REVIEW OF COMMUNIST GAINS IN ALBANIA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00809A000700090414-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: R
• Document Page Count: 5
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 11, 2011
• Sequence Number: 414
• Publication Date: November 26, 1952
• Content Type: REPORT

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/08/11: CIA-RDP80-00809A000700090414-1
COP-/ FOREIGN DOCUMENTS TOR RADIO BROADCASTS CD NO.
~D CLASSIFICATION
[II BES!i'RiCTEbJr ,.'
^ rr~roei TIGB- r~,i~ ul itsbiL UDC IJiii
HOW Political; Sociological
:PUBLISHED Bimonthly peric,,
SUBJECT Economic - Plan fulfillment
COUNTRY Albania
PUBLISHED Jan 1952
DATE
POUR 00005 UT CONL,n URMO,URnoo UgR,ot till mnouc DTPOR
or Toc ONITTO TTATII TOTIUR TOP UUO4. 01 unouu ACT Io
r. $ c. , i us T,.0$ uuom. m PO~~nuno+o~ PO~ utTUnoo
o, m CONTUT q UT pq,$ Tp Al UUYPOOMT[o 01.50? a ,W
NUR,TU IT u0. Unoeurno/ o, TIIl POUR UR NOM,OURC.
Bolshevik, No 1, 1952.
DATE OF
INFORMATION 1952
THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
REVIEW OF COMMUNIST GAINS IN ALBANIA
Liri Beliehova, member, Politbureau
Albanian labor Party
baniaThwase of the proclamation of the People's Republic of Al-
15. Ir 194
Party with the help of9the Soviet4Army,, were freedpfrom efascist yenslavemmeent. In
1946, the Albanian people abolished the monarchy and became masters of their own
country. In 1945, the first democratic general elections to the Constituent As-
sembly, in which the entire nation took part, were instituted. These elections
brought complete victory for the unity ticket of the National Liberation Front.
In January 1946, the Constituent Assembly proclaimed Albania a people's republic.
In March 1946, the first democratic constitution of the People's Republic of Al-
bania was adopted.
The war and occupation had dealt a heavy blow to Albania. Losses in the
Albania economy amounted to 100 billion leks. The first months following libera-
tion were particularly grave. War devastation, lack of f?iel, insufficient food,
unemployment -- all these created serious difficulties in the reconstruction of
the country. But after overcoming the initial difficulties, the government in-
troduced a program of reform.
First of all, with the active participation of the peasants themselves, the
.agrarian reform was accomplished in November 1946. The land was transferred to
the peasants. In all, 70,211 peasant households shared the land, cattle, and
personal property. Formerly, 14 percent of the peasants were without land' and
83 percent had little land. The result of these reforms was an increase in the
amount and yield of arable land. In 1951, the sown area in Albania was one and
one half times larger than in 1938.
Simultaneously with the increased yield of wheat, maize, and other grain
crops, the party and government' tried to develop various dndustrial crops
which formerly were scarcely produced in Albania. Future emphasis will be on
cotton, sugar beets, flax, hemp, and vegetable-oil crops. Much has to be created
- 1 -
BBSTRICTED'-"~
CLASSIFICATION
FAR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
~_L__ ,DISTRIBUTION I I ~ I ~
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/08/11: CIA-RDP80-00809A000700090414-1
 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/08/11: CIA-RDP80-00809A000700090414-1
fo
rl I
i
....,
me
ns
gnificant, is 74
times greater than it was, but even this amount is insufficient for the growing
textile industry
groves, olive groves, and various fruits
vean which are increasingly exported each
-
The government is giving great assistance to agriculture. It is doing rec-
lamation work, draining swamps, developing new plantations, and building canals
and dame. The state extends credit to peasants, and supplies them with seeds,
fertilizers, and machinery. it also exempts small economic enterprises from
taxation. Machine-tractor stations have been set up, as well as state-operated
model farms.
The party lays great stress on the promotion of collective farms, not by
force but by convincing the peasant of the superiority of collective work. The
Albanian Workers Party follows this Soviet plan.
Soon after Albania was liberated, the government liquidated foreign conces-
sions and nationalized all industrial enterprises, mines, means of transporta-
tion, and banks. Wholesale trade and foreign trade were made state monopolies.
A special law annulled all the old debts, including mortgages, of the peasant
and urban population. Planned economy was introduced.
The first Two-Year Plar. (1949-1950) and the 1951 Plan have been success-
fully completed. Old plants have been rzatored or enlarged and new enterprises
built. The recently built Stalin Textile Combine has a capacity of 20 million
meters of cloth a year; this will meet the needs of the Albanian people. Near
this combine a large settlement is being built to accommodate 9,000 workers. A
sugar combine with a capacity of 10,000 tons of Bugs- a year has been built.
The new Lenin Hydroelectric Power Plant has increased Tirana's electric power
supply ten times and its water supply four times as compared with 1949. In Fier
a cotton-ginning plant has been put into operation. All these enterprises are
equipped with machines supplied by the USSR. Construction of a large hydro-
electric plant on the Mat River is also in progress.
The mining industry, including the extraction of coal, bitumen, chrome,
copper, and petroleum, has been completely nationalized. Four times more ore is
being mined than in 1938. New workers' communities, such as Patos and Selenice,
are springing up near the new mines and oil fields.
Automotive transport, once a bottleneck in Albanian economy, is being im-
proved. In the old Albania, there were no railroads. Thousands of volunteers,
mostly young people, built the first railroads in the country. The first short
railroad line was built in 1947. Later it was lengthened to connect the agri-
cultural centers: Tirana with Durres, Peqin, and Elbasan. Freight traffic by
land reached 675 percent compared with the prewar level. All seaports, which
had been damaged by the retiring German occupation forces, have been restored
to meet the demands of growing trade with other countries. Roads have also been
built or improved.
Construction work is in progress throughout Albania. Since the liberation,
105,000 square meters of industrial buildings, 102,000 square meters of housing,
and a considerable number of clubs, schools, and hospitals have been built.
Besides improving the workers' living standards, the party and the govern-
ment are developing state and ccoperative trade, eliminating speculation, and
limiting the activities of private traders. The result of this policy is that
foreign and wholesale trade is completely controlled by the government. In re-
tail trade the share of the state is 33 percent, the share of the cooperatives
45 percent, and that of private enterprises 22 percent.
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/08/11: CIA-RDP80-00809A000700090414-1
 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/08/11: CIA-RDP80-00809A000700090414-1
Great changes have taken place in Albania in this short period of 7 years
since the liberation. Unemployment, poverty, and the continuous emigration of
starving people have disappeared. There are not enough workers for the new con-
struction work and the expansion of the national economy. Evidence of the changes
in the national economy is found in the income sec ion of the 1950 state budget.
Formerly, the basic sources of income were taxes collected from the peasants;
now, the major part of the budget revenue comes from industry and cooperatives.
In 1950, the share of state industrial enterprises in the budget amounted to 48
percent, while the share of the cooperatives was 35 percent.
Corresponding changes have taken place in the social composition of the
population of Albania. The working class is growing rapidly. Taking 1945 as
100 percent, in 1946 the number of workers was 120 percent; in 1947, 180 percent;
in 1949, 220 percent, and in 1950, 360 percent. Nearly 90 percent of all work-
ers are taking part in socialist competition. The names of the outstanding work-
ers are publicized throughout the country.
A further improvement in the living conditions of the people .is shown by
the development of public health services. In the old Albania there was prac-
tically no public health system. By 1950 the number of public health institu-
tions had increased 26 times, and their capacity 63 times, compared with 1938.
Assistance from the USSR and the People's Democracies in the form of long-
term credits, deliveries of equipment, and technical assistance, have made long-
range planning possible. The Plenum of the Central Committee of the Albanian
Workers' Party, which met in September 1951, approved directives for drawing up
the first State Five-Year Plan for the Development of the National Economy (1951-
1955). These directives were widely discussed at mass meeting- where the peo-
ple themselves introduced thousands of corrections and additions. The plan set
up as objectives the further development of manufacturing and mining, transport,
and agriculture, and improvement in the living standard of the masses. The prin-
cipal investments will be made in mining, which is to be more highly mechanized.
Prospecting work is to be expanded. Provision. is made for a new oil refinery
and pipe line. Light and heavy industry are to be developed. Electric produc-
tion will be - creased several times. The Mat River B??droelectric Station alone
will produce 100 million kilowatt-hours of electric power per year.
The Five-Year Plan pays particular attention to agricultural economy, which
has been unable to keep up with industrial development. Albanian agriculture
must not only supply the towns with food, primarily bread, but it must also con-
siderably increase the production of industrial cropz and products for export.
Hence the number of MPS must be increased, and their work improved. The supply
of agricultural machines, fertilizers, and selected seeds is to be augmented.
More irrigation canals are also planned.
The party and the government have issued special directives on the develop-
ment of animal husbandry, which had suffered greatly during the occupation. The
principal task or the immediate future is to build up a fedd supply, without
which any increese in the number of head of cattle would be impossible.
The Five-Year Plan for forestation has also been worked out and discussed
at mass meetings. The peasants accepted this plan with great enthusiasm, and
thousands of them are voluntarily engaged in planting trees. They have under-
taken to fulfill this plan in 4 years.
The former rulers and exploiters of Albania established few schools. About
85 percent of the population was illiterate. Children of the workers and poor
peasants were without education. Altbgether, only 2,000 students attended inter-
mediate schools. There were no higher educational institutions, and only a few
children of the privileged classes studied abroad. Now a special law requires
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/08/11: CIA-RDP80-00809A000700090414-1
STATI
 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/08/11: CIA-RDP80-00809A000700090414-1
STAT
all citizens of Albania up to 40 years of age to learn to read and write. It is
expected
Plan. Compulsory celementary cschooling for liquidated
children has been Year been instituted. A
great increase in the number of schools and trained teachers has made it possible
to enroll all children of school age in the system of elementary education. In
1950, in comparison with 1938, the number of schools had increased 341 percent,
while the number of students had reached 316 percent. All schooling is free.
The party and the government are also trying to have all urban children finish
the 7 year (intermediate) school.
The first higher educational institutions have appeared in Albania. In
1946, a 2-year pedagogical institute was founded. The Five-Year Plan provides
for the opening of two more higher educational institutions: a school of medicine
and a training school of planned economy. The quality of teaching is consider-
ably improved. New programs based on Marxist-Leninist science and Soviet ex-
perience have been initiated in schools and higher educational institutions. The
rapid growth of the Albanian economy requires a large number of qualified workers.
With the help of the Soviet Union, thousands of qualified employees have been
trained.
The developments in the national economy and in education have been accom-
panied by a development in national art. For the first time Albania possesses
three permanent theatres, a philharmonic orchestra, a palace of culture, and
clubs. Folk dancing and singing are encouraged. An independent talent for art
is developing among the workers. More books are being published, including
translations of Soviet publications, which are very popular among Albanians. The
sirs"lation of magazines and newspapers has increased more than tenfold.
The Communist Party, established in 1941, has been strong enough to over-
come sabotage by the Tito clique, whose agents, Koci Xoxe, Pandi Kristo, and
others, had penetrated into leading party positions, and were trying to transform
Albania into an appendage of fascist Yugoslavia.
The first Party Congress, which took place in November 1948, exposed cer-
tain serious shortcomings in party organizational work. The party had not
drawn up its statutes. It had violated intraparty democracy, and did not en-
courage criticism and self-criticism. The congress approved the first party
statutes of the Marxist-Leninist type, which helped put an end to organizational
confusion. After the congress, the party was renamed the Albanian Workers'
Party. In accordance with the decisions of the congress, the party eliminated
the influence of the Titoists, rearranged its ranks, and stre 3thened its organi-
zational structure. Still later, the party was able to rout attacks of Abedin
Shehu's counterrevolutionary group and carry on a successful struggle against
various other opportunists.
The hostile policy of the Titoist agents in the party resulted in the pres-
ence of foreign imperialistic agents in the party apparatus. The Central Com-
mittee decided in 1950 - 1951 to carry out a check of party documents to get rid
of foreign and hostile elements. A serious effort is now being made to regulate
the social composition of the party, and attract the foremost workers into its
ranks. The network of party education has been extended to train young Com-
.munists. In the 5-year period from 1944 through 1948 there were 4,684 party mem-
bers studying in party education schools. During the school year 1949 - 1950,
the number rose to 6,246, and in 1950 - 1951 to 12,264. The Central Committee
of the party has established a central party school as well as numerous courses
to train party personnel and propagandists. There has also been an increase in
editions of Marxist-Leninist classics. In November 1951, the first volume of
I. V. Stalin's Collected Works was published in the Albanian language.
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/08/11: CIA-RDP80-00809A000700090414-1
 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/08/11: CIA-RDP80-00809A000700090414-1
The party is strengthening its bond with the people, acting through mass
organizations, creating active nonparty groups, and developing mass political
work. The results of this policy were revealed in the elections for the Peo-
ple's Assembly in 1950, when 98.18 percent of all the voters voted for the can-
didates of the unified democratic front, headed by the Albanian Workers' party.
The party is united against English and American imperialists, who relied
in World W'r II on organizations connected with the German occupation forces,
such as the Belli Kombetar and the Legaliteti.
On the eve of the liberation of Albania, English ships tried to force a
landing on Albanian shores, but were forced to retreat by the Albanian people,
supported by the Soviet Union. Now the warmongers are sending saboteurs by
dropping them by parachutes from airplanes, landing them from submarines, or
sending them across the borders.
In October 1951 a trial of 14 spies took place. They were American, Eng-
lish, Italian, Yugoslav, and Greek. At this trial it was made clear that all
these agents were acting in orders from one and the same center. After this
trial the Ministry of the Interior announced the arrest of several parachutist
saboteurs from America, seven from England, 14'from Greece, and 33 from Yugo-
slavia. They admitted that they had been dropped to carry out subversive ac-
tivity in Albania.
This
aallocatingi100nflumillionx of
subpurpose versive of
acthe new law signed tivity against the bUSSRy the People's Democracies. With these funds, the Americans are coverting ban-
dits from the concentration camps in Western Germany, saboteurs and sending them into Albania. Several espionage,centerseare into
now
active in Yugoslavia. The armed provocations against our borders by Greek and
Yugoslav fascists have not stopped. During only 10 months in 1951 the integ-
rity of Albanian territory was violated 388 times. But despite all such ac-
tions, the people of Albania have anown that they know how to guard their in-
dependence.
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/08/11: CIA-RDP80-00809A000700090414-1