Liberation Day (Albanian : Dita e Çlirimit) in Albania is commemorated as the day, November 29, 1944, in which the country was liberated from Nazi Germany forces by the Albanian resistance during World War II. [1]
Liberation Day (Albanian : Dita e Çlirimit) in Albania is commemorated as the day, November 29, 1944, in which the country was liberated from Nazi Germany forces by the Albanian resistance during World War II. [1]
After Italy was defeated by the Allies, Germany occupied Albania in September 1943, dropping paratroopers into Tirana before the Albanian guerrillas could take the capital, and the German army soon drove the guerrillas into the hills and to the south. Berlin subsequently announced it would recognize the independence of a neutral Albania and organized an Albanian government, police, and military. Many Balli Kombëtar units collaborated with the Germans against the communists, and several Balli Kombëtar leaders held positions in the German-sponsored regime. [2]
The partisans entirely liberated Albania from German occupation on November 29, 1944. The National Liberation Army, which in October 1944 consisted of 70,000 regulars, also took part in the war alongside the antifascist coalition. By that time, the Red Army was also entering neighboring Yugoslavia, and the German Army was evacuating from Greece into Yugoslavia.[ citation needed ]
The holiday was first proclaimed in the early 1950s as a day of commemoration. During the era of the People's Socialist Republic of Albania, Liberation Day was the main state holiday, celebrated with a military parade of the Albanian People's Army on Tirana's Dëshmorët e Kombit Boulevard. The parade usually consisted of active servicemen and veterans of the UPS, schoolchildren from the local Tirana school district, the men and women of the Voluntary Forces of Popular Self-Defense, the Republican Guard Regiment and UPSh personnel from the Directorate of State Security (Sigurimi), marching with musical accompaniment from the Band of the Albanian People's Army. It was held on jubilee years, including on the ruby jubilee in 1984 and the silver jubilee in 1969. [3] [4]
A commemorative coin called "50 Qindarka" was issued by the Bank of Albania in honor of the 25th anniversary of the Liberation of Albania. Qemal Stafa Stadium was renovated in time for the 30th anniversary in 1974.
In the 50s and 60s, Albanians at foreign universities such as Peking University and Kim Il-sung University have held cross cultural events on the holiday. [5]
Liberation Day comes a day after the Albanian Flag Day or Independence Day commemorating the Albanian Declaration of Independence and the rise of the Albanian flag in Vlora on November 28, 1912. As a result, the celebrations are connected. The entire two day period is a non-working day. [6] Today, the holiday is celebrated with a national ceremony of some sort including the Albanian Armed Forces. A wreath laying ceremony takes place in the National Martyrs' Cemetery of Albania, where 900 war dead are buried. [7] These events are held in the presence of the President of Albania, the Prime Minister, the Chairman of the Parliament, the Minister of Defense, the Chief of the Albanian General Staff and MPs of the Kuvendi. [8] [9] In 2014, a military parade took place at the Ministry of Defense during the platinum jubilee of the Liberation of Albania, which included an exhibition drill and a mass inspection. [10]
During the celebrations, war veterans often march in processions or sit at ceremonies while either carrying portraits of Enver Hoxha or performing the Hoxhaist Salute.[ citation needed ] This is controversial because some consider Hoxha's legacy similar to Mao Zedong in China or Joseph Stalin in the USSR.[ by whom? ] The American Embassy reported that during the 70th Anniversary celebrations, Prime Minister Edi Rama ordered that these veterans be asked to leave. [11]
Enver Halil Hoxha was an Albanian communist revolutionary and politician who was the leader of Albania from 1944 until his death in 1985. He was the First Secretary of the Party of Labour of Albania from 1941 until his death, a member of its Politburo, chairman of the Democratic Front of Albania, and commander-in-chief of the Albanian People's Army. He was the twenty-second prime minister of Albania from 1944 to 1954 and at various times was both foreign minister and defence minister of the country.
In Albania, World War II began with its invasion by Italy in April 1939. Fascist Italy set up Albania as its protectorate or puppet state. The resistance was largely carried out by Communist groups against the Italian and then German occupation in Albania. At first independent, the Communist groups united in the beginning of 1942, which ultimately led to the successful liberation of the country in 1944.
Mehmet Ismail Shehu was an Albanian communist politician who served as the Prime Minister of the People's Socialist Republic of Albania from 1954 to 1981. He was known as a close confidant of Enver Hoxha and served in various high-ranking positions in the government.
The Balli Kombëtar was an Albanian nationalist, collaborationist, and anti-communist resistance movement during the Second World War. It was led by Ali Këlcyra and by Midhat Frashëri. The movement was formed by members from the landowning elite, liberal nationalists opposed to communism, and other sectors of society in Albania.
Mother Albania is a 12 m statue located at the National Martyrs' Cemetery of Albania in Albania, dedicated in 1972.
The German occupation of Albania occurred between 1943 and 1944 during World War II. Before the armistice between Italy and the Allied armed forces on 8 September 1943, Albania had been in a de jure personal union with and was de facto under the control of the Kingdom of Italy. After the armistice and the Italian exit from the Axis, German military forces entered Albania and it came under German occupation, creating the client-state, the Albanian Kingdom.
Xhemail Hasani, known as Xhem Hasa and Xhem Gostivari, was an Albanian nationalist and Axis collaborator, in charge of the Balli Kombëtar's activities in the western regions of Yugoslav Macedonia, a part of Yugoslavia occupied by Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany during World War II.
The National Liberation Movement, also translated as National Liberation Front, was an Albanian communist resistance organization that fought in World War II. It was created on 16 September 1942, in a conference held in Pezë, a village near Tirana, and was led by Enver Hoxha. Apart from the figures which had the majority in the General Council it also included known nationalists like Myslim Peza although the Partisans under Yugoslav influence ended up executing numerous Albanian nationalist figures. In May 1944, the Albanian National Liberation Front was transformed into the government of Albania and its leaders became government members, and in August 1945, it was replaced by the Democratic Front.
Teki Isak Biçoku was an Albanian geologist and former member and president of the Academy of Sciences of Albania.
Parliamentary elections for a Constituent Assembly were held in Albania on 2 December 1945. Voters were presented with a single list from the Democratic Front, organized and led by the Communist Party of Albania. The Front won all 82 seats.
Beqir Balluku was an Albanian politician, military leader, and Minister of Defense of Albania. Balluku assisted Enver Hoxha in carrying out the 1956 purge within the Party of Labour. However, in 1974, Balluku himself, along with a group of other government members was accused by Hoxha of an attempted coup d'état against the Albanian People's Republic. He was executed the next year.
The Battle of Gjorm was a battle of the Albanian Resistance of World War II against the Kingdom of Italy. The battle took place on January 1–2, 1943, in the areas of Gjorm, Vranisht, Dukat, Tragjas and Tërbaç in south-western Albania.
The Albanian People's Army was the national army of the People's Socialist Republic of Albania from 1946 to 1990. Like the militaries of other Communist states, the UPSh was subjected to the nation's ruling party, in this case the Party of Labour of Albania. In fact, as in other Communist states, the Party considered the military to be a creation of the Party itself. The UPSh consisted of the Ground Forces, the Navy and the Air Force. The militia of the UPSh was the Voluntary Forces of Popular Self-Defense (FVVP), and affiliate military structures included the Armed School Youth (RSHA) and Civil Defense of the Republic (MCR). After the fall of communism in Albania, the UPSh was replaced by the Albanian Armed Forces.
Ymer Dishnica was an Albanian politician and physician. He served as Minister of Health from 1944 to 1946 and as Chairman of the Constituent Assembly from 1946 to 1947.
Qazim Mulleti (1893–1956) was an Albanian politician, nationalist and mayor of Tirana from 1939 through 1940 and its prefect from 1942 to 1944.
The Battle of Drashovica was a battle of the Albanian Resistance of World War II against Nazi Germany. The battle took place in late 1943, in the areas of Drashovicë and Mavrovë in south-western Albania in the region of Shushicë.
The following lists events that happened during 1944 in the People's Republic of Albania.
There are many landmarks in Tirana, Albania some of which are of considerable historical or artistic interest. Many monuments and landmarks situated in Tirana, date back to the Illyrian, Roman, Greek and Ottoman periods.
The Skanderbeg Military High School, nicknamed as the Army Nursery was a military boarding school of the Albanian People's Army of the People's Socialist Republic of Albania. It served to prepare youth with general military education and the necessary secondary education to attend civilian and military higher military institutions. In doing so, it served as a feeder school for the Enver Hoxha United School of Officers. By 1960 about sixty-percent of the graduates of the United School of Officers came from the Military High School.
The Capture of Pristina was a pivotal event during the Albanian revolt of 1912, it involved the entry of Albanian rebels into the former capital of the Kosovo vilayet.
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