History

Albania began as a colony established by the Greeks over 600 years before Christ. After periods under the control of the Romans, Byzantines, Normans, Venetians, Slavs, and kings of Naples, Albania came under the control of the Ottoman Empire for over 400 years. Independence was achieved in 1912, although the country was occupied by Austria-Hungary and Italy, countries which had been instrumental in its creation. Eventually, a tribal chief named Ahmed Zogu was named president of the republic in 1924, though he named himself King Zog I, four years later. A socialist republic was established in 1946, after World War II. During that war, a resistance leader emerged, named Enver Hoxha. He had seized power in 1944. After 1946, the country was virtually closed to the outside world and a totalitarian regime developed. Hoxha became closely involved with China, following his break with the Soviet Union over Communist doctrine. That link, too, was broken in 1977 and Albania all but ceased to participate in any world affairs. Hoxha died in 1985 and by the early 1990s, anarchy and chaos was the norm in the country. In 1994, a measure of order was restored, only to have problems return in 1997. NATO came to help establish an Albanian army in 1998 at a time when ethnic Albanians began rebelling in Kosovo (Yugoslavia) and were ultimately driven out of that province and into Albania. In late 1998, internal disarray continued with violence erupting between the Democratic Party and the Socialists, who had been in control since 1997.