Editing Enver Hoxha (section)

==== Friction with the Soviet Union ====
Relations with the Soviet Union rapidly deteriorated. A [[hardline]] policy was adopted, and the Soviets reduced grain shipments at a time when Albania needed them due to the possibility of a flood-induced famine.{{Sfn|Hoxha|1980b}} In July 1960, a plot to overthrow the Albanian government was discovered. It was to be organised by Soviet-trained Rear Admiral [[Teme Sejko]]. After that two pro-Soviet members of the Party, [[Liri Belishova]] and Koço Tashko, were expelled.{{Sfn|Hoxha|1976|pp=109, note 2, 110}}

In August, the Party's Central Committee sent a protest letter to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union about the presence of an anti-Albanian Soviet Ambassador in Tirana. The Fourth Congress of the Party, held from 13 to 20 February 1961, was the last meeting that the Soviet Union or other Eastern European nations attended in Albania. During the congress, Mehmet Shehu said that while many members of the Party were accused of [[tyranny]], this was a baseless charge, and unlike the Soviet Union, Albania was led by genuine Marxists.

The Soviet Union retaliated by threatening Albania with "dire consequences" if the condemnations were not retracted. Days later, Khrushchev and [[Antonín Novotný]], [[President of Czechoslovakia]], threatened to cut off economic aid. In March, Albania was not invited to attend the meeting of the Warsaw Pact nations, and in April, all Soviet technicians were withdrawn from Albania. In May, nearly all Soviet troops at the Soviet submarine base were withdrawn.<ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|The Institute of Marxist–Leninist Studies at the Central Committee of the Party of Labour of Albania|1982|loc=pp. 451–474 Chapter 13: The Final Act}}</ref>

On 7 November 1961, Hoxha made a speech in which he called Khrushchev a "revisionist, an anti-Marxist and a defeatist". Hoxha portrayed Stalin as the last Communist leader of the Soviet Union and alluded to Albania's independence.<ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|The Institute of Marxist–Leninist Studies at the Central Committee of the Party of Labour of Albania|1982|p=359, "the Albanian people and their Party of Labour will even live on grass if need be, but they will never sell themselves 'for 30 pieces of silver',&nbsp;... They would rather die honourably on their feet than live in shame on their knees."}}</ref> By 11 November, the USSR and every other Warsaw Pact nation had broken diplomatic relations with Albania. Albania was unofficially excluded from the Warsaw Pact and Comecon. The Soviet Union also attempted to claim control of the submarine base. The Albanian Party then passed a law prohibiting any other nation from owning an Albanian port. The [[Albanian–Soviet split]] was now complete.