Albanian Civil War (1943-1944)

Part of World War II in Albania

A photo of the Mukje Conference (1943).

Date

1 October 1943 – 29 November 1944

Location

Albania

Result

LANÇ Victory

Establishment of the Democratic Government of Albania.
Mid'hat Frashëri and Abaz Kupi flee Albania.

Belligerents

LANÇ
Supported by:

United Kingdom

Yugoslav Partisans

Balli Kombëtar

Legaliteti
Supported by:

Germany

Commanders and leaders

Gjin Marku

Hysen Stafa

Edmund Davies (POW)

Aziz Çami †

Halil Alia

Maximilian von Weichs

Strength

70,000 soldiers

More than 700,000 Axis troops were stationed

Casualties and losses

3,000 killed on both sides

The Albanian Civil War was an armed conflict that took place alongside World War II in Albania. The war was fought between LANÇ on one side, and Balli Kombëtar and Legality Movement on the other. The conflict was a classic confrontation between two Albanian political currents, the right-wing and the left-wing. The conflict began after the breakdown of the Mukje Agreement by the Communists, following the orders of the Yugoslav envoys stationed with them.

Prelude

Main article: Mukje Conference

From August 1-3, 1943, in the village of Mukje in Krujë, under the influence of Abaz Kupi, a joint meeting was held between the delegates of LANÇ and Balli Kombëtar. The purpose was to unite Albanian forces under a single front to fight against the occupiers. Initially, discussions began in the village of Tapizë, near Krujë, on July 26, before being moved to Mukje. The two groups reached an agreement in principle and signed the Mukje Agreement, which proposed the formation of the Committee for the Salvation of Albania, a united front against the occupiers, and the creation of a Greater Albania.

Text of the Mukje Agreement

"Today, on August 1, 1943 (01.08.1943), in the village of Mukje, the second meeting was held between the delegations of Balli Kombëtar and LANÇ."

The chairmanship of the meeting was unanimously entrusted to Mr. Thoma Orollogaj, with Mustafa Gjinishi as secretary. The discussions were opened by Mr. Hasan Dosti, a delegate of Balli Kombëtar, who declared that after consultations with the leadership of Balli Kombëtar, the minutes of the agreement made on July 25, 1943, signed "a referendum" by the delegation of Balli Kombëtar, it was deemed necessary to review certain points of the reached accord.

The following points were discussed and decided:

Point One of Article Two was amended to read as follows:

Immediate war against the occupying enemy and any other potential occupying enemy.

Point Two: War for an independent Albania and the implementation of the universally recognized principle guaranteed by the Atlantic Charter of the self-determination of peoples for an Ethnic Albania.
Point Three: Amended and accepted as follows: A free, independent, democratic, and popular Albania.
Point Four: Amended and accepted as follows: The Council for the Salvation of Albania (K.SH.SH.) will lead to the formation of a provisional government.
Point Five: Amended and accepted as follows: The form of the regime (the future of Albania) will be determined by the people themselves through a Constituent Assembly elected by universal direct suffrage.

Participating Delegations

Balli Kombëtar Delegates:

Hasan Dosti, Mid'hat Frashëri, Thoma Orollogaj, Skënder Muço, Hysni Lepenica, Isuf Luzaj, Kadri Cakrani, Major Raif Fratani, Nexhat Peshkëpia, Halil Mëniku, Ismail Petrela, and Vasil Andoni.

LANÇ Delegates:

Lieutenant Colonel Jahja Çaçi, Myslim Peza, Abaz Kupi, Ymer Dishnica, Mustafa Gjinishi, Omer Nishani, Sulo Bogdo, Shefqet Boja, Medar Shtylla, Haki Stërmilli, G. Nushi, and a certain Stefan.

Deterioration of the Mukje Agreement

The agreement came to be criticized as "a betrayal of the people and revolution" and "against the fundamental principles of the Conference of Pezë".

After failure of the agreement, Balli Kombëtar chose to openly collaborate with the Germans after the capitulation of Italy, while the Communist Party of Albania continued to fight alongside the Yugoslav Partisans. Legaliteti would continue fighting against the fascist armies, but the distance between them and the Communists would get larger and larger. The communists would consider them counterrevolutionary by the end of the war.

The communists' history in the following decades would criticize the agreement and its protagonists (including Dishnica and Gjinishi), and consider it a trap from the Balli side.

Civil War

Phase I: Southern Albania

Southern Albania served as the primary theater of the Civil War, as the two main factions, LANÇ and Balli Kombëtar, were heavily concentrated in the region. Both sides, but especially the communists, carried out massacres and assassinations, leaving hundreds dead across the south. On September 8, 1943, the Front executed six Ballist youth in the village of Ziçisht. Clashes had also occurred earlier, with a notable one in Libohovë in August.

October 1, 1943, is considered the official start of the civil war. On that date, in a letter to the Central Committee of the Communist Party in Gjirokastër, Enver Hoxha declared:

"The unity with Balli Kombëtar is now a dead issue and will no longer be discussed. Now the priority is their destruction."

On the same day, Hoxha issued a circular letter to Liri Gega ("Muzhiku") and all regional committees of the Communist Party, instructing them to initiate war against Balli Kombëtar, disregarding all circumstances and consequences:

"Political work against Balli is not enough in these cases; it must support decisive military actions. Meetings and conferences are insufficient; power must be seized immediately."

The communists struck first, catching the Ballists off guard, as their leader, Hysni Lepenica, had died in a clash with the Italians on September 16. Three days later, another Ballist commander, Safet Butka, committed suicide.

From mid-October onwards, violence escalated:

October 13: Communists massacred two Ballists in Melçem, Korçë.
October 13-18: Eight innocent civilians were killed in Pogradec during clashes.
October 16: Battles in Libofshë left 21 partisans and 10 Ballists dead.
October 21: Partisan forces captured and executed 68 Ballist soldiers in a village near Lushnjë.
Additional massacres occurred in Çermenikë (70 Ballists executed), Kuçovë, Kavajë, and elsewhere.

In November, the Ballists reorganized and launched a counterattack, aided by the German winter offensive against partisan forces. While some Ballist groups joined German efforts, others regrouped in Berat, Korçë, and Gjirokastër. However, the communists, with support from British missions, broke the German-Ballist encirclement and concentrated their forces in Berat and Elbasan. By December, Balli had lost control of southern Albania and retreated northward with the Germans.

The communists intensified their campaigns of terror, committing massacres across Vlorë, Mallakastër, and Voskopojë (where a mass grave of 185 bodies was found). Notable battles included:

Battle of Dukat (November 30): 14 partisans and 10 Ballists killed.
Battle of Gjorm: 52 homes burned after 26 hours of fighting.
Additional clashes in Mavrovë, Vlorë, Gjirokastër, and Berat.

Phase II: Northern Albania

As Balli retreated north, fighting shifted to central and northern Albania. In March 1944, the communists clashed with Ballist forces led by Nezir Muzhaqi in Polis, Elbasan, and with Xhem Gostivari in Dibër. By spring and summer, battles expanded to central Albania in areas such as Kavajë, Shijak, and Tirana.

In fall 1944, the communists launched attacks in Kosovo, targeting Ballist forces led by Ejup Binaku, as well as nationalist groups in Shkodër and Dukagjin organized by Kazazi brothers, Mark Sadiku, and Ndue Pali. On June 1, 1944, the First Assault Division advanced into central and northern Albania, engaging Ballist forces in Çermenikë, Librazhd, and Zaranikë.

In Tirana, the 5th Brigade fought against the Legality Movement's headquarters at Tujan Pass. Abaz Kupi withdrew to avoid further civil war, informing King Zog of the bloodshed. In Mat, partisans clashed with Legality forces, including a battle in Fushë-Aliaj on July 9, where 21 partisans were killed.

The northern nationalist leaders, caught unprepared and divided, were defeated more easily than Balli in the south. Notable incidents included:

August 21: Anti-communist forces killed five partisans in Vig, Shkodër.
August 29: Partisans burned the towers of Gjon Markagjoni.

In May 1944 Mit'hat Frashëri sent to the nationalist party of Napoleon Zervas in Greece a letter asking for the creation of a Greek-Albanian federation after the end of the War. The main points of the letter were:

The question of creating a federation that would depend on the opportunities created after the war. Both sides pledged that they were ready to work towards the realization of this project.

The connecting link will be the independence and full sovereignty of both sides (Greece-Albania).

The Greek-Albanian borders remain those of 1939 and an official declaration will be made.

They undertake the implementation of a defensive and offensive alliance as well as the development of military ties.

Conclusion of financial agreements between the two parties.

Efforts to ensure that this connection is made as soon as possible, as well as a Greek-Turkish-Albanian connection.

In the event of war, general military command will be handed over to Greece.

In August 1944, nationalist forces regrouped in Preza, Tirana, forming a government led by Mit'hat Frashëri as prime minister and Abaz Kupi as commander of the armed forces. Despite some regional alliances, such as those in Luma, Lura, Mat, and Dibër, the communists' numerical superiority prevailed.

From September 21-23, clashes in Kukës resulted in five civilian deaths. On September 25, partisans under Shefqet Peçi massacred 21 villagers in Buzëmadhe, Kukës. Muharrem Bajraktari narrowly escaped an ambush by communist forces during failed peace negotiations.

Communists also targeted forces led by Gani Kryeziu in the Gjakova Highlands. On November 28-29, 1944, Shkodër fell to partisans, and Albania was entirely under communist control.

Aftermath

After the war, anti-communist forces organized the Committee of the Mountains, which led anti-communist movements in the northern regions of Albania. In 1945-1946, two major anti-communist uprisings took place in Postribë and Koplik, but both failed. The communist regime created the Forcat e Ndjekjes (Pursuit Forces) to track and eliminate anti-communist leaders, particularly Muharrem Bajraktari and Gjon Markagjoni.

References

"Great Britain and resistance in Albania, 1943-1944" Bisser Petrov, 2006, Etudes balkaniques. https://www.academia.edu/1638366
Adams, John C. “YUGOSLAVIA AND ALBANIA: A POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC ASSESSMENT: A Lecture Delivered at the Naval War College on 16 November 1962.” Naval War College Review, vol. 15, no. 8, 1963, pp. 25-26. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/45237274?seq=7. Accessed 5 Jan. 2025.
Günther Dahms, Hellmuth (1965). Geschichte des Zweiten Weltkriegs (in German). University of California: R. Wunderlich. p. 199.
Gjergi, Gjon. "ENVER HOXHA, COMMISSIONER AND COMMANDER OF UNCH, EXCELLED AS A GREAT MILITARY STRATEGIST IN THE SECOND WORLD WAR" (PDF). Anëtar i Byrosë Politike të PKSH. 10: 1.
Institute of Marxist-Leninist Studies (1982). History of the Party of Labour of Albania (2 ed.). 8 Nëntori. pp. 126–128. OCLC 475822596.
Enver Hoxha (1984). Laying the Foundations of the New Albania: Memoirs and Historical Notes. "8 Nëntori" Publishing House. pp. 318–319, 331. OCLC 12948990.
"Γράμμα του Μιδάτ Φράσερι στο Ζέρβα: Συνομοσπονδία μετά τον πόλεμο, Στρατιωτική Διοίκηση στην Αθήνα". Αδήωτος | Adiotos (in Greek). 2021-04-24. Retrieved 2025-01-05.

Sources

Category:

Battles involving Balli Kombëtar

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