Enver Hoxha by Fevziu Blendi; Elsie Robert; Nishku Majlinda

Author:Fevziu, Blendi; Elsie, Robert; Nishku, Majlinda
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Biography, historical, political, military, European history, 20th century history, Political structures, totalitarianism, dictatorship, Marxism, Communism, Political leaders and leadership, World War 2, Cold War, Political oppression and persecution, Albania, Former Soviet Union
Publisher: I.B.Tauris
Published: 2016-03-29T16:00:00+00:00

In spite of everything, Hoxha did not give in to Khrushchev’s pressure, nor did he lose his composure. He managed to get himself out of this difficult situation, and it would not be the last time he did so. In order to nip any such future rebellions in the bud, he swiftly proceeded to punish two leading communist figures: Bedri Spahiu and Tuk Jakova.

Bedri Spahiu, a well-known partisan commander during the war and member of the Politburo, was dismissed from his post and arrested. He was the same age as Enver Hoxha and was born in the same neighbourhood, and the two of them had been classmates in the first year of primary school. Their names were next to each other on the same page of their school register, now preserved in the Central State Archives. After finishing fourth grade, Spahiu moved to Turkey for four years, first to Izmir and then to Istanbul, where he graduated with distinction from an Italian school, after which he returned to Albania and pursued a military career. He served as an artillery officer in King Zog’s army, but was arrested and convicted for violating his oath of allegiance to the king during the 1936 Fier uprising. Spahiu was spared execution and joined a cell of communist army officers until the foundation of the CPA. Brave, charismatic and a skilled orator, he was a key communist figure during and after the war. He served as minister for reconstruction, general prosecutor of the Republic of Albania and minister of education, at the same time being a member of the Politburo. Bedri Spahiu’s brave speech at the meeting that had been called to expel him from the party was described as nothing short of remarkable. Kiço Ngjela, then minister of economics, who was present at the meeting, recalled Spahiu’s outburst at Hoxha’s accusations:

Bedri kept silent during the entire meeting and requested the floor only at the end. He pointed his finger accusingly at Enver Hoxha and bellowed, ‘Who do you think you are, acting so high and mighty? How do you dare tell lies and hurl accusations left and right? You called Sejfullah an opportunist, Tuk an opportunist, Bedri a so-and-so? […] What about you, who are you? I’ll tell you: you are a shadowy figure from the cul-de-sacs of Paris […] an unprincipled philanderer.’ No one had ever dared to speak to Enver like that.10

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