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Enver Hoxha | Communist Leader & Prime Minister of Albania | Britannica
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<div> <h1>Enver Hoxha</h1></div> </div> <div class="topic-identifier font-16 font-md-20">prime minister of Albania</div> </div> </div> <div class="d-none d-sm-flex flex-row"> <div class="mr-10 mb-15"> <button class="ai-ask-button btn border-2 btn-sm js-inline-ai-ask-button btn-outline-red-400 border-red-400"> Ask the Chatbot a Question </button> </div> <div class="d-none d-sm-block md-topic-tools qa-action-buttons mb-15" data-topic-id="273593"> <button class="js-tooltip btn btn-sm btn-outline-blue border pr-10 border-2" > <em class="material-icons md-icon ml-n10 my-n5 mr-5" data-icon="more_vert"></em> More Actions </button> <div class="md-more-popover popover popover-sm p-0 font-14 z-1"> <div> <a class="js-modal btn btn-sm btn-link gtm-topic-tool font-weight-bold btn-link" href="/print/article/273593" target="_blank" > <em class="material-icons mr-5 ml-n10 my-n5 md-icon" data-icon="print"></em> Print </a> </div> <div> <button class="js-modal qa-cite-modal-button btn btn-sm btn-link 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They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.</div> </a> <div data-popper-arrow></div> </div> <span class="btn btn-link editor-link p-0 qa-byline-link gtm-byline font-12 byline-contributor text-decoration-underline"> The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica</span></div> <div class="last-updated font-12 font-serif"> <span class="text-gray-700"> Last Updated: <time datetime="2024-11-13T00:00:00CST" >Nov 13, 2024</time> •</span> <a class="byline-edit-history" href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Enver-Hoxha/additional-info#history" rel="nofollow">Article History</a> </div></div> </div> <button class="d-flex d-lg-none btn btn-outline-blue border rounded-sm shadow-sm mobile-toc-button gtm-mobile-toc-inline-button d-none d-sm-block js-sections-inline-button module-spacing btn d-lg-none"> <em class="material-icons mr-5 ml-n10 my-n5 md-icon" data-icon="toc"></em> Table of Contents </button> <div class="d-flex d-sm-none flex-row"> <button class="d-flex d-lg-none btn btn-outline-blue border rounded-sm shadow-sm mobile-toc-button gtm-mobile-toc-inline-button js-sections-inline-button module-spacing"> <em class="material-icons mr-5 ml-n10 my-n5 md-icon" data-icon="toc"></em> Table of Contents </button> <button class="ai-ask-button btn border-2 ai-ask-button btn border-2 module-spacing btn-sm js-inline-ai-ask-button btn-outline-red-400 border-red-400 p-10 ml-5"> Ask the Chatbot a Question </button> </div> <div class="js-qf-module qf-module px-40 px-sm-20 py-15 mx-auto module-spacing font-14 bg-gray-50 rounded"> <div class="qf-title font-weight-bold font-14 mb-10 text-center"> Quick Facts</div> <div class="facts-list mt-10"> <div class=""> <div class="js-fact mb-10 line-clamp clamp-3"> <dl> <dt>Born: </dt> <dd>Oct. 16, 1908, <a href="/place/Gjirokaster">Gjirokastër</a>, Alb.</dd> </dl> <button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-gray-50" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"> <em class="js-content link-blue">(Show more)</em> </button> </div> </div> <div class=""> <div class="js-fact mb-10 line-clamp clamp-3"> <dl> <dt>Died: </dt> <dd> April 11, 1985, <a href="/place/Tirana">Tiranë</a> (aged 76)</dd> </dl> <button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-gray-50" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"> <em class="js-content link-blue">(Show more)</em> </button> </div> </div> <div class=""> <div class="js-fact mb-10 line-clamp clamp-3"> <dl> <dt>Also Known As: </dt> <dd>Enver Hodja</dd> </dl> <button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-gray-50" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"> <em class="js-content link-blue">(Show more)</em> </button> </div> </div> <div class=""> <div class="js-fact mb-10 line-clamp clamp-3"> <dl> <dt>Title / Office: </dt> <dd><a href="/topic/head-of-state">head of state (1954-1985)</a>, <a href="/place/Albania">Albania</a></dd> <dd><a href="/topic/foreign-minister">foreign minister (1946-1953)</a>, <a href="/place/Albania">Albania</a></dd> <dd><a href="/topic/prime-minister">prime minister (1944-1954)</a>, <a href="/place/Albania">Albania</a></dd> </dl> <button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-gray-50" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"> <em class="js-content link-blue">(Show more)</em> </button> </div> </div> <div class=""> <div class="js-fact mb-10 line-clamp clamp-3"> <dl> <dt>Founder: </dt> <dd><a href="/topic/Albanian-Socialist-Party">Albanian Socialist Party</a></dd> </dl> <button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-gray-50" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"> <em class="js-content link-blue">(Show more)</em> </button> </div> </div> <div class="facts-item-none d-none"> <div class="js-fact mb-10 line-clamp clamp-3"> <dl> <dt>Political Affiliation: </dt> <dd><a href="/topic/Albanian-Socialist-Party">Albanian Socialist Party</a></dd> </dl> <button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-gray-50" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"> <em class="js-content link-blue">(Show more)</em> </button> </div> <div class="text-center"> <a class="btn btn-sm btn-link p-0" href="/facts/Enver-Hoxha"> See all related content </a> </div> </div> </div> <button class="facts-list-show-more-btn mt-15 p-0 mx-auto btn font-14 d-block font-weight-normal"> <span class="material-icons" data-icon="expand_more"></span> <span class="show-more-label">Show More</span> </button> </div><div class="bg-gray-50 p-15 rounded module-spacing recent-news d-flex flex-column float-false"> <div> <h2 class="font-weight-bold font-14 m-0 d-inline"> News <span class="text-gray-600">•</span> </h2> <div class="recent-news-item first-recent-news-item d-inline"> <a class="font-14 gtm-ap-news-link" href="https://www.cnn.com/travel/albania-communism-bunkers-cold-war/index.html" rel="nofollow">This country’s Cold War paranoia left it riddled with bunkers. Now they’re coming back to life</a> <span class="font-14 text-gray-600"> <span>•</span> Nov. 11, 2024, 12:51 AM ET (CNN) </span> </div> </div> <div class="rest-of-recent-news-items"> <button class="js-toggle-recent-news d-flex btn btn-unstyled font-14 pr-10 rounded-sm mt-10" aria-label="Toggle additional news items"> Show less <em class="material-icons" data-icon="expand_less"></em> </button> </div> </div><!--[BEFORE-ARTICLE]--><span class="marker before-article"></span><section data-level="1" id="ref1"><!--[PREMOD1]--><span class="marker PREMOD1 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph"><strong><span id="ref47450"></span>Enver Hoxha</strong> (born Oct. 16, 1908, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Gjirokaster" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Gjirokastër</a>, Alb.—died April 11, 1985, Tiranë) was the first communist <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/head-of-state" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">chief of state</a> of <span id="ref47451"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/history-of-Albania" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Albania</a>. As that <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/nation-state" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">country’s</a> ruler for 40 years after <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/World-War-II" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">World War II</a>, he forced its <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="transformation" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/transformation" data-type="EB">transformation</a> from a semifeudal relic of the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Ottoman-Empire" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Ottoman Empire</a> into an industrialized economy with the most tightly controlled society in Europe.</p><!--[MOD1]--><span class="marker MOD1 mod-inline"></span><!--[PREMOD2]--><span class="marker PREMOD2 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Hoxha, the son of a Muslim cloth merchant, studied at the French lycée at <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Korce" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Korƈë</a> and reportedly also at the American Technical School in <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Tirana" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Tiranë</a>. In 1930 he went on a state scholarship to the University of Montpellier, France, and then from 1934 to 1936 he was a secretary at the Albanian consulate general in Brussels and studied law at the university there. Returning to Albania in 1936, he became a teacher at his old school in Korƈë.</p><!--[MOD2]--><span class="marker MOD2 mod-inline"></span><!--[PREMOD3]--><span class="marker PREMOD3 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">In 1939, when Italy invaded Albania, Hoxha was dismissed from his teaching post for refusing to join the newly formed Albanian Fascist Party, and he opened a retail tobacco store at Tiranë, which became headquarters for a communist cell. After Germany invaded <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Yugoslavia-former-federated-nation-1929-2003" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Yugoslavia</a> in 1941, Yugoslav communists helped Hoxha found the <span id="ref47452"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Albanian-Socialist-Party" class="md-crosslink ">Albanian Communist Party</a> (afterward called the Party of Labour). Hoxha became first secretary of the party’s <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Central-Committee-Soviet-political-body" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Central Committee</a> and political commissar of the communist-dominated Army of National Liberation. He was <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/prime-minister" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">prime minister</a> of Albania from its liberation in 1944 until 1954, simultaneously holding the ministry of foreign affairs from 1946 to 1953. As first secretary of the Party of Labour’s Central Committee, he retained effective control of the government until his death.</p><div class="module-spacing"> </div><!--[MOD3]--><span class="marker MOD3 mod-inline"></span><!--[PREMOD4]--><span class="marker PREMOD4 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Albania’s economy was revolutionized under Hoxha’s long rule. Farmland was confiscated from wealthy landowners and gathered into <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="collective" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/collective" data-type="MW">collective</a> farms that eventually enabled Albania to become almost completely self-sufficient in food crops. Industry, which had previously been almost nonexistent, received huge amounts of investment, so that by the 1980s it had grown to contribute more than half of the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/money/gross-national-product" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">gross national product</a>. Electricity was brought to every rural district, <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="epidemics" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/epidemics" data-type="MW">epidemics</a> of disease were stamped out, and illiteracy became a thing of the past.</p><!--[MOD4]--><span class="marker MOD4 mod-inline"></span><!--[PREMOD5]--><span class="marker PREMOD5 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">In order to enforce his radical program, however, Hoxha resorted to brutal Stalinist tactics. His government imprisoned, executed, or exiled thousands of landowners, rural clan leaders, Muslim and Christian clerics, peasants who resisted collectivization, and disloyal party officials. Private property was confiscated by the state; all churches, mosques, and other religious institutions were closed; and all cultural and <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="intellectual" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/intellectual" data-type="MW">intellectual</a> endeavours were put at the service of socialism and the state.</p><!--[MOD5]--><span class="marker MOD5 mod-inline"></span><!--[PREMOD6]--><span class="marker PREMOD6 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">As <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="ardent" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ardent" data-type="MW">ardent</a> a nationalist as he was a communist, Hoxha <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="excoriated" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/excoriated" data-type="MW">excoriated</a> any communist state that threatened his power or the <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="sovereignty" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sovereignty" data-type="MW">sovereignty</a> of Albania. In 1948 he broke relations with Yugoslavia and formed an alliance with the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Soviet-Union" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Soviet Union</a>. After the death of the Soviet leader <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Joseph-Stalin" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Joseph Stalin</a>, for whom Hoxha held a lifelong admiration, his relations with <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Nikita-Sergeyevich-Khrushchev" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Nikita Khrushchev</a> deteriorated until Hoxha broke with him completely in 1961. He then forged close ties with China, breaking with that country in turn in 1978 after the death of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Mao-Zedong" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Mao Zedong</a> and China’s rapprochement with the West. From then on, Hoxha spurned all the world’s major powers, declaring that Albania would become a model socialist republic on its own.</p><div class="one-good-fact-module"> </div><!--[MOD6]--><span class="marker MOD6 mod-inline"></span><!--[PREMOD7]--><span class="marker PREMOD7 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">In order to ensure the <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="succession" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/succession" data-type="EB">succession</a> of a younger generation of leaders, Hoxha in 1981 ordered the execution of several leading party and government officials. Thereafter he withdrew into semiretirement, turning over most state functions to <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ramiz-Alia" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Ramiz Alia</a>, who succeeded him upon his death.</p><div class="module-spacing"> <DIV class="marketing-INLINE_SUBSCRIPTION marketing-content" data-marketing-id="INLINE_SUBSCRIPTION"><style> .student-promo-banner-wrapper { container-type: inline-size; margin-bottom: 15px; } @container (min-width: 475px) { .student-promo-banner { flex-direction: row; } .student-promo-banner-img-wrapper { margin-bottom: 0; margin-right: 10px; justify-content: flex-start; } .student-promo-banner-text-wrapper { text-align: left; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 10px; } .student-promo-banner-button-wrapper { margin-right: 0; } }</style> <div class="student-promo-banner-wrapper"> <div class="student-promo-banner d-flex flex-column align-items-center bg-blue rounded p-20"> <div class="student-promo-banner-img-wrapper mb-20 mr-0 d-flex justify-content-center"> <img class="rounded" style="max-width: 100px; min-width: 80px" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/marketing/BlueThistle.webp" /> </div> <div class="student-promo-banner-text-wrapper ml-0 mb-10 text-center text-white"> <div class="h2 mb-10">Get Unlimited Access</div> <div class="h4 font-weight-semi-bold">Try Britannica Premium for free and discover more.</div> </div> <div class="student-promo-banner-button-wrapper d-flex justify-content-center align-items-center ml-auto mr-auto"> <a class="btn btn-m btn-orange" href="https://premium.britannica.com/premium-membership/?utm_source=premium&utm_medium=inline-cta&utm_campaign=black-friday-2024">Subscribe</a> </div> </div> </div> </DIV></div><!--[MOD7]--><span class="marker MOD7 mod-inline"></span></section> <span class="md-signature">This article was most recently revised and updated by <a href="/contributor/encyclopaedia-britannica/12989892">Encyclopaedia Britannica</a>.</span><!--[END-OF-CONTENT]--><span class="marker end-of-content"></span><!--[AFTER-ARTICLE]--><span class="marker after-article"></span></div> <div id="chatbot-root"></div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="ai-dialog-placeholder"></div> </div> </div> <aside class="col-md-da-320"></aside> </div> </div> </div> </div> </article></div> </div></div> </div> </main> <div id="md-footer"></div> <noscript><iframe src="//www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-5W6NC8" height="0" width="0" style="display:none;visibility:hidden"></iframe></noscript> <script type="text/javascript" id="_informizely_script_tag"> var IzWidget = IzWidget || {}; (function (d) { var scriptElement = d.createElement('script'); scriptElement.type = 'text/javascript'; scriptElement.async = true; scriptElement.src = "https://insitez.blob.core.windows.net/site/f780f33e-a610-4ac2-af81-3eb184037547.js"; var node = d.getElementById('_informizely_script_tag'); node.parentNode.insertBefore(scriptElement, node); } )(document); </script> <!-- Ortto ebmwprod capture code --> <script> window.ap3c = window.ap3c || {}; var ap3c = window.ap3c; ap3c.cmd = ap3c.cmd || []; ap3c.cmd.push(function() { ap3c.init('ZO4siT4cLwnykPnzZWJtd3Byb2Q', 'https://engage.email.britannica.com/'); ap3c.track({v: 0}); }); ap3c.activity = function(act) { ap3c.act = (ap3c.act || []); ap3c.act.push(act); }; var s, t; s = document.createElement('script'); s.type = 'text/javascript'; s.src = "https://engage.email.britannica.com/app.js"; t = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; t.parentNode.insertBefore(s, t); </script> <script class="marketing-page-info" type="application/json"> {"pageType":"Topic","templateName":"DESKTOP","pageNumber":1,"pagesTotal":1,"pageId":273593,"pageLength":560,"initialLoad":true,"lastPageOfScroll":false} </script> <script class="marketing-content-info" type="application/json"> [] </script> <script src="https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-130/js/libs/jquery-3.5.0.min.js?v=3.130.14"></script> <script type="text/javascript" data-type="Init Mendel Code Splitting"> (function() { $.ajax({ dataType: 'script', cache: true, url: 'https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-130/dist/topic-page.js?v=3.130.14' }); })(); </script> <script class="analytics-metadata" type="application/json"> {"leg":"B","adLeg":"B","userType":"ANONYMOUS","pageType":"Topic","pageSubtype":null,"articleTemplateType":"BIO_MEDIUM","gisted":false,"pageNumber":1,"hasSummarizeButton":false,"hasAskButton":false} </script> <script type="text/javascript"> EBStat={accountId:-1,hostnameOverride:'webstats.eb.com',domain:'www.britannica.com', json:''}; </script> <script type="text/javascript"> ( function() { $.ajax( { dataType: 'script', cache: true, url: '//www.britannica.com/webstats/mendelstats.js?v=1' } ) .done( function() { try {writeStat(null,EBStat);} catch(err){} } ); })(); </script> <div id="bc-fixed-dialogue"></div> </body> </html>