Party System and Cleavages in pre-Communist Albania The kaleidoscope of the German and Greek diplomacy Genehmigte Dissertation zur Erlangung eines Grades des Doctor rerum politicum im Fachbereich Gesellschafts- und Geschichtswissenschaften an der Technischen Universität Darmstadt Referenten Prof. Dr. Hubert Heinelt Prof. Dr. Peter Nixdorff Prof. Dr. Andreas Moschonas vorgelegt von Zacharoula Karagiannopoulou geboren in Athen -Griechenland Tag der Einreichung: 15. Januar 2004 Tag der mündlichen Prüfung: 30. Juni 2004 D17 Darmstadt 2004 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I must acknowledge a very deep indebtedness to MGR. Anastasssios Yiannoulatos for awaking my interest for Albania and my supervisor Professor Dr. Hubert Heinelt who not only gave generously of his time to read the manuscript, part or all, more than once and offer important suggestions, but he also guided me through the maze of difficulties associated with this work. I am extremely grateful to the Greek ex-Consul General in Albania Mr. Vassilis Bornovas who enlightened me with many informal discussions about my work and who made decisive suggestions with regard to my search for materials. I would also like to thank Mrs. Fotini Tomai – Konstantopoulou for giving me the permission to see the archive materials of the Historical and Diplomatic Archive of the Greek Foreign Ministry and the many individuals who provided assistance at both the Historical and Diplomatic Archive of the Greek Foreign Ministry and the Auswärtiges Amt in Berlin; the Greek Ministry of Finance, especially the Konstantinos Vellios Varonos Stipedium for the financial given to me. I must also express my thanks to Mrs. Bettina Orf who smoothed out the way in my effort to live and write this work in Germany; and above all my parents who apart from financial assistance often gave me the needed encouragement, and especially my father who kept on assisting my effort until his last breath; and last but not least my husband for his great patience, encouragement and help. Zacharoula Karagiannopoulou Athen, November 2008 Contents I CONTENTS List of Abbreviations ……………………………………………………………………III Note on Spelling and Place Names……………………………………………………….V Chapter 1 : Introduction…………………………………………………………………..1 1.1. The object of inquiry………………………………………………………….1 1.2. The framework of analysis…………………………………………………..12 1.3. The order of exposition……………………………………………………...20 Chapter 2 .: Emergence of a quasi-independent state, 1912-1918 ……………………...26 2.1. Socio-economic conditions and the roots of cleavages……………………..26 2.2. Conclusions………………………………………………………………….43 Chapter 3. : Restricted independence, authoritarian rule and the abortive democratic revolution, 1918- 1924……………………………………………………...47 3.1. Socio-economic conditions and Cleavages………………………………….47 3.2. Political groups and Parties………………………………………………….66 3.3. Conclusions………………………………………………………………….89 Chapter 4. : Authoritarian rule restored and radical-communist opposition, 1925-1938..92 4.1. Socio-economic conditions and Cleavages………………………………….92 4.2. Political groups and Parties………………………………………………...111 4.3 Conclusions…………………………………………………………………140 Chapter 5. : War, foreign occupation and people’s resistance, I Italian occupation, 1939-1943………………………………………………………...142 5.1. Question 1: Exploitation of peculiarities ………………………………….143 5.2. Question 1: Exploitation of cleavages……………………………………..147 5.3.Question 2: Expression of peculiarities and cleavages……………………..151 Contents II 5.3.1. Fascist Party……………………………………………………...151 5.3.2. First resistance groups……………………………………………153 5.3.3. Communist movement / Communist party………………………156 5.3.4. Balli Kompetar…………………………………………………...168 5.4. Conclusions………………………………………………………………...172 Chapter 6. : War, foreign occupation and people’s resistance, II German occupation, 1943-1944……………………………………………………...176 6.1. Question 1: Exploitation of peculiarities…………………………………..176 6.2. Question 1: Exploitation of cleavages……………………………………..182 6.3.Question 2: Expression of peculiarities and cleavages……………………..190 6.3.1. Resistance groups………………………………………………..190 6.3.2. Civil war…………………………………………………………193 6.4. Conclusions………………………………………………………………..196 Chapter 7. : General Conclusions………………………………………………………198 7.1. Empirical findings………………………………………………………….198 7.2. Genaralizations: A theoretical reprise……………………………………...214 References ……………………………………………………………………………...218 I. Archival Sources- Unpublished sources ……………………………….218 II. Archival Sources- Published sources…………………………………...224 III. Secondary Sources………………… …………………………………..225 List of Abbreviations III LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS A.A. Auswärtiges Amt A.A.B. Auswärtiges Amt Berlin B.D. Balkan Department B.dSS. Büro des Staatssekretärs B.K. Balli Kombetar BK Bashkimi Kombetar (National Union) BKSh Balli Kompetar e Shqiperise C.D.A. Central Department Archive CPA Communist Party of Albania CUP Committee of Union and Progress D.B.R Deutsche Botschaft Rom. D.P. Department of Press FPA Fascist Party of Albania G.M.F.A. Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs H.D.A.G.M.F.A. Historical and Diplomatic Archive of the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs KCK Komiteti i Clirimit te Kosoves (Kosova Liberation Committee) KCN Komiteti Nacionale i Clirimit (Committee of National Liberation) KONARE Komiteti Nacionale Revolucionar (National Revolutionary Committee) Mf. Microfiche NF National Front NLF National Liberation Front NLM National Liberation Movement (Levizje Nacional Clirimtar) P.A.A.A. Politisches Archiv des Auswärtigen Amtes P.D. Policy Department PFSh Partia Fashismit e Shqiperise (Fashist Party of Albania) List of Abbreviations IV PKS Partija Kommuniste Shqiptare (Albanian Communist Party) PKSh Partia Komuniste e Shqiperise (Communist Party of Albania) PP Partia Popullore (Popular Party) PPer Partia Perparimtare (Progressive Party) PND Partia Nacionale Demokratike (National Democratic Party) PRD Partia Radikale Demokratike (Radical Democratic Party) R.N. Register Number SVEA Societa per lo Svilippo Economico dell’ Albania Note on Spelling and Place Names V NOTE ON SPELLING AND PLACE NAMES Many Albanian names and place-names have various spellings. I have used the Albanian spelling whenever available. While I prefer the forms Zogu (before his proclamation to King) and Zog (after his proclamation to King) to Zogolli 1 and Bey instead of Bej. I also prefer the form Esad every time I refer to Esad Pasha Toptani, even when I quote. 2 With regard to Albanian place-names, I have kept the indefinite forms used in the country itself, Durres, Shkoder, Vlore, etc. An exception had been made in the case of the capital. The more familiar form Tirana is used throughout. While I use the form Kosova instead of Kosovo because this region –predominantly Albanian-inhabited region of the former Yugoslavia- known as Kosovo-Metohije by the Serbs is known as Kosova by the Albanians. 1 Within the framework of his effort to depart from the oriental ideology Ahmed Zogu started a harmless war against the Arabic names. So 1922 Ahmed shrugged off his Turkish name form Zogolli and demanded to be called Zogu. Later, 1928, when he became King, his Arabic forename Ahmed disappeared and the “u” from the end of his name as well (E. Ashmead Bartlett, C.B.E., Special Commissioner, in: Daily Telegraph, 16.10.1928) and he became known as King Zog I. 2 There is a variety concerning the spelling of this name. Some prefer the form “Essad,” some others “Esat” or “Essat.” Introduction 1 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 The object of enquiry I started working my Phd with the aim to approach the political life of Albania during the “transformation years” (democratisation phase), namely after the end of the communist period (1991). The aim of my research at that time was mainly to give answers to a set of questions: “what kind of cleavages exist in Albania after 1991(if any) and how and to which extent do they affect the political life of the country during the process of democratisation? Which are the parties that were formed immediately after the end of the communist period? And which is the relation between the existing cleavages and the party system in contemporary Albania?” But after six or seven months of research I realised that my notes were full of questions regarding the “past” of the period I intended to investigate (the post-communist period or the transformation phase). The effort to refer to the “continuity” of cleavages, which seemed to exist in the post-communist period came upon the deficiency of information regarding the existence or absence of cleavages during the pre-communist period. There was no scientific work devoted to this matter and the references regarding the “past” were scarce and insufficient. So my research changed its “time orientation”. I considered it necessary to fill in the information gap concerning the pre-communist period, in order to be able later to approach, through the same lens (cleavages and party system), the political life of contemporary Albania. I had to draw the framework of my work once again. Introduction 2 The geographical framework was more or less already defined and remained the same; the country of Albania. The time-framework should move backwards; 1912 (the year of the proclamation of Albania as an independent state) –1944 (the beginning of the communist period). This time-framework seemed to provoke problems regarding the geographical framework, as in order to refer to a country we have to be aware of its frontiers. But, even though Ing. Carl Ig. Hoffer, (the Finance Representative of middle- Europe in Albania) refers in his diplomatic