directed against the writers' community. Many of them were arrested and imprisoned on false charges. About ten writers were executed; many others died of mistreatment in prison or in camps. Maleshova was also imprisoned and died an outcast.
Pipa Arshi, Area Handbook for Albania: Foreign Area Studies ( Washington, DC., 1971).
National Liberation Front. In September 1942, the communist leaders of the anti- fascist resistance movement called a meeting for all resistance forces at the city of Berat. This meeting created a National Liberation Front. Its purpose was to coordinate all efforts at ousting the Italian and German forces from the country. The communists controlled this organization which proceeded to establish local governments in areas cleared of the occupiers. The political rivals of the communists were the Balli Kombetar, a moderate group led by Midhat Frasheri an ardent Albanian patriot, and the Legality Organization, led by Abas Kupi, who was dedicated to the reestablishment of the monarchy under King Zog.
The agreement between these competing forces did not last long. During 1943, the moderate and monarchist groups fought bitterly against the communists as well as against the Italians and Germans. The Balli Kombetar attracted a relatively large number of fighters, but the communists were better organized. In 1943, the Balli Kombetar reduced its activities in order to avoid unnecessary casualties. This strategy was used by the communists to brand them as German collaborators. At the Mukja meeting, held in 1943, a tentative agreement was reached among the resistance forces for terminating the infighting, but this was eventually rejected by the communist leadership.
In August 1945, the National Liberation Front was renamed the Democratic Front. By then it was a front organization for the Albanian Communist party. The Democratic Front, under communist guidance, proceeded to create a single list of candidates for the coming national elections, the candidates being communists or communist sympathizers. The elections for the Constituent Assembly (see Constituent Assembly) took place in December 1945. Conducted under great terror by the communists, the elections resulted in an overwhelming victory for the Communist party. After the elections, the Democratic Front was turned into a mass organization serving as a transmission belt for the dissemination of Marxist-Leninist ideology in Albania.
Pipa Arshi, Albanian Stalinism: Ideo-Political Aspects ( Boulder, CO, 1990).
Nationalizations. Early in 1945, the new communist government of Albania confiscated all German and Italian assets in the country. It also revoked all foreign concessions and nationalized all means of transportation and communication, including the newspapers and radio stations. It nationalized all lands and began to create state-controlled agricultural cooperatives. In January 1945, all land debts were cancelled, and rents on remaining private holdings were reduced by 75 percent. Water resources and
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Questia, a part of Gale, Cengage Learning. www.questia.com
Publication information:
Book title: Dictionary of East European History since 1945.
Contributors: Joseph Held - Author.
Publisher: Greenwood Press.
Place of publication: Westport, CT.
Publication year: 1994.
Page number: 64.
This material is protected by copyright and, with the exception of fair use, may not be further copied, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means.
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