Albania in World War 2: Occupation, Resistance, Liberation

The story of Albania in the Second World War begins earlier than in most of Europe. On 7 April 1939, Fascist Italy seized the country. After Italy capitulated in September 1943, Nazi Germany took its place. The resistance split into communists and nationalists. By the end of November 1944 the country had been liberated, and power had passed to the communists.

This is the sixth chapter of our guide to the history of Albania. It covers the years from the Italian invasion to the liberation of 1944.

The Italian invasion of 1939

On 7 April 1939, Italian troops under General Alfredo Guzzoni landed simultaneously at Durrës, Vlorë, Shëngjin and Sarandë. A day later they entered Tirana. King Zog fled to Greece, and Albania lost its independence for years to come.

In Durrës, the naval petty officer Mujo Ulqinaku held out against the landing until he was killed by a shell from an Italian ship. Zog left with Queen Geraldine and their son Leka, taking part of the national bank's gold with him. On 12 April an assembly in Tirana voted for a personal union with Italy and offered the crown to King Victor Emmanuel III. Shefqet Vërlaci, the largest landowner in the country, became head of the collaborationist government.

The fiercest fighting took place in Durrës, where the gendarmerie under Major Abaz Kupi drove the Italians back several times. But the odds were far too uneven, and by 8 April 1939 Italian troops were already in the capital.

In practice, Albania became an Italian province. Italian officials controlled every lever of power, and the occupiers set out to bring every part of national life under fascism, schools included. In October 1940, when Italy attacked Greece, Albania also "declared" war on Greece. Albanians conscripted into the Italian army deserted in large numbers.

The seizure of Albania drew no effective international response: matters went no further than diplomatic protests.

Mussolini's ultimatum

The invasion was preceded by diplomatic pressure. The plan to seize Albania had been drawn up by the Italian foreign minister, Ciano, as early as 1938, and Mussolini approved it at the beginning of 1939.

On 25 March 1939 Italy handed Zog an 8-point draft agreement prepared by Ciano. It infringed Albania's sovereignty, and the country's government and parliament rejected it.

Then, on 2 April 1939, Mussolini presented Zog with a 4-point ultimatum. It looked milder on the surface but in substance demanded the same thing. The ultimatum expired on 6 April, and if Albania refused, Italy threatened to land troops. The invasion began the day after the deadline passed.

The Constituent Assembly and the personal union

Immediately after the seizure, a Provisional Administrative Committee headed by Xhafer Ypi was set up in Tirana under Ciano's supervision. On 12 April 1939 a Constituent Assembly of 159 members convened.

The assembly deposed Zog, abolished the 1928 Constitution of the Kingdom and voted for a personal union with Italy. The crown of Albania passed to Victor Emmanuel III, and royal authority was exercised in his name by the Lieutenant General Francesco Jacomoni, the former Italian envoy to Albania.

In June 1939 a Fundamental Statute was issued, establishing a constitutional monarchy as the form of government. Under the statute Albanian remained the official language, but Italian became a second language in the administration and in schools.

How Italy ruled Albania

On the surface Albania kept the features of a state, but every key decision was made in Rome:

• the Albanian foreign ministry was abolished and replaced by an undersecretariat within the Italian foreign ministry;

• the Albanian gendarmerie and army were merged into the Italian ones;

• the highest legislative body became the Supreme Fascist Corporative Council;

• the national flag was kept, but the fasces, the symbol of fascism, were added to it;

• a Fascist Party of Albania was created, and civil servants, teachers and pupils were required to join it.

The occupiers also promoted the idea of an "Ethnic Albania" and promised to unite the Albanian lands in the Balkans.

Resistance in Albania in World War 2: communists and nationalists

Resistance began almost at once, with demonstrations, leaflets, sabotage and small armed groups known as çeta ("bands"). By 1942 two main movements had emerged: the National Liberation Movement, increasingly led by the communists, and the nationalist Balli Kombëtar.

The groups did not start on an equal footing. Zog's supporters were weakened because the king was not leading the resistance. The nationalists were poorly organised, while the communists rallied quickly after Germany attacked the USSR in 1941. That same year, the young anti-fascist Vasil Laçi tried to assassinate Victor Emmanuel III during his visit to Tirana.

School protests and the first bands

Schoolchildren were the first to respond to the occupation, with the support of their teachers. In 1939–1940 pupils and staff of the Tirana Gymnasium, the Nëna Mbretëreshë Girls' Institute and the French Lycée in Korçë turned the official rallies of 28 November into protests against the Italians.

The occupiers answered with repression: demonstrators were expelled from school, teachers were dismissed, and some teachers and pupils were interned in Italy.

In November 1941 students in Korçë marched with the national flag. Koçi Bako was killed in the clash, and others were wounded.

Vasil Laçi's assassination attempt took place on 17 May 1941: the young man fired at King Victor Emmanuel III during the king's visit to Albania.

In 1941 the first armed bands appeared in Tirana, Skrapar, Dibër, Martanesh, Korçë and elsewhere. The British also had their own plan for action against the Italians: Albanian émigrés in Belgrade, among them Abaz Kupi, Mustafa Gjinishi and the Kryeziu brothers, took part in a British plan for an armed uprising in the North.

In 1942 the formation of partisan bands began. Their commanders were mostly non-communists, while commissars on the Soviet model were appointed by the Communist Party.

The Communist Party and Peza

In November 1941 the Communist Party of Albania was founded in Tirana. It had about 130 members and was led by Enver Hoxha. Its stated aims were to liberate the country and restore its independence and a democratic system. The means to that end would be an anti-fascist front and an armed uprising.

The founding meeting of the party took place on 8–14 November 1941. It was organised by three communist groups: the Korçë group, the Shkodër group and the "Youth" group. Two representatives of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia, Dušan Mugoša and Miladin Popović, were also present. The meeting elected a provisional Central Committee of 7 members. Enver Hoxha represented the Korçë group; he was elected general secretary later, at the party's First Conference in March 1943, and led the party until his death in 1985.

On 16 September 1942 the Peza Conference met in the house of Myslym Peza. It created the National Liberation Movement, with a network of national liberation councils that served as the organs of power in liberated areas. The communists were not alone at Peza: nationalists such as Abaz Kupi, Myslym Peza and Baba Faja Martaneshi took part too. From 17 to 22 March 1943 the Communist Party held its First National Conference in Labinot. In July the General Staff of the National Liberation Army was set up, with Spiro Moisiu as commander and Enver Hoxha as political commissar.

These councils were the backbone of the Anti-Fascist National Liberation Front: in the liberated areas they took the place of the old authorities. The National Liberation Army itself was created on 10 July 1943. One of its first regular units was the 1st Assault Brigade.

Balli Kombëtar. Balli Kombëtar ("National Front") was founded in the autumn of 1942 by Midhat Frashëri and Ali Këlcyra. Its programme, the "Decalogue", called for an ethnic, democratic Albania. The movement brought together nationalists who were mostly republican and anti-communist, and at first it opposed the Italian occupation. It had two wings. One wanted to fight the occupiers actively. The other preferred to wait for the "right moment", when the Allies would land in the Balkans.

According to the textbook, the Balli was founded in November 1942. The movement was led by a committee headed by Midhat Frashëri. The organisation was open to everyone except communists.

At first the two forces cooperated. In the winter of 1942–1943 the National Liberation Front and the Balli carried out joint actions. The largest of these was the battle of Gjorm in the Vlorë area in early January 1943.

Mukje: an alliance that failed. In August 1943, at Mukje, representatives of the National Liberation Movement and Balli Kombëtar agreed to form a Committee for the Salvation of Albania. The question of Kosovo was to be settled by a popular vote. The Central Committee of the Communist Party rejected the agreement, partly under the influence of the Yugoslav communists, and the rift deepened. Zog's supporters left the National Liberation Front and formed the Legaliteti movement, led by Abaz Kupi. Albanian forces were soon fighting one another in a civil war.

At Mukje the two sides agreed to take the Atlantic Charter as their basis for an ethnic, free and democratic Albania. The agreement was finally renounced at the second Labinot conference in September 1943.

The German occupation, 1943–1944

On 8 September 1943 Italy capitulated, and Nazi Germany occupied Albania. Some German troops had already crossed into the country in July, but the main force arrived in September. Germany wanted to fill the vacuum left by the Italians, control the roads and guard the coast against a possible Allied landing.

The Germans promised not to interfere in internal affairs and relied on an Albanian administration. A High Council of Regency, chaired by Mehdi Frashëri, became head of state. Rexhep Mitrovica was among the leading figures. The occupiers played on the idea of a "Greater Albania", insisting that their presence was "temporary" and pointing to the "independence" proclaimed under their protection. In reality, the country's sovereignty was limited.

The regime was brutal. On 4 February 1944 in Tirana, police units under Interior Minister Xhafer Deva killed several dozen residents suspected of anti-fascist activity. In the winter of 1943–1944, German troops launched the Winter Operation to wipe out the partisans, accompanied by mass terror against civilians. The partisans survived and went on the counter-offensive. In May and June 1944 came the June Operation, in which German troops fought the partisans alongside the gendarmerie and Balli units. Throughout this period, British military missions worked with the resistance.

Independence under German protection

Under the Germans a Provisional Executive Committee was set up, led by Ibrahim Biçaku.

On 16 October 1943 a National Assembly proclaimed Albania's independence and neutrality. It abolished the personal union with Italy and the Italian statute of June 1939.

The High Council of Regency was made up of Mehdi Frashëri, the priest Anton Harapi, Lef Nosi and Fuat Dibra; the last of these never actually took up his duties.

The civil war

The clash between the National Liberation Front and the Balli meant that a civil war was fought in Albania alongside the war of liberation.

On 1 October 1943 Enver Hoxha sent the party's district committees a letter declaring the Balli a collaborator that had to be fought. The Balli, for its part, decided at its congress in Berat in January 1944 to go to war against the communists.

Zog's supporters formalised their movement at the First Congress of Legaliteti on 21 November 1943. Zog was elected honorary chairman, while Abaz Kupi remained the actual leader.

In the summer of 1944 the collaborationist government itself also took the field against the partisans: in July Prime Minister Fiqri Dine, together with the northern chieftains, organised joint operations with the Germans against the National Liberation Army.

The Winter Operation

The Winter Operation was the hardest ordeal the partisans faced. The National Liberation Army suffered defeats, especially in the North. The General Staff, together with the British mission, was surrounded in the Çermenika forest in the Elbasan area.

The staff was rescued by the 1st Brigade under Mehmet Shehu. Despite the terror against civilians, the national liberation forces held together and went on the counter-offensive.

The rescue of the Jews

Albania is one of the few countries in Europe that had more Jews at the end of the war than at the start. Before the war there were about 200; by the end there were about 1,800, because Albanians also sheltered refugees from other countries.

During the German occupation, Albanians refused to hand over lists of Jews to the Germans. They hid Jewish families and provided them with false papers. This is linked to besa ("word of honour"), the Albanian code of honour. It obliges a person to keep their word and to protect anyone who has asked for help.

The liberation of 1944

By the autumn of 1944 the National Liberation Army had the upper hand. In May, the Congress of Përmet set up the organs of a new government. In October, a Provisional Government was formed in Berat. Tirana was liberated on 17 November, and the official date of the liberation of all Albania is 29 November 1944.

By the spring of 1944 the war was turning against Germany. Among the plans of the Anglo-American Allies was a landing in the Balkans by way of Albania.

The Congress of Përmet met on 24 May 1944. It created the Anti-Fascist National Liberation Council as the supreme legislative and executive body. It also set up the Anti-Fascist Committee, which acted as a provisional government. The committee was led by Enver Hoxha, who was also elected commander-in-chief of the army. The Congress barred King Zog from returning and decided that the form of government would be settled by a popular vote after the war. It also resolved not to recognise any other government and to review earlier treaties with foreign states.

The Congress also unified the military command: Enver Hoxha became both commander-in-chief and political commissar of the National Liberation Army. The refusal of recognition applied to any other government, whether inside the country or abroad.

After the June Operation, the 1st Assault Division moved north to fight the Balli, the Zogists and other nationalist forces. The final phase, the liberation of the towns, began in September 1944. In October, in Berat, the Anti-Fascist Committee became the Provisional Democratic Government, led by Enver Hoxha. The assembly adopted a "Declaration of the Rights of Citizens" that guaranteed freedom of speech, of the press and of elections, as well as equality between men and women.

In September 1944 the German army was ordered to withdraw from the Balkans and declared Albania a zone of operations.

Tirana was liberated on 17 November 1944 after almost three weeks of fighting, with help from the city's residents. On 29 November, with the liberation of Shkodër, the war in Albania was over. The day is marked as Liberation Day. According to the history textbook, Albanians faced 15 enemy divisions. The country's human and material losses were very heavy for a population of its size.

The battle for the capital had been going on since the end of October. On 28 November 1944 the Provisional Government entered Tirana. Enver Hoxha, as prime minister, promised to hold elections to a Constituent Assembly. But immediately after the liberation of Tirana, forces under Mehmet Shehu began arrests and executions.

The outcome of the war

The war had two very different outcomes for Albania. The positive one: the country regained its freedom, independence and sovereignty. The Albanian resistance was officially recognised by the Allies, and Albania ended up on the side of the victors.

Albania confirmed its 1913 borders, and at the Paris Peace Conference Greek claims to the south of the country were rejected.

The negative outcome was the establishment of a communist regime that had eliminated its opponents while the war was still going on. This regime ruled Albania for 46 years. Relations with the United States and Britain soon cooled, and Albania joined the communist bloc.

The price of the war was very high. According to a post-war memorandum, a large share of the country's towns and villages had been completely destroyed.

Kosovo and Chameria during the war

On the eve of the war, the Albanians of Kosovo and Chameria lived under pressure from the Yugoslav and Greek monarchies. The war redrew the borders for a while. In 1941 most of Kosovo was joined to Albania under Italian control, and hundreds of Albanian schools opened there.

The pressure was not only political: the Albanians of these regions faced ethnic persecution. In April 1941 Kosovo and other Albanian lands were divided up between Italy, Germany and Bulgaria. In the Italian zone Albanian became the official language, and the administration was staffed by Albanian officials.

In September 1943, by then under German occupation, the Second League of Prizren was founded to keep the Albanian lands united, with Bedri Pejani as its chairman. The anti-fascist movement in Kosovo grew under the influence of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia, while Serbian Chetniks were also active against the Albanians. The Bujan Conference (31 December 1943 – 2 January 1944) invoked the right to self-determination and declared that Kosovo's Albanians wished to unite with Albania after the war. This did not happen. Kosovo remained part of Yugoslavia as a province of Serbia, and Albanian resistance was crushed under martial law.

The Second League of Prizren was founded on 16 September 1943.

In the south, between June 1944 and March 1945, the Greek EDES forces of General Napoleon Zervas drove the Chams out of Greece. On 27 June 1944 came the massacre of Paramythia.

The fate of Chameria during the war differed from that of Kosovo. After the occupation of Greece, Thesprotia (Chameria) came under Italian control, but the Germans did not allow it to be joined to Albania. The expelled Cham population found refuge in Albania. The refugees appealed to international organisations and to the Greek government, but their complaints went unanswered.

Timeline, 1939–1944

These dates cover the whole period from the Italian invasion to the liberation of the country. The most important of them are gathered in the note below.

Next: Communist Albania. Previous: Albania in 1912–1939.