Collapse of Communist Rule in Albania
Hoxha ruled from 1944 until his death in 1985, progressively severing Albania's alliances until it stood alone, and in 1967 declaring the world's first officially atheist state, closing every mosque and church. Private cars were effectively prohibited; the bunkerisation programme consumed a large share of construction capacity for decades. His successor Ramiz Alia attempted controlled liberalisation as the rest of Eastern Europe changed in 1989-90, but the sequence ran away from him: student protests, the storming of foreign embassies by thousands seeking exit visas, and mass emigration by sea to Italy. The first multiparty elections in March 1991 returned the communists, but a general strike forced a coalition and fresh elections in 1992 removed them. The transition that followed was severe — the 1997 collapse of nationwide pyramid schemes destroyed household savings and produced a breakdown of state authority close to civil war.
- Year: 1991 CE
- Category: Political
