v56_0521 - ALBANIA - REPUBLIC 1 frang argent 1927 Rome

ALBANIA - REPUBLIC

Under pressure from the United States in particular, the Treaty of Tirana, signed after the First World War in 1919, recognized the independence of Albania.. To protect itself from certain European states which planned to divide the country between its neighbors, Albania then sought Italian help and protection.. But, the influence of Italy continues to grow. A Muslim clan leader, Ahmed Bey Zogulli, became Prime Minister and was elected President of the Republic before being proclaimed king in 1928 under the name of Zog I.. He was overthrown in 1939 during the invasion of the country by Mussolini's Italy.. During the Second World War, a resistance movement, composed of nationalists and communists, is organized and gains importance after the purge of non-Stalinist militants. The Stalinist communist leader Enver Hoxha becomes President of a people's republic proclaimed in 1946 and installs himself, in fact, as dictator of the country. The policy he follows is initially Stalinist-inspired. He broke with Tito in 1948 when the latter distanced himself from the USSR, and in the same year had one of his ministers, Koçi Xoxe, executed, whom he considered too close to the Yugoslav dictator.. But the country moved away from Soviet influence in 1961, then aligned itself with China.