Editing Enver Hoxha (section)

== Later rule (1965–1985) ==
[[File:Enver Hoxha60.jpg|thumb|Postage stamp celebrating Hoxha's 60th birthday (1968)]]
[[File:Albania bunkers.jpg|thumb|[[Bunkers in Albania]] were built during Hoxha's rule to avert the possibility of external invasions. By 1983 over 173,000 concrete bunkers were scattered throughout the country.<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=27 September 2017|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>]]

As Hoxha's leadership continued, he took on an increasingly [[Marxist philosophy|theoretical]] stance. He wrote criticisms which were based on theory and current events which occurred at the time; his most notable criticisms were his condemnations of [[Maoism]] after 1978.{{Sfn|Hoxha|1978}}

During World War II, the Albanian Communists encouraged women to join the partisans{{Sfn|Papajorgi|1970|p=130}} and following the war, women were encouraged to take up menial jobs, as the education necessary for higher level work was out of most women's reach. In 1938, 4% worked in various sectors of the economy. In 1970, this number had risen to 38%, and in 1982 to 46%.{{Sfn|Begeja|1984|p=61}} 
In 1978, 15.1 times as many females attended eight-year schools as had done so in 1938 and 175.7 times as many females attended secondary schools. By 1978, 101.9 times as many women attended higher schools as in 1957.<ref>The Directorate of Statistics at the State Planning Commission, ''35 Years of Socialist Albania'' (Tirana: 8 Nëntori Publishing House, 1981), 129.</ref>

During the [[Cultural and Ideological Revolution]]<!--(discussed below)-->, women were encouraged to take up all jobs, including government posts, which resulted in 40.7% of the People's Councils and 30.4% of the People's Assembly being made up of women, including two women in the Central Committee by 1985.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Albania : a country study|url=https://www.loc.gov/item/93042885/|access-date=3 January 2021|website=Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Emadi |first1=Hafizullah |title=Women's Emancipation and Strategy of Development in Albania |journal=Economic and Political Weekly |date=1992 |volume=27 |issue=19 |pages=999–1002 |jstor=4397859 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4397859 |issn=0012-9976}}</ref> Hoxha said of women's rights in 1967:<blockquote>The entire party and country should hurl into the fire and break the neck of anyone who dared trample underfoot the sacred edict of the party on the defense of women's rights.{{Sfn|Logoreci|1978|p=158}}</blockquote>

An electrification campaign was begun in 1960, and the entire nation was expected to have electricity by 1985. Instead, it achieved this on 25 October 1970.<ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Pollo|Puto|1981|p=280}}</ref> During the [[Cultural and Ideological Revolution]] of 1967–1968 the [[Albanian People's Army|military]] changed from traditional Communist army tactics and began to adhere to the [[Maoist]] strategy known as [[people's war]], which included the abolition of [[military rank]]s, which were not fully restored until 1991.{{Sfn|Vickers|1999|p=224}}

[[File:Mali i Shpiragut.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|Hoxha's first name engraved on the side of [[Shpirag|Shpirag Mountain]]]]
Hoxha's legacy also included a [[Bunkers in Albania|complex of 173,371 one-man concrete bunkers]] across a country of 3 million inhabitants, to act as look-outs and gun emplacements along with [[Albania and weapons of mass destruction|chemical weapons]].<ref>"[https://web.archive.org/web/20110629043530/http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A61698-2005Jan9?language=printer Albania's Chemical Cache Raises Fears About Others]", ''[[The Washington Post]]'', 10 January 2005, p. A01</ref> The bunkers were built strong and mobile, with the intention that they could be easily placed by a crane or a helicopter in a hole.<!--"previously dug? It could hardly be a hole if it hadn't been--> The types of bunkers vary from machine gun pillboxes and beach bunkers to underground naval facilities and even Air Force Mountain and underground bunkers.

Hoxha's internal policies were true to Stalin's paradigm which he admired, and the personality cult which was developed in the 1970s and organised around him by the Party also bore a striking resemblance to that of Stalin. At times it even reached an intensity which was as extreme as the [[Kim Il-sung's cult of personality|personality cult]] of [[Kim Il Sung]] (which Hoxha condemned){{Sfn|Hoxha|1979b|p=517}} with Hoxha being portrayed as a genius commenting on virtually all facets of life from culture to economics to military matters. Each schoolbook required one or more quotations from him on the subjects being studied.<ref>Kosta Koçi, interview with James S. O'Donnell, ''A Coming of Age: Albania under Enver Hoxha'', Tape recording, Tirana, 12 April 1994.</ref> The Party honored him with titles such as Supreme Comrade, Sole Force and Great Teacher. He adopted a different type [[military salute]] for the People's Army to render honors which was known as the "Hoxhaist salute", which involves soldiers curling their right fist and raising it to shoulder level.<ref>{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eX8UAQAAIAAJ&q=hoxhaist+salute |title = The Rebirth of History: Eastern Europe in the Age of Democracy|last1 = Glenny|first1 = Misha|year = 1993| publisher=Penguin |isbn = 9780140172867}}</ref> It replaced the [[Zogist salute]], which was used by the [[Royal Albanian Army]] for many years.

Hoxha's governance was also distinguished by his encouragement of a high birthrate policy. For instance, a woman who bore an above-average number of children would be given the government award of [[Mother Heroine (Albania)|''Heroine Mother'' (in Albanian: ''Nënë Heroinë'')]] along with cash rewards.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.medals.org.uk/albania/albania-pr/albania-pr021.htm|title=ODM of Albania: Title "Mother Heroine"|website=www.medals.org.uk}}</ref> Abortion was essentially restricted (to encourage high birth rates), except if the birth posed a danger to the mother's life, though it was not completely banned; the process was decided by district medical commissions.{{Sfn|Ash|1974|p=238}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.un.org/esa/population/publications/abortion/doc/albani1.doc|title=Albania – Abortion Policy – United Nations}}</ref> As a result, the [[Demographics of Albania|population of Albania]] tripled from 1 million in 1944 to around 3&nbsp;million in 1985.

=== Relations with China ===
[[File:Mao-Hoxha CR Poster.jpg|thumb|A [[Cultural Revolution]] poster promoting Albanian-Chinese cooperation featuring Hoxha and Mao; 

The caption at the bottom reads, "Long live the great union between the Parties of Albania and China!" The two leaders only met twice—first in 1956 during Hoxha's visit to China, and again in 1957 at the Moscow meeting of Communist and Workers' parties—before the formation of the Sino-Albanian alliance.<ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Hoxha|1980b|pp=231–234, 240–250, "My First and Last Visit to China"}}</ref>]]
{{main|Albania–China relations}}

At the start of Albania's third five-year plan, China offered Albania a loan of $125&nbsp;million, which would be used to build twenty-five chemical, electrical and metallurgical plants in accordance with the plan. However, the nation discovered that the task of completing these building projects was difficult because Albania's relations with its neighbors were poor and because matters were also complicated by the long distance between Albania and China. Unlike Yugoslavia or the USSR, China had less economic influence on Albania during Hoxha's rule. During the previous fifteen years (1946–1961), at least 50% of Albania's economy was dependent on foreign commerce.{{Sfn|Biberaj|1986|p=40}}

By the time the 1976 constitution was promulgated, Albania had mostly become self-sufficient, but it lacked modern technology. Ideologically, Hoxha found that Mao's initial views were in line with Marxism–Leninism due to his condemnation of Khrushchev's alleged revisionism and his condemnation of Yugoslavia. The financial aid which China provided to Albania was interest-free, and it did not have to be repaid until Albania could afford to do so.{{Sfn|Hamm|1963|p=45}}

China never intervened in Albania's economic output, and Chinese technicians and Albanian workers both worked for the same wages.{{Sfn|Hamm|1963|p=45}} Albanian newspapers were reprinted in Chinese newspapers, and they were also read on Chinese radio, and Albania led the movement [[China and the United Nations|to give the People's Republic of China a seat]] on the [[United Nations Security Council|UN Security Council]].{{Sfn|Pearson|2006|p=628}} During this period, Albania became the second largest producer of [[chromium]] in the world, which China considered important. Strategically, the Adriatic Sea was attractive to China because China hoped that it could gain more allies in Eastern Europe through Albania - a hope which was misplaced. [[Zhou Enlai]] visited Albania in January 1964. On 9 January, "The 1964 Sino-Albanian Joint Statement" was signed in Tirana.{{Sfn|Biberaj|1986|p=48}} The statement said of relations between socialist countries:
{{Blockquote
| text = Both [Albania and China] hold that the relations between socialist countries are international relations of a new type. Relations between socialist countries, big or small, economically more developed or less developed, must be based on the principles of complete equality, respect for territorial sovereignty and independence, and non-interference in each other's internal affairs, and must also be based on the principles of mutual assistance in accordance with proletarian internationalism. It is necessary to oppose great-nation chauvinism and national egoism in relations between socialist countries. It is absolutely impermissible to impose the will of one country upon another, or to impair the independence, sovereignty and interests of the people, of a fraternal country on the pretext of 'aid' or 'international division of labour.'<ref>"Sino-Albanian Joint Statement", ''Peking Review'' (17 January 1964) 17.</ref>}}
[[File:HODŽA druhá míza.jpg|thumb|197x197px|Hoxha in 1971]]
Like Albania, China defended the "purity" of [[Marxism]] by attacking [[American imperialism]] and "Soviet and Yugoslav revisionism", both of them were equally attacked as part of a "dual adversary" theory.{{Sfn|O'Donnell|1999|p=68}} Yugoslavia was viewed as both a "special detachment of U.S. imperialism" and a "saboteur against world revolution".{{Sfn|O'Donnell|1999|p=68}} However, these views began to change in China, which was one of the major issues which Albania had with the alliance.{{Sfn|Biberaj|1986|p=49}} Additionally, unlike Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union, the Sino-Albanian alliance lacked "...&nbsp;an organisational structure for regular consultations and policy coordination, and it was also characterized by an informal relationship which was conducted on an ''ad hoc'' basis." Mao made a speech on 3 November 1966 in which he claimed that Albania was the only [[Marxism–Leninism|Marxist–Leninist]] state in Europe and in the same speech, he also stated that "an attack on Albania will have to reckon with the great [[People's Republic of China]]. If the U.S. imperialists, the modern Soviet revisionists or any of their lackeys dare to touch Albania in the slightest, nothing lies ahead for them but a complete, shameful and memorable defeat."{{Sfn|Hamm|1963|p=43}} Likewise, Hoxha stated that "You may rest assured, comrades, that come what may in the world at large, our two parties and our two peoples will certainly remain together. They will fight together and they will win together."{{Sfn|Biberaj|1986|p=58}}

==== Shift in China's foreign policy after the Cultural Revolution ====
During the [[Cultural Revolution]], China entered into a four-year period of relative diplomatic isolation, however, its relations with Albania were positive. On 20 August 1968, the [[Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia]] was condemned by Albania, along with the [[Brezhnev doctrine]]. Albania refused to send troops to Czechoslovakia in support of the invasion, and it officially withdrew from the Warsaw Pact on 5 September.

Albania's relations with China began to deteriorate on 15 July 1971, when United States President [[Richard Nixon]] agreed to visit China in order to meet with Zhou Enlai. Hoxha believed that China had betrayed Albania, and on 6 August, the Central Committee of the PLA sent a letter to the Central Committee of the CCP in which it called Nixon a "frenzied anti-Communist". The letter stated:
{{Blockquote
| text = We trust you will understand the reason for the delay in our reply. This was because your decision came as a surprise to us and it was taken without any preliminary consultation between us on this question, so that we would be able to express and thrash out our opinions. This, we think, could have been useful, because preliminary consultations, between close friends, determined co-fighters against imperialism and revisionism, are useful and necessary, and especially so, when steps which, in our opinion, have a major international effect and repercussions are taken.

...&nbsp;Considering the Communist Party of China as a sister party and our closest co-fighter, we have never hidden our views from it. That is why on this major problem which you put before us, we inform you that we consider your decision to receive Nixon in Beijing as incorrect and undesirable, and we do not approve or support it. It will also be our opinion that Nixon's announced visit to China will not be understood or approved of by the peoples, the revolutionaries and the communists of different countries.<ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Hoxha|1982a|pp=666–668}}.</ref>
}}
The result of this criticism was a message from the Chinese leadership in 1971 in which it stated that Albania could not depend on an indefinite flow of aid from China, and in 1972 Albania was advised to "curb its expectations about further Chinese contributions to its economic development".{{Sfn|Biberaj|1986|p=90}} By 1972, Hoxha wrote in his diary ''Reflections on China'' that China was no longer a socialist country, instead aligning itself with the interests of a powerful nation that prioritized pragmatic relations over socialist principles.<ref name=":1">{{Harvard citation no brackets|Hoxha|1979a|p=656}}</ref> In 1973, he wrote that the Chinese leaders had "cut off their contacts" with Albania, reducing their interactions to merely formal diplomatic exchanges. While China maintained its economic agreements, Hoxha remarked that their "initial ardor" had waned.<ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Hoxha|1979b|p=41}}</ref>

In response, trade with COMECON (although trade with the Soviet Union was still blocked) and Yugoslavia grew. Trade with Third World nations was $0.5&nbsp;million in 1973, but $8.3&nbsp;million in 1974. Trade rose from 0.1% to 1.6%.{{Sfn|Biberaj|1986|pp=98–99}} Following Mao's death on 9 September 1976, Hoxha remained optimistic about Sino-Albanian relations, but in August 1977, [[Hua Guofeng]], the new leader of China, stated that Mao's [[Three Worlds Theory]] would become official foreign policy. Hoxha viewed this as a way for China to justify having the U.S. as the "secondary enemy" while viewing the Soviet Union as the main one, thus allowing China to trade with the U.S. He condemned this as a "diabolical plan" for China to position itself as a superpower at the head of the "third world" and the "non-aligned world."<ref name=":1" />

From 30 August to 7 September 1977, Tito visited [[Beijing]] and was welcomed by the Chinese leadership. Following this, the PLA declared that China was now a revisionist state akin to the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia and that Albania was the only Marxist–Leninist state on Earth. Hoxha stated:

{{Blockquote
| text = The Chinese leaders are acting like the leaders of a 'great state'. They think, 'The Albanians fell out with the Soviet Union because they had us, and if they fall with us, too, they will go back to the Soviets,' therefore they say, 'Either with us or the Soviets, it is all the same, the Albanians are done for.' But to hell with them! We shall fight against all this trash, because we are Albanian Marxist–Leninists and on our correct course we shall always triumph!<ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Hoxha|1979b|p=107}}</ref>
}}

On 13 July 1978, China announced that it was cutting off all of its aid to Albania. For the first time in modern history, Albania did not have a major ally nor a major trading partner.<ref>{{Cite news |last= |date=12 July 1978 |title=China Said to End Aid to Albania; Once-Close Ally Now Harsh Critic |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1978/07/12/archives/new-jersey-pages-china-said-to-end-aid-to-albania-onceclose-ally.html |access-date=2025-01-26 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Boriçi |first=Dr.Sc. Gjon |date=2016-07-27 |title=The fall of the Albanian - Chinese Relations 1971-1978 |url=http://iliriapublications.org/index.php/iir/article/view/218 |journal=ILIRIA International Review |volume=6 |issue=1 |pages=107 |doi=10.21113/iir.v6i1.218 |issn=2365-8592 |doi-access=free |archive-date=18 January 2021 |access-date=26 January 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210118002411/http://iliriapublications.org/index.php/iir/article/view/218 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

=== Political repression and emigration ===
[[File:Former political prison in Girokaster.jpg|thumb|Former political prison in Gjirokastër; during Hoxha's rule, political executions were common, and as a result, about 25,000 people were killed by the regime and many more were persecuted or sent to [[Forced labour camps in Communist Albania|labour camps]]]]
[[File:Tirana Park+Statues.jpg|thumb|Checkpoint memorial in Tirana featuring a bunker, walls from [[Spaç Prison]], and a fragment of the [[Berlin Wall]]]]
Certain clauses in the 1976 constitution circumscribed the exercise of political liberties, which the government interpreted as being contrary to the established order.{{Sfn|O'Donnell|1999|p=129}} The government denied the population access to information other than that which was disseminated by government-controlled media outlets. Internally, the [[Sigurimi]] used the same repressive methods which were used by the [[NKVD]], the [[Ministry for State Security (Soviet Union)|MGB]], the [[KGB]] and the [[German Democratic Republic|East German]] [[Stasi]]. At one point, every third Albanian had either been interrogated by the Sigurimi or they had been incarcerated in [[Forced labor camps in Communist Albania|labour camps]].<ref>Raymond E. Zickel & Walter R. Iwaskiw. ''Albania: A Country Study''. Washington, D.C.: Federal Research Division of the United States Library of Congress. p. 235.</ref> The government imprisoned thousands of people in forced-labour camps or it executed them for alleged crimes such as treachery or disrupting the [[Dictatorship of the Proletariat|proletarian dictatorship]]. After 1968, travel abroad was forbidden to all but those people who were on official business. [[Western culture|Western European culture]] was looked upon with deep suspicion, resulting in bans on all unauthorised foreign materials and arrests:{{cquote|The former student, now the mayor of Tirana, said that he would cower beneath the bedclothes at night and listen to foreign radio stations, an activity which was punishable by a long stretch in a labour camp. He became fascinated by the [[saxophone]]. Yet, because such musical instruments were considered an evil influence and were thus banned, he had never seen one.<ref>{{cite news| url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/4379499.stm| title = Dance fever reaches Albania| date = 26 March 2005}}</ref>}} Art was required to reflect the styles of [[socialist realism]].<ref>Keefe, Eugene K. ''Area Handbook for Albania''. Washington, D.C.: The American University (Foreign Area Studies), 1971.</ref> Beards were banned as unhygienic in order to curb the influence of [[Islam]] (many [[imam]]s and [[Bektashi|babas]] had beards) and the [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Eastern Orthodox]] faith. The justice system's legal proceedings regularly degenerated into [[show trial]]s. An American [[human rights]] group described the proceedings of one trial, noting that the defendant was not allowed to question the witnesses. While he could express objections to certain aspects of the case, the prosecutor dismissed them, telling him to "sit down and be quiet" because they claimed to know better.<ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Minnesota Lawyers International Human Rights Committee|1990|p=46}}</ref>

 In order to lessen the threat which political dissidents and other exiles posed to the regime, relatives of the accused were often arrested, [[ostracised]], and accused of being "[[Enemy of the people#Albania|enemies of the people]]".<ref>James S. O'Donnell, "Albania's Sigurimi: The ultimate agents of social control" ''Problems of Post-Communism'' #42 (Nov/Dec 1995): 5p.</ref> Political executions were common, and at least 5,000 people—possibly as many as 25,000—were killed by the regime.<ref>15 Feb 1994 ''The Washington Times''</ref><ref>"WHPSI": The World Handbook of Political and Social Indicators by Charles Lewis Taylor</ref><ref>8 July 1997, ''The New York Times''</ref> [[Torture]] was often used to obtain confessions:{{cquote|One émigré, for example, testified to being bound by his hands and legs for one and a half months, and to being beaten with a belt, fists or boots for periods of two to three hours every two or three days. Another was detained in a cell one meter by eight meters large in the local police station and kept in [[solitary confinement]] for a five-day period punctuated by two beating sessions until he signed a confession; he was taken to ''Sigurimi'' headquarters, where he was again tortured and questioned, despite his prior confession, until his three-day trial. Still another witness was confined underground for more than a year in a three-meter square cell. During this time, he was interrogated at irregular intervals and subjected to various forms of physical and psychological torture. He was chained to a chair, beaten, and subjected to electric shocks. He was shown a bullet that was supposedly meant for him and told that car engines starting within his earshot were driving victims to their executions, the next of which would be his.<ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Minnesota Lawyers International Human Rights Committee|1990|pp=46–47}}</ref>}}
During Hoxha's rule, there were six institutions for political prisoners and fourteen labour camps where political prisoners and common criminals worked together. It has been estimated that there were approximately 32,000 people imprisoned in Albania in 1985.{{Sfn|O'Donnell|1999|p=134}}

Article 47 of the Albanian Criminal Code stated that to "escape outside the state, as well as refusal to return to the Fatherland by a person who has been sent to serve or has been temporarily permitted to go outside the state" was an act of [[treason]], a crime punishable by a minimum sentence of ten years and a maximum sentence of death.<ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Minnesota Lawyers International Human Rights Committee|1990|p=136}}</ref> The Albanian government went to great lengths to prevent people from defecting by leaving the country:<blockquote>An electrically wired metal fence stands 600 meters to one kilometer from the actual border. Anyone touching the fence not only risks electrocution but also sets off alarm bells and lights which alert guards stationed at approximately one-kilometre intervals along the fence. Two meters of soil on either side of the fence are cleared in order to check for footprints of escapees and infiltrators. The area between the fence and the actual border is seeded with booby traps such as coils of wire, noise makers consisting of thin pieces of metal strips on top of two wooden slats with stones in a tin container which rattle if stepped on, and flares that are triggered by contact, thus illuminating would-be escapees during the night.<ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Minnesota Lawyers International Human Rights Committee|1990|pp=50–53}}</ref></blockquote>

=== Religion ===
{{further|Freedom of religion in Albania|Irreligion in Albania|Islam in the People's Socialist Republic of Albania|Religion in Albania#Communist Albania|State atheism#Albania}}
After the [[Dissolution of the Ottoman Empire|demise of the Ottoman Empire]], Albania was a [[Islam in Albania|predominantly Muslim country]], in which social structure was based on [[Confessional community|confessional communities]], rather than [[ethnic group]]s. After the [[rise of nationalism in the Ottoman Empire]], [[Muslim millet|Muslims]] were classified as [[Turkish people|Turks]], [[Rum millet|Eastern Orthodox Christians]] were classified as [[Greeks]], and [[Catholic millet|Catholics]] were classified as [[Latin liturgical rites|Latins]]. Hoxha believed that this division of Albanian society along religious and ethnic lines was a serious issue because it fueled Greek separatists in southern Albania in particular, and it also divided the nation in general. The Agrarian Reform Law of 1945 confiscated much of the church's property in the country. [[Catholic Church in Albania|Catholics]] were the earliest religious community to be targeted because the [[Holy See|Vatican]] was considered an agent of [[Fascism]] and [[anti-Communism]].<ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Logoreci|1978}}</ref> In 1946 the [[Society of Jesus|Jesuit Order]] was banned and the [[Franciscans]] were banned in 1947. ''Decree No. 743'' (On religion) sought the establishment of a [[State religion|national church]], and it also forbade religious leaders from associating with foreign powers.

[[Mother Teresa]], a Catholic nun whose relatives resided in Albania during Hoxha's rule, was denied a chance to see them because she was considered a dangerous agent of the Vatican. Despite multiple requests and despite the fact that many countries made requests on her behalf, she was not granted the opportunity to see her mother and sister.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|title=Enver Hoxha : the iron fist of Albania|last=Fevziu|first=Blendi|isbn=9781784539702|oclc=1000295419|year=2017|publisher=Bloomsbury Academic }}</ref> Mother Teresa's mother and sister both died during Hoxha's rule, and the nun herself was only able to visit Albania five years after the Communist regime collapsed.<ref name=":2" /> 

The Party focused on atheist education in schools. This tactic was effective, primarily as a result of the high birthrate policy, which was encouraged after the war. During periods which are considered "holy periods" by religious people, such as [[Lent]] and [[Ramadan]], many foods and non-water beverages were distributed in schools and factories, and religious people who refused to eat those foods and drink those beverages when they were offered to them during their "fasting times" were denounced.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}}

Starting on 6{{nbsp}}February 1967, the party began to promote [[secularism]] in place of [[Abrahamic religions]]. Hoxha, who had launched a [[Cultural and Ideological Revolution]] after being partially inspired by China's [[Cultural Revolution]], encouraged Communist students and workers to use more forceful tactics in order to discourage people from continuing their religious practices; the use of violence was initially condemned.<ref>Enver Hoxha, "The Communists Lead by Means of Example, Sacrifices, Abnegation: Discussion in the Organization of the Party, Sector C, of the 'Enver' Plant", 2 March 1967, in Hoxha, E., Vepra, n. 35, Tirana, 1982, pp. 130–131. "In this matter violence, exaggerated or inflated actions must be condemned. Here it is necessary to use persuasion and only persuasion, political and ideological work, so that the ground is prepared for each concrete action against religion."</ref>

According to Hoxha, the surge in [[Antitheism|anti-theist]] activities began with the youth. The result of this "spontaneous, unprovoked movement" was the demolition or conversion of all 2,169 churches and mosques in Albania.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Albania – The Cultural and Ideological Revolution|url=http://www.country-data.com/cgi-bin/query/r-170.html|access-date=14 June 2020|website=www.country-data.com}}</ref> [[State atheism]] became official policy, and Albania was declared the world's first atheist state. Town and city names which echoed Abrahamic religious themes were abandoned for neutral secular ones, as well as personal names. By 1968, Hoxha stated in a speech in that "Religion is a fuel kindling fires of all evils".<ref>{{Cite book|last=Hoxha|first=Enver|title=Speeches, Conversations, and Articles: 1967–1968|publisher=The Naim Frashëri Publishing House|year=1969|location=Tirana|pages=195|language=English}}</ref> During this period religiously based names were also made illegal. The ''Dictionary of People's Names'', published in 1982, contained 3,000 approved, secular names. In 1992, Monsignor Dias, the Papal Nuncio for Albania appointed by [[Pope John Paul II]], said that of the three hundred Catholic priests present in Albania prior to the Communists coming to power, only thirty were still active.<ref>{{cite news |last=Kamm |first=Henry |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/03/27/world/albania-s-clerics-lead-a-rebirth.html |title=Albania's Clerics Lead a Rebirth |date=27 March 1992 |work=The New York Times |access-date=29 May 2017 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> The promotion of religion was banned, and all clerics were labeled reactionaries and outlawed.  Those religious figures who refused to embrace the principles of Marxism–Leninism were either arrested or carried on their activities in hiding.{{citation needed|date=April 2020}}

=== Cultivating ultranationalism ===
{{main|Albanian nationalism}}
During the anti-religious campaign, Enver Hoxha declared that "the only religion of Albania is Albanianism",<ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Reynolds|2001|p=233 "the country". Henceforth, Hoxha announced, the only religion would be "Albanianism".}}</ref> a quotation from the poem ''O moj Shqiperi'' ("O Albania") by the 19th-century Albanian writer [[Pashko Vasa]].

[[Muzafer Korkuti]], one of the dominant figures in post-war Albanian [[archaeology]] and now the Director of the Institute of Archaeology in Tirana, stated the following in an interview on 10 July 2002:<ref name=":0">{{Harvard citation no brackets|Galatia|Watkinson|2004}}</ref>

{{blockquote|Archaeology is part of the politics which the party in power has and this was understood better than anything else by Enver Hoxha. [[Folklore]] and archaeology were respected because they are the indicators of the nation, and a party that shows respect to national identity is listened to by other people; good or bad as this may be. Enver Hoxha did this as did [[Hitler]]. In Germany in the 1930s there was an increase in Balkan studies and languages and this too was all part of nationalism.}}
[[File:HoxhaAndAlbanians.jpg|thumb|Hoxha and Albanians]]
Efforts were focused on an [[Illyrians|Illyrian]]-Albanian continuity issue.<ref name=":0" /> An Illyrian origin of the Albanians (without denying ''[[Pelasgian]]'' roots<ref name="schwandner2">{{Harvard citation no brackets|Schwandner-Sievers|Fischer|2002|p=96}} "but when Enver Hoxha declared that their origin was Illyrian (without denying their Pelasgian roots), no one dared participate in further discussion of the question".</ref>) continued to play a significant role in Albanian nationalism,<ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Eya|1997|p=196}} "From time to time the state gave out lists with pagan, supposed Illyrian or newly constructed names that would be proper for the new generation of revolutionaries."</ref> resulting in a revival of given names supposedly of "Illyrian" origin, at the expense of given names associated with [[Christianity]]. At first, Albanian nationalist writers opted for the Pelasgians as the forefathers of the Albanians, but as this form of nationalism flourished in Albania under Enver Hoxha, the Pelasgians became a secondary element<ref name="schwandner2" /> to the Illyrian theory of [[Origin of the Albanians|Albanian origins]], which could claim some support in scholarship.<ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Madgearu|Gordon|2008|p=146}}</ref>

The Illyrian descent theory soon became one of the pillars of Albanian nationalism, especially because it could provide some evidence in support of the belief that there was a continuous Albanian presence in [[Kosovo]] and [[Southern Albania]], i.e. areas that were subjected to [[ethnic conflict]]s between Albanians, Serbs and Greeks.<ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Schwandner-Sievers|Fischer|2002|p=118}}</ref> Under the government of Enver Hoxha, an [[Indigenism|autochthonous]] [[ethnogenesis]]<ref name=":0" /> was promoted and physical anthropologists<ref name=":0" /> tried to prove that Albanians were different from all other [[Proto-Indo-Europeans|Indo-European]] populations, a theory which is currently discredited.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Belledi |first1=Michele |last2=Poloni |first2=Estella S. |last3=Casalotti |first3=Rosa |last4=Conterio |first4=Franco |last5=Mikerezi |first5=Ilia |last6=Tagliavini |first6=James |last7=Excoffier |first7=Laurent |title=Maternal and paternal lineages in Albania and the genetic structure of Indo-European populations |journal=European Journal of Human Genetics |publisher=Macmillan |volume=8 |issue=7 |pages=480–486 |date=2000 |pmid=10909846 |doi=10.1038/sj.ejhg.5200443 |doi-access=free}}</ref> They claimed that the Illyrians were the most ancient people<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Bideleux|Jeffries|2007|p=23}} "they thus claim to be the oldest indigenous people of the western Balkans".</ref> in the [[Balkans]] and greatly extended the age of the [[Illyrian language]].<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Bideleux|Jeffries|2007|p=36}}</ref>

===Rejecting Western mass media culture===
Hoxha and his government were also hostile to [[Western world|Western]] [[popular culture]] as it was manifested in the [[mass media]], along with the [[consumerism]] and [[cultural liberalism]] which were associated with it. In a speech on the Fourth Plenum of the Central Committee of the PLA (PLA-CC) on 26 June 1973, Hoxha declared a definitive break with any such Western bourgeois influence and what he described as its "[[Social degeneration|degenerated]] bourgeois culture".<ref name="bon"/> In a speech in which he also criticised the "spread of certain vulgar, alien tastes in music and art", which ran "contrary to socialist ethics and the positive traditions of our people", including "degenerate importations such as long hair, extravagant dress, screaming jungle music, coarse language, shameless behaviour and so on",<ref name="bon"/> Hoxha declared:

{{blockquote|It is precisely this culture, coated with a glossy veneer, accompanied by sensational advertisement, handled in the most commercial way and back up and financed by the bourgeoisie, that inundates the cinema and television screens, magazines, newspapers and radio broadcasts, all the mass information and propaganda media. Its objective is to turn the ordinary man into a passive consumer of poisonous bourgeois ideas, and to make this consumption an addiction. Not only have we nothing to learn from this culture, no reason to impart it to our masses and youth, but we must reject it contemptuously and fight it with determination.<ref name="bon">{{harvnb|Bönker|2016|p=238}}.</ref>}}