Editing Enver Hoxha (section)

== Later life and death ==
[[File:Albania in 1978 1.jpg|thumb|250px|Propaganda (photographed in 1978): ''The fatherland is defended by all of the people'']]
In 1974, Hoxha accused [[Beqir Balluku]], Minister of Defence and longtime ally, of being an agent of China and attempting a [[coup d'état]], since Balluku had criticized Hoxha's bunker program and said that a U.S. and Soviet invasion of Albania was unlikely. Hoxha sentenced Balluku and a group of his accused associates to death and appointed Mehmet Shehu as Minister of Defence.

A new Constitution was decided upon by the Seventh Congress of the Albanian Party of Labour on 1–7 November 1976. According to Hoxha, "The old Constitution was the Constitution of the building of the foundations of socialism, whereas the new Constitution will be the Constitution of the complete construction of a socialist society."<ref>Enver Hoxha, ''Report on the Activity of the Central Committee of the Party of Labour of Albania'' (Tirana: 8 Nëntori Publishing House, 1977), 12.</ref>

Self-reliance was now stressed more than ever. Citizens were encouraged to train in the use of weapons, and this activity was also taught in schools. The purpose of this training was to encourage the creation of quick [[Partisan (military)|partisans]].<ref>[http://www.gadling.com/2008/06/26/letter-from-albania-enver-hoxhas-legacy-and-the-question-of-t/ Letter from Albania: Enver Hoxha's legacy, and the question of tourism]: "The bunkers were just one component of Hoxha's aim to arm the entire country against enemy invaders. Gun training used to be a part of school, I was told, and every family was expected to have a cache of weapons. Soon, Albania became awash in guns and other armaments{{spaced ndash}}. Subsequently, the country decommissioned huge stockpiles of ammunition as part of its new NATO obligations."</ref>

Borrowing and foreign investment were banned under Article 26 of the Constitution, which read: "The granting of concessions to, and the creation of foreign economic and financial companies and other institutions or ones formed jointly with bourgeois and revisionist capitalist monopolies and states as well as obtaining credits from them are prohibited in the People's Socialist Republic of Albania."<ref>{{Harvnb|Biberaj|1986|loc=162n}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://bjoerna.dk/dokumentation/Albanian-Constitution-1976.htm|title=The Albanian Constitution of 1976|last=Andersen|first=Bjoern|website=bjoerna.dk|access-date=29 May 2017}}</ref> Hoxha said of borrowing money and allowing investment from other countries:
{{Blockquote
| text = No country whatsoever, big or small, can build socialism by taking credits and aid from the bourgeoisie and the revisionists or by integrating its economy into the world system of capitalist economies. Any such linking of the economy of a socialist country with the economy of bourgeois or revisionist countries opens the doors to the actions of the economic laws of capitalism and the degeneration of the socialist order. This is the road of betrayal and the restoration of capitalism, which the revisionist cliques have pursued and are pursuing.<ref>Hoxha, ''Report on the Activity of the Central Committee of the Party of Labour of Albania'', 8.</ref>
}}

Albania was the most isolated country in Europe. In 1983, Albania imported goods which were worth $280&nbsp;million but it exported goods which were worth $290&nbsp;million, producing a trade surplus of $10&nbsp;million.<ref>The Directorate of the Intelligence of the Central Intelligence Agency, ''[[The World Factbook]]'' (Washington: [[Government Printing Office]], 1986), 3.</ref>

[[File:Fall of Communism in Albania.JPG|thumb|200px|right|Fall of Hoxha's statue in Tirana's Skanderbeg Square amid student demonstrations]]
In 1981, Hoxha ordered the execution of several party and government officials in a new purge. Prime Minister Mehmet Shehu, the second-most powerful man in Albania and Hoxha's closest comrade-in-arms for 40 years, was reported to have committed suicide in December 1981. He was subsequently condemned as a "traitor" to Albania, and he was also accused of operating in the service of multiple [[intelligence agency|intelligence agencies]]. It is generally believed that he was either killed or he shot himself during a power struggle, which may have resulted from differing foreign policy matters with Hoxha.<ref>{{Harvnb|O'Donnell|1999|pp=198–201}}</ref><ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Vickers|1999|pp=207–208}}</ref> Hoxha also wrote a large assortment of books during this period, resulting in over 65 volumes of collected works, condensed into six volumes of selected works.<ref>Chamberlain, Greg (18 October 1987). [https://www.nytimes.com/1987/10/18/books/the-truest-believer.html?sec=&spon= "The Truest Believer"]. ''The New York Times''. "Hoxha, who died in 1985, was one of the most verbose statesmen of modern times and pressed more than 50 volumes of opinions, diaries and dogma on his long-suffering people, the poorest in Europe."</ref>

In 1973, Hoxha suffered a [[heart attack]] from which he never fully recovered. In increasingly precarious health from the late 1970s onward, he handed most state functions to [[Ramiz Alia]]. In his final days, he was confined to a [[wheelchair]] and suffered from [[diabetes]], with which he was diagnosed in 1948, along with [[cerebral ischemia]], with which he was diagnosed in 1983. On 9 April 1985, he was struck by a [[ventricular fibrillation]]. Over the next 48 hours, he suffered repeated episodes of this arrhythmia, and he died in the early morning hours of 11 April 1985 at the age of 76. The Albanian government announced seven days of mourning, with flags flown at half-mast and entertainment and cultural events cancelled.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1985/04/12/world/enver-hoxha-dies-albanian-leader.html "Enver Hoxha Dies; Albanian Leader"]. Reuters. ''The New York Times''. 12 April 1985.</ref>

Hoxha's body lay in state at the building of the Presidium of the People's Assembly for three days before he was buried on 15 April after a memorial service on [[Skanderbeg Square]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Albania mourns loss of Hoxha |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1985-04-16-8501220351-story.html |agency=[[United Press International]] |website=chicagotribune.com|date=16 April 1985 }}</ref>{{efn|There is uncertainty over Hoxha's true date of birth. {{harvp|Fevziu|2016|p=10}} notes: "No fewer than five different dates are to be found in the Central State Archives [of Albania] alone."}} The government refused to accept any foreign delegations during Hoxha's funeral and it even condemned the Soviet message of condolences as "unacceptable".<ref>{{cite web |title=Albania Rejects Kremlin Condolences on Hoxha Death |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-04-13-mn-12184-story.html |date=13 April 1985 |website=[[Los Angeles Times]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Schmetzer |first=Uli |title=Albania communist leader Hoxha dies |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1985-04-12-8501220002-story.html |website=chicagotribune.com|date=12 April 1985 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Albanian leader Enver Hoxha buried |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1985/04/15/Albanian-leader-Enver-Hoxha-buried/8546482389200/ |publisher=United Press International}}</ref> After his burial, Hoxha was succeeded as head of state by Ramiz Alia, who gained control of the party's leadership two days later.

Hoxha left Albania with a legacy of isolation and fear of the outside world. Despite some economic progress which Albania made during Hoxha's rule,<ref>{{Harvnb|O'Donnell|1999|p=186}}: "On the positive side, an objective analysis must conclude that Enver Hoxha's plan to mobilise all of Albania's resources under the regimentation of a central plan was effective and quite successful&nbsp;... Albania was a tribal society, not necessarily primitive but certainly less developed than most. It had no industrial or working class tradition and no experience using modern production techniques. Thus, the results achieved, especially during the phases of initial planning and construction of the economic base were both impressive and positive."</ref> the country was in [[economic stagnation]]; Albania had been the poorest European country throughout much of the [[Cold War]] period.