The dictator who founded the first atheist state: Who is Enver Hoxha?

While thousands of young students gathered in Skanderbeg Square in Tirana, the capital of Albania, on February 20, 1991, destroyed the statue of Enver Hoxha, who died 6 years ago, together with the statue, the administrative system of Albania, which Hodja founded as a result of communism, was destroyed. it was one.

Enver Hoxha (16 October 1908 – 11 April 1985) was an Albanian communist politician who was the leader of Albania from 1944 until his death. He was the First Secretary of the Party of Labour of Albania from 1941 until his death. He was also a member of the Politburo of the Party of Labour of Albania, chairman of the Democratic Front of Albania, and commander-in-chief of the armed forces and ruled the country from 1944 until his death. He was the 22nd Prime Minister of Albania from 1944 to 1954 and at various times was both foreign minister and defense minister of the People's Socialist Republic of Albania.

Enver Hoxha, who ruled Albania as a dictator for 41 years, left a social, cultural, and economic wreckage when he died in 1985 as a result of a heart attack. After his death, his successors, who followed his path, could only hold on to power for 6 years.

Enver Hoxha was born on October 16, 1908, in Albania, which was then a part of the Ottoman Empire, to a Bektashi Albanian family. He was given the name of Enver Pasha, the shining name of the Union and Progress Party, whose reputation became a legend in the Balkans at that time, by his father, Halil Efendi, who was firmly attached to Bektashism. He received his first education on Bektashism in Asım Baba Lodge in the city of Ergiri, where he was born, today's Gjirokaster.

While continuing his education at Korça French High School, he was imprisoned at the age of 16 for a rally he attended. At that time, Albania was ruled by Ahmet Zogo, an authentic Italian-backed king who graduated from the famous Galatasaray high school of the Ottoman Empire. After a short stay in prison, Enver Hoxha went to France for higher education in 1930. He adopted communism, which he had acquired in high school, in France.

He published articles about his country and against Ahmet Zogo's administration in various communist publications in Paris. Enver Hoxha, who was taught with a scholarship by the Albanian state in France, was cut off because of the articles he wrote. Hodja, who continued his education in Belgium and worked at the Albanian consulate for a while due to financial difficulties, had to return to Albania under the pressure of Zogo's agents.

Enver Halil started teaching French in Albania in 1936. While he was in this office, in 1939, Italy under Mussolini, using the military and economic debts of the Albanian administration as an excuse, occupied Albania with an army of 100,000 people and sent King Ahmet Zogo into exile. After the occupation, Hodja was suspended from teaching on the grounds that he spread communism among his students. Unemployed Enver Halil opened a tobacco shop in Tirana.

130 people, who took action when Nazi Germany declared war on the USSR, united most of the communist elements in Albania on 8 November 1941 and formed the Albanian Labor Party. Enver Hoxha was elected as the general secretary of the party, who would carry out this task until his death.

With the establishment of the party, serious resistance began against the Italian occupation, which adopted fascism. The main element of this resistance was the popularly supported, irregular units called “Partisans” under the leadership of Enver Hodja, similar to them in the USSR and Yugoslavia. The Labor Party and the Partisans acting under it were in trouble with the pro-occupation groups, constitutionalists, and opposition communists who wanted to bring back the ex-king Ahmet Zogo.

In 1943, in the framework of the Second World War, the Allies invaded Italy and the fascist administration collapsed in Italy. Partisan troops took this opportunity to drive Italy out of Albania. Fearing that the Allied powers would land in the Balkans, Germany occupied Albania, forcing the Partisan troops to retreat to the mountains.

In 1944, a congress was convened under the auspices of the Albanian Labor Party and a 13-member National Liberation Committee was established at the congress. The committee would administer the cities liberated from occupation. Enver Hoxha was elected as the chairman of the committee and the commander of the Partisans, which would turn into the regular army after a while. Recovering in a short time, the Partisans launched a serious counter-attack and entered the capital Tirana on 17 November 1944. Partisan troops, fighting against the Germans and their native collaborators, liberated the whole of Albania from occupation on 29 November 1944 and suppressed the dissidents.

Enver Hodja was elected as the head of the Socialist People's Republic of Albania, which was established in 1946. Enver Hoxha, a staunch pro-communist, established a centralist administration. In the following years, he would add to the constitution that the Party of Labor of Albania was the only party that had a say in the Albanian administration.

Hodja, who took the teachings of Stalin, to whom he was closely connected in state administration, established the Albanian "Sigurimi" organization, similar to the KGB, the secret intelligence organization of the USSR, and this organization spread all over Albania.

Enver Hoxha had good relations with Yugoslavia under Tito, who was also a communist, in the first years of his administration. Relations with Yugoslavia, which helped Albania a lot against the Italian and German occupation, deteriorated when Tito criticized Stalin and broke with his teachings. After that, Enver Hoxha would maintain a close friendship with the USSR until the time of Khrushchev, who took over the administration of the USSR after Stalin and would govern the country openly, albeit partially.

Although Enver Hodja came from a religious family that took the surname Hodja, he took a stance against all religions due to the nature of communism he believed in. This attitude would gradually turn into a war against human rights and religion in the following years. After Stalin's death, Enver Hoxha, who criticized Stalin and blamed Khrushchev for a different administration style in the USSR, approached China under Mao diplomatically.

Many Orthodox, Catholic priests and Muslim clergy were killed, imprisoned, and worked in quarries for various reasons. All religious institutions were banned and their assets were confiscated. All kinds of names of persons and institutions that evoke religious symbols and symbols were banned. Words belonging to Ottoman Turkish and Arabic were extracted from Albanian.

Mosques and churches were destroyed by burning and demolition. What was left behind was used as a warehouse, gym, cultural center, and barn. In particular, Ethem Bey Mosque in Tirana was turned into a museum of irreligion. Ramadan fasting, congregational prayers, and religious festival celebrations were prevented, and even the circumcision of Muslims was interfered with.

After Mao's death, Enver Hoxha, who accused Chinese communism of betraying communism, closed his country completely. Albanian citizens were already forbidden to go abroad. Enver Hoxha, who banned all ideas except communism in his country, accused his opponents of being an agent of Yugoslavia in the period under the influence of the USSR, of being an agent of the USSR in the period under the influence of China, and of being an agent of the west in the last period. Some of the dissidents were killed, some worked in quarries, and some were imprisoned for a long time.

Enver Halil Hodja, who made his people vomit blood with an iron fist for many years in the Albanian administration, died on April 11, 1985. Enver Hoxha, who was first buried in the cemetery in Tirana, was moved to the city cemetery in 1991.

The pyramid-shaped mausoleum built by Enver Halil Hodja, who caused deep wounds in Albanian memory, was converted into a conference and exhibition hall after his death. The bunkers that he had built all over the country are still partially used by Albanians in various ways... His name, which was written on the slope of a mountain around the city of Berat by his loved ones, was changed to "Never" in English after his death, that is, "Never". ...

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Enver Hoxha: Albanian dictator quoted by Jeremy Corbyn killed up to 100,000 of his own citizens

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/enver-hoxha-albanian-dictator-quoted-by-jeremy-corbyn-killed-up-to-100-000-of-his-own-citizens-a6767246.html