World War II in Albania
In Albania, World War II began with its invasion by Italy in April 1939. Fascist Italy set up Albania as its protectorate or puppet state. The resistance was largely carried out by Communist groups against the Italian (until 1943) and then German occupation in Albania. At first independent, the Communist groups united in the beginning of 1942, which ultimately led to the successful liberation of the country in 1944.
The Center for Relief to Civilian Populations (Geneva) reported that Albania was one of the most devastated countries in Europe. 60,000 houses were destroyed and about 10% of the population was left homeless.
Communist and Nationalist resistance[edit]
Origin of Communism[edit]
Faced with an agrarian and mostly Muslim society monitored by King Zog's security police, Albania's Communist movement attracted few adherents in the interwar period. In fact, the country had no fully-fledged Communist Party before World War II. After Fan Noli fled in 1924 to Italy and later the United States, several of his leftist protégés migrated to Moscow, where they affiliated themselves with the Balkan Confederation of Communist Parties and through it the Communist International (Comintern), the Soviet-sponsored association of international communist parties. In 1930, the Comintern dispatched Ali Kelmendi to Albania to organise communist cells. However, Albania had no working class on which the communists could rely for support. Paris became the Albanian communists' hub until Nazi deportations depleted their ranks after the fall of France in 1940.
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Aftermath[edit]
Albania stood in an unenviable position after World War II. The NLF's strong links with Yugoslavia's communists, who also enjoyed British military and diplomatic support, guaranteed that Belgrade would play a key role in Albania's postwar order. The Allies never recognized an Albanian government in exile or King Zog and failed to raise the question of Albania or its borders at any of the major wartime conferences. No reliable statistics on Albania's wartime losses exist, but the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration reported about 30,000 Albanian war dead, 200 destroyed villages, 18,000 destroyed houses, and about 100,000 people left homeless. Albanian official statistics claim somewhat higher losses.
Furthermore, thousands of Cham Albanians were driven out of Greece and accused of collaborating with the Axis occupation forces.
During the Nazi occupation, most Jews in Albania proper were saved.[32] During the Axis occupation of Kosovo, Albanian collaborators persecuted Serb and Montenegrin settlers.[33] Between 70,000 and 100,000 were expelled or transferred to concentration camps in Pristina and Mitrovica while nearly 10,000 are estimated to have been killed by the Vulnetari and other Albanian paramilitaries.[34][35]
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