Enver Halil Hoxha (16 October 1908 – 11 April 1985) was an Albanian politician, revolutionary, and communist political theorist who was the leader of Albania from 1944 until his death in 1985. He served as the First Secretary of the Party of Labour of Albania from 1941 until his death, while concurrently holding membership in its Politburo, chairman of the Democratic Front of Albania, and commander-in-chief of the Albanian People's Army. Additionally, he was the twenty-second Prime Minister of Albania from 1944 to 1954, periodically assuming the titles of foreign minister and defence minister.
Hoxha was born in Gjirokastër (then part of the Ottoman Empire) in 1908. After the Italian invasion of Albania, he helped unify the fractured Albanian communist movement into the Communist Party of Albania. He was elected First Secretary in March 1943 at the age of 34. Less than two years after the liberation of the country, the monarchy of King Zog I was formally abolished, and Hoxha became the country's de facto head of state.
In 1966, he spearheaded the Cultural and Ideological Revolution, a campaign that, among other things, wished to eliminate the influence of religion on Albanian society. During his time as First Secretary, Albania saw many
breakthroughs in standard of living, industry, and social development; however, this was undermined by the significant web of surveillance and repression operated by the Sigurimi, Albania's Secret Police.
Hoxha's government was characterised by a strict adherence to an anti-revisionist form of Marxism–Leninism, particularly from the mid-to-late 1960s onwards. Following the Sino-Albanian Split between 1976 and 1978, the Party of Labour of Albania formally severed ties with the Chinese Communist Party, and Hoxha declared that the nation would pursue the construction of communism independently.
This ideological stance led to numerous parties around the world to declare themselves Hoxhaist. The International Conference of Marxist–Leninist Parties and Organisations (Unity & Struggle) is the best known association of these parties.
Hoxha was born in Gjirokastër in southern Albania (then a part of the Ottoman Empire) in October 1908. He was the son of Halil Hoxha, a Shia Muslim cloth merchant who travelled widely across Europe and the United States, and Gjylihan Hoxha (née Çuçi). Enver was named after Enver Pasha, a leading figure of the Young Turk Revolution. The Hoxha family belonged to the Bektashi Sufi order.
After elementary school, Enver followed his studies in the city senior high school "Liria". He started his studies at the Gjirokastër Lyceum in 1923. After the lyceum was closed, due to intervention of Ekrem Libohova, Enver Hoxha was awarded a state scholarship for the continuation of his studies in Korçë, at the French language Albanian National Lyceum until 1930.
In 1930, Hoxha went to study at the University of Montpellier in Montpellier, France on a state scholarship for botany in the faculty of natural science. According to his memoirs he was originally awarded a scholarship for History and Geography, however it was later revoked by the Ministry of Education and granted to a different student with better familial connections. After protesting to the Minister of Education, he was offered a scholarship for Botany, a subject he showed no aptitude towards, which he reluctantly accepted. In Montpellier he showed very little interest in the natural sciences, instead attending law and history lectures, which he found more interesting. It was in Montpellier that Hoxha entered into contact with the French Communist Party, although the extent of his ties with the party during this period is disputed. Hoxha's scholarship was cancelled after he performed poorly on his botany exams. He later went to Paris, where he presented himself to anti-Zogist immigrants as the brother-in-law of Bahri Omari. His time in Paris was one of grinding poverty, with him experiencing prolonged periods of unemployment punctuated with menial, low paying jobs. In 1935, through his ties to the Albanian diaspora community in Paris, he was offered employment as the secretary at the Albanian consulate in Brussels. He was paid well for his work, and lived a comfortable life in Belgium, taking law classes at the Free University of Brussels. After about a year Hoxha was fired shortly after the Consul realized Hoxha's communist leanings. After returning to Albania, he worked as a contract teacher in the Gymnasium of Tirana. Hoxha taught French and morals in the Korça Liceum from 1937 to 1939 and was also the caretaker of the school library.
On 7 April 1939, the Albanian Kingdom was invaded by fascist Italy. The Italians established a puppet government, called the Kingdom of Albania, under Shefqet Vërlaci. At the end of 1939, Hoxha was transferred to the Gjirokastra Gymnasium, but he soon returned to Tirana. He was dismissed from his teacher position for his refusal to join the Albanian Fascist Party. He was helped by his best friend, Esat Dishnica, who introduced Hoxha to Dishnica's cousin Ibrahim Biçakçiu. Hoxha began to sleep in Biçakçiu's tobacco factory "Flora", and after a while, Dishnica opened a shop with the same name, where Hoxha began working. The tobacco store became the headquarters of the local communist cell. He was a sympathizer of Korça's Communist Group.
On 8 November 1941, the Communist Party of Albania (later renamed the Party of Labour of Albania [PLA] in 1948) was founded. Hoxha was chosen from the "Korça group" as a Muslim representative by the two 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, with Hoxha himself delivering the main report on 8 April 1942.
In July 1942, Hoxha wrote "Call to the Albanian Peasantry", issued in the name of the Communist Party of Albania. 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. After the September 1942 Conference at Pezë, the National Liberation Movement was founded with the purpose of uniting the anti-fascist Albanians, regardless of ideology or class.
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. On 10 July 1943, the 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, SOE.
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.
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 belonged to Albania and Serbian opposition to the transfer made it an unwise option. 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. 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 many of those who were disillusioned with the Balli Kombëtar to their ranks and they also took centre stage in the fight for liberation.