WHAT HAPPENED TO:
ALBANIA
For the next 18 years, Albania was dominated by the National Front, a coaliton of moderate parties led by the Albanian Centrist Party, headed by Midhat Frasheri. Under Frasheri's presidency, Albania accepts Marshall Plan aid & pursues a pro-West orientation in domestic & foreign affairs. Soon after, however, in the mid-60s, the Front has been challenged by two parties. The right-wing Legality Movement, headed by Abas Kupi, survives the war, having gained enough seats in the People's Assembly; as before, they pursue a royalist agenda, seeking the eventual restoration of the Albanian monarchy. By the '60s, much opposition comes from a "restructured" Communist Party of Albania, headed by Koci Xoxe (responsible for having Hoxha framed for treason, leading to the latter's elimination by Stalin). Influenced by Titoism, the communists call for more state control of the economy and a more "patriotic" reorientation of Albanian domestic & foreign policy.
1965 has been a watershed year for Albania. For the first time, the communists take power, winning a majority in the parliamentary elections & Xoxe winning the presidency. Under communist rule, Albania shifts its policies towards a more leftist direction. It establishes the Ministry of Economic Supervision to formulate economic plans. In 1968, Albania joins the White Bloc. In the following years, Albania seemed to put itself more & more towards the Red direction.
Then in 1971, a coup orchestrated by Brig. Gen. Ahmet Noli kicks the communists out of power. Under the leadership of Noli's Committee of National Salvation, basic freedoms are suspended, elections withheld, & a reign of terror ensues as the military-dominated government cracks down on the opposition. Pressured by the US, Soviet Union, but most especially by Tito, the military hands over power to a popularly-elected administration led by Pres. Mirjan Isai of the National Front. Similarly, the communists under Viktor Buzoku become the opposition. The royalists, who supported the military regime, lie low for a while.
The Albanian economy, which began to prosper in the mid-'60s, stabilized by the end of the decade, thanks to government-sponsored growth of industry as well as a harsh land reform programme. The economy, however, started to fluctuate after the military takeover in the early '70s. By 1979, Albania was faced with an economic crisis, thanks to the high price of oil, decreasing demand for its products, among others.
In 1982, the reorganized Legality Movement won a majority in parliament. Its leader, Visare Cacaj, became the first female president of that country. The decade saw a hard restructuring of the country's economy as well as the return of the royal family, sparking rumors of a possible return of the monarchy. In 1993, Buzoku became president, while the communists formed an alliance with the National Front to maintain the majority of seats in the People's Assembly. Until the collapse of communism in 2001, the government has alternated between the republicans (NF) & the communists; on all occasions, except in 1995, the royalists remained in the opposition...
