Analysis of Albania's diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union during the years 1948-1959

TL;DR

This paper analyzes Albania's diplomatic and economic relationship with the Soviet Union from 1948 to 1959, showing how it helped Albania build a socialist state.

Contribution

The study provides new insights into the economic and geopolitical benefits Albania gained from its relations with the USSR during the Cold War.

Findings

Albania received significant economic support from the USSR, aiding its transition to a socialist state.

The USSR's interest in Albania may have been driven by its strategic geographical location, including naval bases.

Albania's international standing improved due to its relationship with the USSR.

Abstract

Background: This paper aims to shed light on a very intense period of relations between Albania and the Soviet Union (USSR), focusing on the period from 1948 with the intensification of Albania’s relations with the USSR until the termination of diplomatic relations in 1959. The main objective of this paper is to know the truth of the relations of the USSR and its behavior with Albania.

Methods: The paper focuses on analyzing this period as a case study, selecting three levels (context-actors-outcomes). Evaluation of the period (1948-1959) is done through the identification of key indicators and the implications of the relationship in domestic and international contexts. The sources used include documents, interviews, films, newspapers, and books. We requested permission to use the Archival resources of the Albanian Central State Archives (AQSH), where they made some accessible non-state secret resources workable only within the archive available to us.

Results: The facts show that the relations between Albania and the USSR benefitted Albania more. particularly with a lot of economic support from the USSR, which helped Albania emerge from crisis and build the so-called ‘socialist state’. Through these relations and contributions, Albania took its place in the international arena. We find that this may be because of the geographical position of Albania, as the construction of the Pashaliman naval base and the bay of Vlora indicates.

Conclusions: This study tries to demystify this relationship that has had a lot of ambiguity cast over it. Documents of the AQSH do not provide an unbiased overview, as they were compiled with an ideologically charged spirit, making it difficult for researchers to reach conclusions without ideological input from both sides. We hope that we will have the opportunity to access restricted documents to provide a clearer picture of the relations between Albania and the USSR.