Editing Albania (section)

=== Communism ===
{{Main|Communism in Albania}}
{{Further|Expulsion of Cham Albanians}}

[[File:Enver Hoxha (portret).jpg|thumb|right|upright|[[Enver Hoxha]] was the founding leader of communist Albania and its ruler for over four decades, implementing a regime marked by [[authoritarianism]] and [[isolationism]].]]

The establishment of the [[People's Socialist Republic of Albania|People's Republic of Albania]] under the leadership of [[Enver Hoxha]] was a significant epoch in modern Albanian history.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|title=Envery Hoxha|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Enver-Hoxha|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=22 November 2016}}</ref> Hoxha's regime embraced [[Marxism–Leninism|Marxist–Leninist ideologies]] and implemented [[Authoritarianism|authoritarian]] policies, including prohibition of religious practices, severe restrictions on travel, and abolition of private property rights.<ref name="HRW C">{{cite web |publisher=[[Human Rights Watch]] (HRW) |title=Human Rights in Post-Communist Albania |url=https://www.hrw.org/legacy/summaries/s.albania963.html |access-date=11 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230911115340/https://www.hrw.org/legacy/summaries/s.albania963.html |archive-date=11 September 2023 |url-status=live}}</ref> It was also defined by a persistent pattern of purges, extensive repression, instances of betrayal, and hostility to external influences.<ref name="HRW C"/> Any form of opposition or resistance to his rule was met with expeditious and severe consequences, such as internal exile, extended imprisonment, and execution.<ref name="HRW C"/> The regime confronted a multitude of challenges, including widespread poverty, illiteracy, health crises and gender inequality.<ref name="Albanian Nationalism"/> In response, Hoxha initiated a modernisation initiative aimed at attaining economic and social liberation and transforming Albania into an industrial society.<ref name="Albanian Nationalism"/> The regime placed a high priority on the diversification of the economy through Soviet-style industrialisation, comprehensive infrastructure development such as the introduction of a transformative [[Hekurudha Shqiptare|railway system]], expansion of education and healthcare services, elimination of adult illiteracy, and targeted advancements in areas such as women's rights.<ref>{{cite web |last=Fischer |first=Bernd |website=[[OpenDemocracy]] |title=Albania and Enver Hoxha's legacy |url=https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/albania-and-enver-hoxhas-legacy/ |access-date=11 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230911122056/https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/albania-and-enver-hoxhas-legacy/ |archive-date=11 September 2023 |date=10 June 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Pano |first=Aristotel |title=Panorama of the Economic-Social Development of Socialist Albania |url=http://www.revolutionarydemocracy.org/archive/panorama.htm |access-date=11 April 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230531224429/http://www.revolutionarydemocracy.org/archive/panorama.htm |archive-date=31 May 2023 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>''40 Years of Socialist Albania'', Dhimiter Picani</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Qori|first=Arlind |date=22 February 2019 |title=From Faculty to Factory|url=https://jacobinmag.com/2019/02/albania-student-movement-higher-education|work=[[Jacobin (magazine)|Jacobin]] |access-date=14 March 2019}}</ref>

[[File:Bunker in Albanian Alps.jpg|thumb|left|[[Bunkers in Albania]] were constructed to prevent potential external invasions. By 1983, approximately 173,371 bunkers were scattered throughout its territory.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://shqiptarja.com/speciale/2751/ekskluzive-hapet-dosja-ja-harta-e-bunkereve-e-tuneleve-sekrete-257289.html|title=Hapet dosja, ja harta e bunkerëve dhe tuneleve sekretë|access-date=11 August 2016|archive-date=17 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170917171111/http://shqiptarja.com/speciale/2751/ekskluzive-hapet-dosja-ja-harta-e-bunkereve-e-tuneleve-sekrete-257289.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>]]

Albania's diplomatic history under Hoxha was characterised by notable conflicts.<ref name="Zickel/Iwaskiw"/> Initially aligned with Yugoslavia as a satellite state, the relationship deteriorated as Yugoslavia aimed to incorporate Albania within its territory.<ref name="Zickel/Iwaskiw"/> Subsequently, Albania established relations with the Soviet Union and engaged trade agreements with other Eastern European countries, but experienced disagreements over Soviet policies, leading to strained ties with Moscow and diplomatic separation in 1961.<ref name="Zickel/Iwaskiw"/> Simultaneously, tensions with the West heightened due to Albania's refusal to hold free elections and allegations of Western support for [[Anti-communism|anti-communist uprisings]]. Albania's enduring partnership was with China; it sided with Beijing during the [[Sino-Soviet split|Sino-Soviet conflict]], resulting in severed ties with the Soviet Union and withdrawal from the [[Warsaw Pact]] in response to the invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968. But their relations stagnated in 1970, prompting both to reassess their commitment, and Albania actively reduced its dependence on China.<ref name="Zickel/Iwaskiw"/>

Under Hoxha's regime, Albania underwent a widespread campaign targeting religious clergy of various faiths, resulting in public persecution and executions, particularly targeting Muslims, Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox adherents.<ref name="Zickel/Iwaskiw"/> In 1946, religious estates underwent nationalisation, coinciding with the closure or transformation of religious institutions into various other purposes.<ref name="Zickel/Iwaskiw"/> This culminated in 1976, when Albania became the world's first constitutionally atheist state.<ref name="Elsie p27">{{Cite book|title=Historical Dictionary of Albania|last=Elsie|first=Robert|publisher=[[The Scarecrow Press]]|year=2010|isbn=978-0-8108-6188-6|edition=2nd|series=Historical Dictionaries of Europe, No. 75|location=Lanham, MD, and Plymouth|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=haFlGXIg8uoC&pg=PA27 27]}}</ref> Under this regime, citizens were forced to renounce their religious beliefs, adopt a secular way of life, and embrace socialist ideology.<ref name="Zickel/Iwaskiw"/><ref name="Elsie p27"/>