Editing Enver Hoxha (section)

==World War II==
[[File:Enver Hoxha (i ri).jpg|thumb|200px|Hoxha in uniform, 1940]]
[[File:Hoxha at Odrican 1944.jpg|thumb|200px|Hoxha as a partisan, 1944]]
On 8 November 1941, the Communist Party of Albania (later renamed the [[Party of Labour of Albania]] in 1948) was founded. Hoxha was chosen from the "Korça group" as a Muslim representative by the two [[Yugoslavia|Yugoslav]] envoys as one of the seven members of the provisional [[Central Committee]]. The First Consultative Meeting of Activists of the Communist Party of Albania was held in Tirana from 8 to 11 April 1942,{{Sfn|Hoxha|1974|p=3, note 1}} with Hoxha himself delivering the main report on 8 April 1942.{{Sfn|Hoxha|1974|pp=3–30}}

In July 1942, Hoxha wrote "Call to the Albanian Peasantry", issued in the name of the Communist Party of Albania.{{Sfn|Hoxha|1974|pp=31–38}} The call sought to enlist support in Albania for the war against the fascists. The peasants were encouraged to hoard their grain and refuse to pay taxes or livestock levies brought by the government.{{Sfn|Hoxha|1974|p=36}} After the September 1942 Conference at [[Pezë]], the [[National Liberation Movement (Albania)|National Liberation Movement]] was founded with the purpose of uniting the [[anti-fascism|anti-fascist]] Albanians, regardless of ideology or class.{{Sfn|Fischer|1999|pp=128–129}}

By March 1943, the first National Conference of the Communist Party elected Hoxha formally as First Secretary. During WWII, the [[Soviet Union]]'s role in Albania was negligible.<ref>{{cite news |title=Of Enver Hoxha And Major Ivanov |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=28 April 1985 |access-date=29 May 2017 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> On 10 July 1943, the [[Albanian resistance during World War II|Albanian partisans]] were organised in regular units of companies, battalions and brigades and named the Albanian National Liberation Army. The organization received military support from the British intelligence service, [[Secret Intelligence Service|SOE]].<ref>Bernd J Fischer. "Resistance in Albania during the Second World War: Partisans, Nationalists and the S.O.E.", ''East European Quarterly'' 25 (1991)</ref>

Within Albania, repeated attempts were made during the war to remedy the communications difficulties which faced partisan groups. In August 1943, a secret meeting, the [[Mukje Conference]], was held between the anti-communist [[Balli Kombëtar]] (National Front) and the Communist Party of Albania. To encourage the Balli Kombëtar to sign, the [[Greater Albania]] sections that included Kosovo (part of Yugoslavia) and [[Chamëria]] were made part of the Agreement.{{Sfn|O'Donnell|1999|p=9}}

=== Disagreement with the Yugoslav Communists ===
A problem developed when the [[Yugoslav Communists]] disagreed with the goal of establishing a Greater Albania and asked the Communists in Albania to withdraw their agreement. According to Hoxha, [[Josip Broz Tito]] did not believe that "Kosovo was Albanian" and [[Serbs|Serbian]] opposition to the transfer made it an unwise option.{{Sfn|Beloff|1985|p=192}} After the Albanian Communists repudiated the Greater Albania agreement, the Balli Kombëtar condemned the Communists, who in turn accused the Balli Kombëtar of siding with the Italians. The Balli Kombëtar lacked support from the people. After judging the Communists as an immediate threat, the Balli Kombëtar sided with [[Nazi Germany]], fatally damaging its image among those fighting the fascists. The Communists quickly added to their ranks many of those disillusioned with the Balli Kombëtar and took centre stage in the fight for liberation.{{Sfn|O'Donnell|1999|pp=10–11}}

The Permet National Congress held during that time called for a "new democratic Albania for the people". Although the monarchy was not formally abolished, [[Zog I|King Zog I of the Albanians]] was barred from returning to the country, which further increased the Communists' control. The Anti-Fascist Committee for National Liberation was founded, chaired by Hoxha. On 22 October 1944, the Committee became the [[Democratic Government of Albania]] after a meeting in [[Berat]], and Hoxha was chosen to serve as the interim Prime Minister of Albania. Tribunals were established for the purpose of trying alleged war criminals who were also accused of being "[[Enemy of the people#Albania|enemies of the people]]"{{Sfn|O'Donnell|1999|p=12}} and they were presided over by [[Koçi Xoxe]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Koçi Xoxe |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803125217605 |website=[[Oxford Reference]] |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |access-date=7 May 2022}}</ref> From the beginning, the Democratic Government was an undisguised [[Communist state|Communist regime]]. In the rest of what became the Soviet bloc, the Communist parties were at least nominally parts of coalitions before they dropped all pretenses of pluralism and established one-party states.

After Albania's liberation on 29 November 1944, several Albanian partisan divisions crossed the border into German-occupied Yugoslavia, where they fought alongside Tito's partisans and the Soviet [[Red Army]] in a joint campaign which succeeded in driving out the last pockets of German resistance. During a Yugoslavian conference in later years, Marshal Tito thanked Hoxha for the Albanian partisans' assistance during the War for National Liberation (''Lufta Nacionalçlirimtare''). The [[Democratic Front of Albania|Democratic Front]], dominated by the Albanian Communist Party, succeeded the National Liberation Front in August 1945, and the [[1945 Albanian parliamentary election|first post-war election]] was held on 2 December of that year. The Front was the only legal political organisation which was allowed to stand in the elections, and the government reported that 93% of Albanians voted for it.{{Sfn|Vickers|1999|p=164}}

On 11 January 1946, Zog was officially deposed, and the People's Republic of Albania was established (it was renamed the [[People's Socialist Republic of Albania]] in 1976), despite the fact that the country had been a [[Communist state]] since its liberation. As First Secretary of the party, Hoxha was ''de facto'' head of state and as a result, he was the most powerful man in the country.<ref>{{cite book|author=Taylor & Francis Group|title=Europa World Year|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wGA4o-UhAfgC&pg=PA441|access-date=10 January 2012|year=2004|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-85743-254-1|page=441}}</ref>

Albanians celebrate their independence day on 28 November (which is the date on which they declared their independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1912), while in the former People's Socialist Republic of Albania the national day was 29 November, the day the country was liberated from Nazi Germany. Both days are currently national holidays.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KCMUAQAAMAAJ&q=Albanians+celebrate+their+independence+day+on+28+November+(which+is+the+date+on+which+they+declared+their+independence+from+the+Ottoman+Empire+in+1912),+while+in+the+former+People's+Socialist+Republic+of+Albania+the+national+day+was+29+Novembe |title=Daily Report: East Europe |date=1987 |publisher=The Service |pages=3 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=2022 Official Bank Holiday Schedule |url=https://www.bankofalbania.org/Press/2022_Official_Bank_Holidays_Schedule/ |access-date=2022-12-29 |website=www.bankofalbania.org |archive-date=29 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221229124657/https://www.bankofalbania.org/Press/2022_Official_Bank_Holidays_Schedule/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>