Enver Hoxha
![Official portrait of Hoxha, {{circa}} 1985](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fe/Enver_Hoxha_%28portret%29.jpg)
Hoxha was born in Gjirokastër in 1908 and became a grammar school teacher in 1936. Following the Italian invasion of Albania, he joined the Party of Labour of Albania at its creation in 1941 in the Soviet Union. He was elected First Secretary in March 1943 at the age of 34. Less than two years after the liberation of the country, the monarchy of King Zog I was formally abolished, and Hoxha became the country's ''de facto'' head of state.
Adopting Stalinism, Hoxha converted Albania into a one-party communist state. As a Stalinist, he implemented state atheism and ordered anti-religious persecution against Muslims and Christians. His government rebuilt the country, which was left in ruins after World War II, building Albania's first railway line, raising the adult literacy rate from 5–15% to more than 90%, wiping out epidemics, electrifying the country and leading Albania towards agricultural independence. The later years of his reign saw stagnation owing to his political breaks with the Soviet Union and China. To implement his radical program, Hoxha used totalitarian methods of governance. His government outlawed traveling abroad and private proprietorship. His government imprisoned, executed, or exiled thousands of landowners, rural clan leaders, peasants who resisted collectivization, and allegedly disloyal party officials. Hoxha was succeeded by Ramiz Alia, who oversaw the fall of communism in Albania.
Hoxha's government was characterised by his proclaimed firm adherence to anti-revisionist Marxism–Leninism from the mid/late-1960s onwards. After his break with Maoism in the 1976–1978 period, numerous Maoist parties around the world declared themselves Hoxhaist. The International Conference of Marxist–Leninist Parties and Organisations (Unity & Struggle) is the best-known association of these parties. Provided by Wikipedia
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Published: 1979
Superior document: Reflections on China extracts from the political diary 2
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Published: 1987
Superior document: Selected works 6
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Published: 1985