The Yugoslavization of Albania, 1945–1948
摘要
In the Soviet-Yugoslav split, Albania’s case stands out as the most unique. An undeclared project to incorporate Albania into the Yugoslav federation influenced all postwar agreements. Yugoslav unification plans accelerated, especially after Tito’s visit to Moscow in May 1946. That same year, a unifying document was approved covering the economy, joint enterprises, planning, customs, currency parity, and pricing, along with efforts to unify the military. Due to implementation obstacles, the Yugoslavs blamed the Albanian Minister of Economy, who subsequently committed suicide. After this moment, the Albanian leadership fully submitted. Parallel to rising tensions with Moscow, Belgrade increased pressure on Tirana to finalize the union project. In response, Tirana requested the removal of Soviet advisors, deeming them unnecessary. Belgrade also asked the Albanian authorities to request union with Yugoslavia, and when the wording of the request was deemed unsatisfactory, the final attempt was to draft a document in which institutions would function like a federation, without being named as such. The request was not fulfilled, and this moment marked the end of the project.