During most of the duration of Communism, Albania had not always been a nation in isolation, as is otherwise often assumed. Indeed, after World War II, Albania joined other nations within the Soviet Block in the trend of authoritative rule and self-reliant industry; methods of production were centralized and state ownership took precedence over all else. However, in the decades leading up to the 1970’s, foreign inflows of capital and selective international trade with other communist regimes, such as the former Soviet Union and the Republic of China, had greatly enhanced the nation’s factors of production and provided welcomed growth, leading to increased standards of living for its people. Being rich in natural resources -- oil and mineral
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Enver Hoxha gradually cut ties with all the other remaining communist states; ultimately, he perceived them to have turned their backs on the genuine teachings of communist doctrine. Due to increasing fears that these ‘revisionist’ states were following in the footsteps of the ‘western brute,’ as each began to transition their economies in response to the expanding market economy, Hoxha began to isolate the country in a xenophobic fervor from its only allies, one by one (Bogdani 24); first splitting from former Yugoslavia in 1948, then with the USSR in 1961 following the reforms of its economic policies post-Stalinism, and ultimately with China in 1978 as a result of its pursuits of a more liberalized mixed-economy (Nee 37). The split from the Republic of China was the breaking point, as Albania plunged itself into near-total isolation for approximately the next ten years. The free movement of people was prohibited as border patrol restricted travel and any cross-border trade (including, but not limited to, any forms of foreign media, literature, and art) (Bogdani 24). As such, any previous trade with former allies was brought to an abrupt halt. A newly revised Constitution of 1976 placed all means of production, including agricultural land, under state ownership, and banned all forms of private property and private transactions (MUCO 9). By the 1980’s, any personal property was diminished under the forced collectivization of livestock and land, and became owned by the state as part of their ‘cooperative farming initiatives’ (Hashi 103). This formation of a centralized government, and rejection of private ownership, fed into the distorted ideology of a self-sufficient autarky; paired with the cessation of trade and absence of foreign investment capital, these actions thwarted any hope for further development in production and industry. The lack of competition and
Enver Hoxha gradually cut ties with all the other remaining communist states; ultimately, he perceived them to have turned their backs on the genuine teachings of communist doctrine. Due to increasing fears that these ‘revisionist’ states were following in the footsteps of the ‘western brute,’ as each began to transition their economies in response to the expanding market economy, Hoxha began to isolate the country in a xenophobic fervor from its only allies, one by one (Bogdani 24); first splitting from former Yugoslavia in 1948, then with the USSR in 1961 following the reforms of its economic policies post-Stalinism, and ultimately with China in 1978 as a result of its pursuits of a more liberalized mixed-economy (Nee 37). The split from the Republic of China was the breaking point, as Albania plunged itself into near-total isolation for approximately the next ten years. The free movement of people was prohibited as border patrol restricted travel and any cross-border trade (including, but not limited to, any forms of foreign media, literature, and art) (Bogdani 24). As such, any previous trade with former allies was brought to an abrupt halt. A newly revised Constitution of 1976 placed all means of production, including agricultural land, under state ownership, and banned all forms of private property and private transactions (MUCO 9). By the 1980’s, any personal property was diminished under the forced collectivization of livestock and land, and became owned by the state as part of their ‘cooperative farming initiatives’ (Hashi 103). This formation of a centralized government, and rejection of private ownership, fed into the distorted ideology of a self-sufficient autarky; paired with the cessation of trade and absence of foreign investment capital, these actions thwarted any hope for further development in production and industry. The lack of competition and