended university courses in the faculty of law; here he broadened and enriched his knowledge of Marxist-Leninist literature. Once again he was dismissed, because the consul discovered through Zog’s agents that his employee had deposited in his office revolutionary materials and books. In that period he studied in France and worked in Belgium, also attending the University of Brussels.

Being without work and without money, he could not finish his university studies, so Enver Hoxha in the summer of 1936 finally returned to Albania. He spent a brief period of time in the city of his birth, he made contact with Albanian communists, and in July of 1936 he met Alì Kelmendi, an Albanian communist. He had contacts with the communist group of Korca, which was the most solid and organized of the movement. He returned to Korca as a teacher in the French high school.

On April 7, 1939, Italy occupied Albania.

For his openly revolutionary and anti-fascist ideas he was dismissed. He left Korca, went to Tirana, the Albanian capital, on November 29, 1939. Here he worked part-time in the government grammar school for a short time as a teacher, being again dismissed because he was by now known as a communist. With the help of some friends he opened a small shop, which became a cover for his clandestine activity. He came into contact with many members of the varied communist groups, that of Scutari, that of the youth of Korca, etc. In collaboration with the communist activists of these groups he worked actively for the unification of the scattered communist movement, with the firm intention to create a single communist party.

On November 8, 1941, the Communist Party of Albania was founded and Enver Hoxha, who had a played an important and decisive role, was chosen one of 7 members of the provisional Central Committee. According to the decision of the meeting, no one was chosen secretary or president. Soon Enver Hoxha showed himself as the true leader of the party. He carried on an intense activity for the organization of the party in Tirana and in the various cities and regions of Albania.

He was the principle inspirer of the political life of the party, which consisted in organizing the armed struggle by means of a united front of all forces, independent of their political and ideological orientation. In September of 1942 at the Conference of Pesa the National Front of Liberation was formed.

Condemned to death in absentia by a fascist tribunal, Enver Hoxha lived and worked illegally in Tirana and in the various regions of the country.

In March of 1943 the first National Conference of the C.P.A. elected him formally as General Secretary of the Party, a position that he held until his death. He founded the Army of National Liberation which, in the spring of 1944 had about 70 thousand men.

The role of Enver Hoxha as a political and military figure was very important and perhaps fundamental. The role that Enver Hoxha played in the organization of the new political system was also fundamental. Aware of the fact that Albania in the post-war period could no longer be a feudal dominion of the bourgeoisie, nor a colony of the imperialist powers, Enver Hoxha in the party inspired the creation of embryos of the new political power: the National Councils of Liberation.

In May of 1944 the Anti-Fascist Congress of Permet chose Enver Hoxha as president of the National Anti-Fascist Committee of Liberation, which was at that epoch the only legislative organ of the Albanian State, with the attributes of a provisional government, and Commander-in-Chief of the Army. After 4 months, in view of the coming liberation of the country, the Committee was transformed into a Provisional Democratic Government and Enver Hoxha became the first head of government of the new Albania.

After liberation, which was the exclusive achievement of the Army of Albanian Liberation itself, Enver Hoxha began a new phase in the fight for Albania to rise again on the path of socialism. In March of 1946 the Constituent Assembly, chosen in the elections of December 1945, proclaimed Albania a Peoples Republic and nominated Enver Hoxha as Prime Minister, the office that he held until 1954.

In August of that same year Enver Hoxha participated in the Peace Conference in Paris as head of the Albanian delegation, defending brilliantly the right of his people to be considered a member of the anti-fascist coalition, opposing the territorial claims of Greece.

The period of 1947-1948 was marked by the firm and determined attitude of Enver Hoxha to prevent the realization of the intentions of Tito: to transform Albania into a Yugoslav republic. The distrust of Enver Hoxha towards the Yugoslav leaders and towards Tito had its origin during the war and developed in the post-war period. As the relationships between the two states grew, so did Enver Hoxha’s doubts about Yugoslavia’s real policies. These doubts were fed by the way in which the economic relationships between the two countries were conducted, and by the ever stronger tendency of Yugoslavia to make Albania into a satellite state. Above all, the national problem, with the lack of self-determination for Kosova promised by Tito but never realized, fed Enver Hoxha’s doubts about the Yugoslav leaders.

The 1950s were years of the first, most difficult steps for Albania towards economic, social and cultural development. To appraise correctly and objectively this experience of almost fifty years, to comprehend the vastness of the political, economic, social and cultural transformation that was realized, one must take into account the enormous backwardness that Albania had inherited from the past.

A country with a completely agricultural economy, with a primitive agriculture marked by feudal economic relationships, almost totally lacking in industry, with a very low level of education: 80-85% of the population was illiterate; a life expectancy that did not reach 40 years; this was Albania before the war. To all that must be added the human casualties, 28 thousand fallen out of 800 thousand inhabitants and the destruction of the war.

Enver Hoxha as leader of the C.P.A. and as head of government played an important role in what was revealed as a still bloodier struggle than the war, for the revival of Albania.

The politics of the Party of Labor – called that after the first congress of November, 1948 – had three fundamental orientations: industrialization, the development of agriculture through the formation of cooperatives, and a program for the development of education and culture. Enver Hoxha was the inspirer and author of the work that was carried out in those years, as leader of the Party of Labor. With great sacrifices, with enormous popular enthusiasm and also with aid of the socialist countries – the Soviet Union in the 1950s and for a certain period afterwards also China – Albania was transformed into a advanced country, very far from the level inherited from the past, and this was already an excellent progress.

Big industrial complexes, thermo and hydroelectric power plants were built, swamps, embankments and rivers were reclaimed, entirely new cities were built from nothing. A very widespread system of elementary and middle schools were developed that assured the education of all children; the whole country was electrified. Enver Hoxha knew very well that Albania was not heaven on earth, that it was still very far from the more advanced countries of Europe.

The last fifty years were marked by increasing differences with the Soviet leaders.

The Party of Labor of Albania and Enver Hoxha personally had many reservations about the new course officially applied by Khrushchev after the XXth Congress of the C.P.S.U. For Enver Hoxha there was not only the question of Stalin, but above all the policy toward the U.S.A. and world imperialism, and still more the hegemonic tendencies of the new U.S.S.R, towards the socialist countries.

Enver Hoxha, in the contacts he had with Khrushchev, presented his reservations on different occasions: in Moscow in December of 1956, April 1957, January 1960, and also in Tirana in May of 1959. Upon his arrival at the Conference of the 81 Fraternal Parties held in Moscow on November 16, 1960, Enver Hoxha in a courageous speech made public his reservations and his accusations regarding the new Soviet course. This act also marked the official break between Albania and the U.S.S.R. From that moment Enver Hoxha, supported for a brief period of time by the Chinese, become the unique heroic fighter against modern revisionism.

For all his life he defended the theory and the principles in which he believed, Marxism-Leninism. He rejected every deviation from the revolutionary spirit of this theory. Yugoslav, Soviet, Chinese, Eurocommunist, all were for him the Trojan horse in the international communist and workers movement. Enver Hoxha wanted to defend the victories of the socialism in Albania and the very independence of the country.

In the 1970s, new fronts of struggle were opened, all those inside the Party and the State who were against socialism were unmasked.

Enver Hoxha suffered a heart attack in 1973, and although he was able to recover fairly well, he could no longer devote the maximum of his being to this new struggle. In fact, from that moment on the activity of Enver Hoxha in the Party and he in the State tended more and more to decrease. There began on the part of the enemies infiltrated into the Party and the State the work of methodical, systematic destruction of all that had been realized on the road to socialism in Albania.

From the end of the 1970s and the beginning of the 1980s Enver Hoxha began a period of intense theoretical activity. All his experience, all his life, from an activist to a communist leader, is contained in the various volumes he has written. Among these are:

Yugoslav “Self-Administration” – A Capitalist Theory and Practice (1978)

Imperialism and the Revolution (1978)

Reflections on China (1979)

With Stalin (1979)

Eurocommunism is Anti-Communism (1980)

The Khrushchevites (1980)

The Anglo-American Threat to Albania (1982)

The Titoists (1982)

Reflections on the Middle East (1984)

Laying the Foundations of the New Albania (1984)

Two Friendly Peoples (1985)

The Superpowers (1985)

This is only a part of his intense theoretical activity by which Enver Hoxha has enriched the universal fund of the experience of the theory to which he devoted all his life, Marxism-Leninism.

In the 1980s Enver Hoxha’s state of health worsened, he suffered from diabetes and in 1983 he was stricken with a cerebral ischemia, and again in 1984.

On April 9, 1985, he suffered a cardiac arrest; the doctors were able to revive his heart, but he was deprived of consciousness. On April 11, 1985, Enver Hoxha died.

His death was felt by the people as a great loss. There was nationally a sincere and heartfelt grief. The Albanian people loved and adored him. Enver Hoxha in his period of activity of fifty years had given the Albanian people freedom and national dignity, he had brought his people from the darkness of the feudalism towards a society, which, although not ideal, was more just and more advanced. He had given his people an ideal for which it was worthy to fight, to sacrifice, oneself, to live for. Enver Hoxha succeeded in giving to his people all that they do not have any more. He gave the world Marxist-Leninist movement the clarity of the development of the class struggle, from the October Revolution until today.

Tirana, 1995

Tom Kastrioti

Celebrating the 100th birthday of Enver Hoxha

Printed in Proletarian, issue 27 (December 2008).

Architect of socialist Albania, anti-revisionist fighter, and one of the great Marxist-Leninist heroes of the 20th century.

Born in Gjirokastër, southern Albania, on 16 October 1908, Enver Hoxha was involved in politics from a young age – at just 16, he became secretary of the Students Society of Gjirokastër, an anti-monarchist movement. A highly capable student, he won a scholarship to further his studies in France, where he spent the early 1930s. There he found an active communist movement, and started to immerse himself in communist activity and Marxist literature, reading such works as Marx’s Capital and Engels’ Anti-Dühring.

Hoxha returned to Albania in 1936, becoming a school teacher. He was dismissed from his post when, following the Italian invasion of 1939, he refused to join the Albanian Fascist Party. Driven underground, he became actively involved in the communist movement, and, at the founding conference of the Communist Party of Albania (later renamed the Albanian Party of Labour) on 8 November 1941, he was chosen as a Central Committee member.

In the remaining years of the second world war, Hoxha emerged as a most able and inspiring party member, working tirelessly all over the country. He played a crucial role in organising the armed struggle of the united front against fascism, leading the Army of National Liberation. He was also the main inspirer of the new forms of underground popular power that were emerging – the National Councils of Liberation. In March 1943, Hoxha was named First Secretary of the Communist Party.

After the partisans forced the withdrawal of German troops in November 1944, Enver Hoxha became head of government of Albania. In March 1946, the Constituent Assembly proclaimed the birth of the People’s Republic of Albania, and nominated Hoxha as its prime minister.

Socialist Albania

Comrade Hoxha was a key figure in devising Albania’s path to socialism – an immensely challenging task, given that Albania had long been the most backward country in Europe. Pre-war Albania was characterised by regular famine and disease, almost complete illiteracy, feudal property relations, chronic underdevelopment and the prevalence of such charming feudal traditions as the blood feud.

One of the first acts of the post-war government was to pass the Agrarian Reform Law, which turned the land of the large landowners over to the peasants. Albania’s first university was established in 1957, and new educational institutions sprang up at every level. Literacy grew to 99 percent, and life expectancy grew to over 70. Electricity was made available throughout the country. The blood feud was banned. A comprehensive national healthcare system was implemented, and malaria, the most widespread disease, was wiped out. An extensive socialist industry was built up.

These were remarkable achievements, especially if you consider that, on the one hand, Albania was subjected to constant infiltration and plotting by the western imperialist powers, and, on the other, Soviet aid to Albania was effectively ended by the early 1960s.

Mehmet Shehu, then premier of Albania, summarised the victories of Albanian socialism in the following terms: “The health service is free of charge for all and has been extended to the remotest villages. In 1960, we had one doctor per every 3,360 inhabitants; in 1978, we had one doctor per every 687 inhabitants, and this despite the rapid growth of the population. The natural increase of the population in our country is 3.5 times higher than the annual average of European countries, whereas mortality in 978 was 37 percent lower than the average level of mortality in the countries of Europe, and the average life expectancy in our country has risen, from about 38 years in 1938 to 69 years. That is, for each year of the existence of our people’s state power, the average life expectancy has risen by about 11 months. That is what socialism does for man! Is there a loftier humanism than socialist humanism, which, in 35 years, doubles the average life expectancy of the whole population of the country?” (‘The magnificent balance of victories in the course of 35 years of Socialist Albania (Speech)’, 28 November 1979)

Battle against revisionism

Socialist Albania recorded great victories in the fight for socialism, and Enver Hoxha deserves to be remembered as the principal architect of these victories. However, we must not ignore the tremendously important role he played in the world communist movement. Of all the communist leaders of eastern Europe, it was only Enver Hoxha who had the courage, the independence and the tenacity to reject the diktat of Nikita Khrushchev and his cohorts, who were in the business of making ‘fraternal’ aid dependent on total acceptance of revisionist Soviet ideology.

In response to Khrushchev’s denunciation of Joseph Stalin, his turn towards market socialism and his negative attitude towards other socialist countries, Hoxha correctly labelled Khrushchev a “revisionist, anti-Marxist and a defeatist”, saying “the Albanian people and their Party of Labour will even live on grass if need be, but they will never sell themselves ‘for 30 pieces of silver’ … They would rather die honourably on their feet than live in shame on their knees.”

In the 1960s, Hoxha formed an alliance with the Communist Party of China to defend Marxism Leninism from the vicious attacks of Soviet revisionism. (For reasons that are beyond the scope of this article, relations between Albania and China soured in the 1970s, leading to a diplomatic breakdown that can only be described as a historic blow for the international proletariat.)

Hoxha argued vociferously against the ideas of market socialism that were starting to dominate the Soviet economic discourse. Hoxha also refused to fall in line with Khrushchev’s extraordinary and baseless attack on Stalin, which turned out to be nothing but a cover for an attack on the dictatorship of the proletariat and the socialist planned economy. Writing in 1981, on the occasion of the centenary of Stalin’s birth, Hoxha wrote:

“Stalin’s whole life was characterised by an unceasing fierce struggle against Russian capitalism, against world capitalism, against imperialism and against the anti-Marxist and anti-Leninist currents and trends which had placed themselves in the service of world reaction and capital. Beside Lenin and under his leadership, he was one of the inspirers and leaders of the Great October Socialist Revolution, an unflinching militant of the Bolshevik Party.

“After the death of Lenin, for 30 years on end, Stalin led the struggle for the triumph and defence of socialism in the Soviet Union. That is why there is great love and respect for Stalin and loyalty to him and his work in the hearts of the proletariat and the peoples of the world. That is also why the capitalist bourgeoisie and world reaction display never-ending hostility towards this loyal disciple and outstanding, resolute co-fighter of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin.” (‘With Stalin’, 1981)

Albania since counter-revolution

Hoxha died on 11 April 1985. The cause of Albanian socialism was greatly weakened by the loss of its architect, and, tragically, Albania was not able to withstand the wave of counter-revolution that swept the USSR and eastern Europe in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Albania is, of course, a small country, and its ability to develop socialism was hampered by numerous internal and external factors. Nonetheless, life in socialist Albania was immeasurably better than it was before 1945 and has been since 1992.

Post-socialist Albania, much like the rest of eastern Europe, has suffered dreadfully from the dodgy goods it was sold, ie, the ‘free market’ and privatisation. It is now once again one of the poorest countries in the world. The diverse industry developed under socialism has been all but completely neglected, as the western privateers are predominantly interested in Albania as a source of raw materials. Unemployment stands at over 30 percent. The only ‘industries’ in which Albania has been allowed by its US allies to thrive are the drugs trade, prostitution and human trafficking.

The blood feud has returned in rural areas, after an absence of more than 40 years. According to The Telegraph of 3 June 2007, “more than 20,000 … live under an ever-present death sentence because of such blood feuds”. (‘Thousands fear as blood feuds sweep Albania’)

Since 1992, at least 6,000 Albanians have been killed owing to blood feuds. Nicola Smith, in The Times of 20 January 2008, writes: “According to the National Reconciliation Committee, more than 1,200 children are without schooling because of feuds. Figures … show that since the end of the communist dictatorship in 1990, more than 20,000 families have been affected by blood feuds and 6,000 lives have been lost. The tradition, which dates back to the 15th century, was banned by Enver Hoxha, the Stalinist dictator, but took hold again in the chaos after the collapse of communism.”

Naturally, this bourgeois journalist cannot resist the temptation to slander Hoxha, Stalin and all things red; nonetheless, she is forced to admit that vendettas did not take place in socialist Albania.

We are confident that, in time, the Albanian workers and peasants will realise the gravity of their mistake in allowing the restoration of capitalism in Albania. Capitalism is long past its sell-by date; it has nothing to offer the masses of the world except death, poverty, war, exploitation, repression, unemployment and a bit of escapism in the form of drugs and TV.

May the Albanian people take inspiration from the heroic example of their patriots in the second world war and from the remarkable successes of socialist construction led by Comrade Enver Hoxha.

Forward to socialism.

Albania

From: “DDR-Roter Morgen”, illegal newspaper of the KPD/ML, July 1978

What do you know about Albania? It is not much what you can learn about it from the school books or newspapers.

“A country where a man is afraid to criticise another one is no socialist country.” — Enver Hoxha

In Albania the party and the working class are aware that it is not enough that the socialist relations of production was established but that a constant struggle has to be lead to keep them and to perfect them. In order to prevent that the Socialist People’s Republic of Albania will suffer the same fate as the Soviet Union, the GDR and the other former socialist countries where capitalism was restored, the Albanian communists and the Albanian people took measures to strengthen the dictatorship of the proletariat according to the teachings of Lenin and Stalin.

The PLA (Party of Labour of Albania) considers it very important to create a proper relationship between the leading cadres and the broad masses of the working people in town and country. They lead a consistent struggle against the cadres separating themselves from the working class and placing themselves above it, they lead a consistent struggle against bureaucratic, technocratic, liberal, sectarian and other bourgeois tendencies showing up in the work of the functionaries.

In order to prevent that decadent elements and privileged strata develop, the PLA has always followed the line of steadily decreasing the differences in the level of income and the way of living between the cadres and the workers and collective peasants. No significant differences in wages are allowed, while at the same time petty-bourgeois tendencies of egalitarianism are fought.

“The cadres have to have oil-stained hands and clayey shoes in order to learn the concerns, the needs and the work of the people not only from above but also from below, in order to make bureaucracy, pride and arrogance, the disease of commanding and of favouritism disappear; because all of these diseases are more likely to emerge within those who hold positions of power and thus think that they alone could manage everything and without them nothing could go on.” (Enver Hoxha)

In Albania the worker has the say

To strengthen socialism and the dictatorship of the proletariat the Albanian working class has created extensive ways to exercise workers’ control and to prevent the rise and growth of bureaucracy, cliques and nepotism. This is of great importance in the education of the people, the education to the “new human” with a socialist consciousness. Therefore much weight is given to criticism and self-criticism. Criticism and self-criticism are seen as driving force in Albania which contributes to the development of society.

To prevent that the criticised feels offended by the criticism and looks for an opportunity to take revenge or to prevent that somebody misuses criticism just for his own selfish and ambitious interests, all criticism is discussed in the workers’ collective. And further important features like the “Flete Rrufe” (flash letters) haven been created. The Flete Rrufe are openly posted criticism or proposals, which everybody can hang out and in which everybody, regardless of his position, can be criticised for his behaviour. This way e.g. the following criticism of a department chief in Fieri, written by one of his subordinates, was posted:

“The party teaches us to be not vengeful, not arrogant towards subordinates but to let us be guided by the ideology of Marxism-Leninism. We know that you, comrade, know very well about all of this in theory. But we are right if we call you a dogmatist because this is illustrated by the fact that you have taken revenge on us. You tried to look down on the work of the others, to exert pressure and command us. You have been criticised for you mistakes but you have not changed. We ask you: Does the proletarian discipline apply to everybody or just to some? We request that the District Committee shall make an analysis about your mistakes after you have given the answer.”

The criticised is obligated to provide a written reply to this criticism, which he also has to post openly. It is of course important that the criticism doesn’t stay formal but that measures are taken to correct the mistakes. The primary purpose of criticism is, of course, education but it also happened in similar cases that even directors were sent back to work at the machines so that they could correct their arrogant attitude.

Did you already know…

… that the last case of measles in the People’s Republic of Albania was in 1971?This is because general vaccination against measles was introduced in Albania as the only country in Europe. By the way, medical care is completely free in Albania. For children up to one year the socialist state also provides all medicaments for free.

… that workers in certain professions – e.g. miners – receive pension already with 50 years in Albania? Furthermore they get an additional annual vacation of 36 days.

… that women who go back to work after their maternity leave can bring their children to a crib at their business and additionally get at least half an hour break every three hours so that they can take care of their child? This break is seen as working time and is fully paid. By the way, all women who gave birth to six or more children receive their pension already at the age of 50 years, regardless of the jobs they had.

… that price increases are completely unknown in Albania? While prices rise continuously here, the prices for consumer goods have been decreased 14 times in Albania since 1950. By the way, a ticket for the opera or ballet costs 3 Lek in Albania – that is 75 Pfennigs [60 Pfennigs were around 30 ¢ at the time when the Euro was introduced in Germany].

… that nobody in Albania had to pay taxes or any other dues since 1967?

… that on 25th October 1970 the last house in Albania was connected to the national grid? The peasants even at the most remote farms do not have to pay a cent for their connection to the national grid.

… that every third Albanian goes to school, respectively educates himself further? In 1946 four of fife Albanian were still illiterates.

… that Albania is the country with the lowest wage differentials in the world?Thus, for example, the director of a metal-working factory can earn at most 50% than a qualified worker. The director of a mine can earn at most 20% more than a qualified worker, a minister 30-50% (payroll taxes do not exist).

… that everybody in Albania who is not working in production has to physically work at least one month a year? This applies for administrative officials to professors to the top-level state functionaries.

Work of the cadres in production

Everywhere in Albania, in cities and villages, one could see leading cadres of all ranks, working people of the administration and intellectuals who worked directly in production, shoulder to shoulder with the workers and peasants. It was a principle of the socialist life in Albania that all cadres of the administration, the party, state- and economic apparatus, of the mass organisations, the army and the cadres of state companies, of agricultural collectives and the members of the intelligentsia, with the exception of old persons and those who cannot regularly take part in production because of their health or physical disablement. Productive work was also an integral part of school, next to lessons and the physical and military education.

The direct participation of leading cadres and intellectuals at work in production was a principal aspect of social life and of vital importance for the cause of socialism. It is not sufficient to establish the socialist ownership of the means of production. It is also necessarily needed to establish correct relationships between the leading cadres and the broad masses of the working people in town and country. On the one hand this requires the cadres to guide, lead and control but on the other hand they have to see themselves as servants of the people.

They have to be connected closely with the masses and merge with them, learn from the, give account to the masses and to be under the actual, effective and constant control of the masses. This way centralism is correctly linked with socialist democracy. After the victory of socialism, too, the danger exists that the leading cadres become bureaucrats, that they isolate themselves from the masses or even oppose them, that they transform from servants of the people to rulers of the people, that they degenerate, that a new anti-socialist caste or class arises; this would lead to the liquidation of the dictatorship of the proletariat and to the restoration of capitalism. The existence of such a danger was fully proven by historical experience. To ignore this danger is momentous and fatal for the fate of socialism. But it is no inevitable doom and can be avoided if effective countermeasures are taken.

Among the very important measures which the Party of Labour of Albania has taken is the cadre rotation, that is the relocation of cadres from leading positions to the basis and from administration to production and the other way around, the admission of more working people, especially from the ranks of workers in production, into governing bodies and furthermore the reduction of the higher

wages and the creation of a correct relationship between the quality of living of the cadres and the masses as well as the increased Marxist-Leninist ideological and political education of the cadres and the struggle against technocratic aspects, etc.

The participation of the leading cadres and the intelligentsia at work in production was a major principal problem as well as strengthening the moral and political unity of the people in the struggle for the cause of building socialism and preventing the separation of theory and practice – as Lenin emphasised, one of the worst ills inherited from the old capitalist society. It was one of the most concrete and most effective ways to decrease the significant differences between physical and intellectual work.

The relationship between low and high wages

The continuous revolutionary efforts for social equality, which began with the elimination of private property of the means of production and the liquidation of the exploiting classes in Albania, developed further during the process of socialist construction by the decrease of the differences in the quality of life of the working class, the collective peasants and the other working people.

Comrade Enver Hoxha said: “Our party fights for and will always fight for the constant improvement of the life of the people, and this means for all people. Our party is guided by the correct principle that there must not be egalitarianism in the wages but also no favouritism, and this means for nobody. Every single wage has to equal the amount and quality of work done and the gap between the wages of the working people has to be reduced further and further.”

The PLA took care of establishing a relationship as correct as possible between the wages of the cadres and the workers and collective peasants, a relationship which did not allow any significant differences in wages. At the same time the PLA fought against tendencies of petty-bourgeois egalitarianism in wages which is alien and harmful to socialism, too. At the beginning of the 80s the relationship between the average wage of a worker and the salary of a plant manager in the corresponding branch was 1:1.7, the relationship between the average wage of a worker and the salary of a department head in the ministry around 1:2, the relationship between the lowest and the highest wages of the workers within the specific branch around 1:1.5-1.65, etc. The relationship between wages is defined by law.

This is a specific and unique application of the Marxist-Leninist teaching, a great reality of proletarian justice in socialist Albania where the cadres do not exploit their position as a privilege but are connected with the masses. The reduction of the higher wages and the measures to eliminate the excessive additions to the basic pay of those creating literature and arts, of the workers in the education field and science and to adjust the material stimuli better with the moral is an expression of the class-based treatment of the problem of the wages. This way the relationship between the masses and the cadres and the relationship between the cadres themselves were supposed to be revolutionised from the material point of view, too, because this is an essential requirement to save the people, especially the cadres, from harmful influences. Experience shows that bureaucracy is bred by high wages. The bureaucratic elements are always tending to increase the gap between the wages by different way and by all kind of methods.

Country without taxes and dues

In developing and implementing the tax policy towards the people, the Party of Labour of Albania was always aware that taxes are a temporary historical category. Therefore it prepared, step by step and with the utmost care, all the necessary conditions to abolish it. On November 8, 1969 very important measures were taken to eliminate the system of taxes and other direct charges for the population completely. This is because the area of the socialist relat