The book ‘Albania Challenges Khrushchev Revisionism’ was published by Kamgar Prakashan, Delhi, India in February 2024 and is available to interested readers at the price of ₹400 only. Originally it was published in USA in 1976 by Gamma Publishing Co. It is a compilation of documents from the archives like speeches, letters & conversations of Enver Hoxha (Anwar Houja). These documents were released in the year 1975 on the occasion of 34th anniversary of foundation of Party of Labor of Albania and are part of Volume 19 of Hoxha’s Collected works. Each text is placed in chronological order and gives an idea of the events as they took place. In addition, footnotes are placed for further clarification of the reader. Meanwhile, the last two speeches seem to summarize the events as they took place in their entirety.

The organization of the book is atypical. It is different from a typical history textbook which summarizes the events as they took place like, for example, ‘History of CPSU(B)’. It’s narrative style is very good as it also gives primary sources simultaneously for historiographical purposes. At the same time the narrative is chronological as well as topic oriented and hence the reader may find it convenient to read comfortably unlike from the archives and collected works. The organization method however has its weaknesses. Since the work only compiles content from Comrade Hoxha, the reader is sometimes left wondering what exactly happened in the grand scheme of things or any response or contribution by any other person to fulfill the narrative. To solve this problem, the book uses footnotes and the last two speeches which clarify everything. However, to an average reader, it may be confusing. The target audience needs to have some idea of Albanian history and the events as they are described in the book. Nonetheless, it is still very impressive from an academic perspective. The interested reader may rely on these primary source documents for understanding the internal politics of Albania and the international communist movement.

The book is an important historical source for those interested in history of Albania, of the global communist movement and the background of the Sino-Soviet split. It is an important source for the understanding the character and development of revisionism and social imperialism. The compiled documents counter many widely held notions and falsehoods propagated by the imperialists and their sympathizers. It blows apart the notion of ‘communist totalitarianism’ by giving various primary source accounts of the democratic internal functioning of communist bodies both in Albania as well as in other countries. The work also challenges the narrative of how the west stood for freedom and democracy while communists were aggressively expanding. If anything, the Marxist Leninists were concerned about self defense as well as supporting the working classes and oppressed peoples of other countries. Moreover, the majority ‘communist’ movement demonstrated a very opportunistic and cowardly attitude of capitulation and conciliation with the cannibalistic chauvinism of western imperialism and their aggressive expansionism. It debunks the belief that Khrushchev and Tito were humane reformers who fought for peace and democracy against ‘dogmatic’ Stalinists. The underhanded tactics of these revisionists is exposed by these sources. The sources reveal that in the year 1960, world communist movement was already captured by revisionists in majority of the communist parties and organizations. At the same time, it explains the heroic struggle against imperialism, chauvinism and revisionism waged by Albania and China as well as some other genuine Marxist Leninist parties. Their struggle has immortalized them in the history of communism as genuine fighters of the working class and its allies and the most staunch followers of the path laid by Lenin and Stalin.

Amongst these people, Enver Hoxha stands tall. The achievements of Comrade Enver in leading his country are well known. Albania during his leadership completed the tasks of national liberation, establishment of people’s democracy, land reforms and socialist construction. It was only after his death that the imperialists were able to bring into power revisionists and counter revolutionaries by rigging the elections, supporting counter revolutionary groups and economically pressuring the world’s last Marxist Leninist Socialist country into submission. The book gives a glimpse into his political life. Any review of this work cannot be complete without praising the outstanding leadership and grasp on Marxism-Leninism by him, as clearly demonstrated in this work. Hoxha’s speeches and conversations suggest that he was a confident and charismatic as a servant of the Albanian people. He was stern and determined when exposing revisionists, completely unfazed by their threats and deceptions. At the same time he was sensitive and caring towards his comrades. His speeches, not unlike Stalin’s, didn’t have any flowery phrases as is usual in the speeches of idealist leaders who romanticize their words in lieu of any actual practical achievements for the people. He simply summarizes the facts as they were objectively and in a straightforward manner.

Such leadership skills are not present in many. His stubborn resolve to ensure that Albania remained Marxist Leninist, even as a small backward country surrounded by imperialism and revisionism from all sides, needs to be praised. He had enough wisdom to understand the threat that revisionists posed in Yugoslavia and later on other Eastern Bloc countries. He understood also, the threat posed by imperialists who were overestimated or underestimated by the revisionist clique in Soviet Union. Perhaps, he had the advantage of knowing first hand the attitude of revisionists and the fascists who had been threatening them since the days of Stalin, allowing the Albanian comrades to recognize their unscrupulous activities. Hoxha and his comrades Hysni Kapo and Mehmed Shehu were unmoved by the underhanded tactics of these various reactionary forces targeting them. Given the circumstances, he couldn’t have known that the USSR and its allies had been so thoroughly compromised by revisionist traitors, long before the events discussed in the book. Yet he was mature and sagacious enough to recognize the revisionists in the USSR bloc and assertively struggle against them.

The book covers events in the year 1960, which was a crucial year in the straining relations between the USSR and the People’s Republic of Albania. As one already knows, the Khrushchev clique had adopted a conciliatory attitude towards imperialism. For that purpose, they condemned erstwhile Soviet Premier I.V. Stalin and talked of reforming Marxism. This brought them in conflict with leadership of the Chinese Communist Party. The Chinese were of the opinion that Khrushchev’s policies would be harmful to the socialist world and benefit the imperialists. The seasoned revolutionaries of China were aware that the contradiction between imperialism and socialism could only be resolved after the ultimate victory of Socialism over the savagery of imperialism. This led Khrushchev and group to slander them, for they couldn’t use sound logic to counter them in an international communist meeting. The Moscow revisionists summoned a meeting in Bucharest for international condemnation of the Chinese who were accused of Dogmatism and Trotskyism. However, appropriate Marxist Leninist norms of internal democracy like  giving the CCP any opportunity to defend themselves were not followed.

The leadership of PLA, sided with the Chinese and successfully thwarted their schemes. Meanwhile, Albania and China contested the revisionist theories of ‘Peaceful Coexistence’ internationally. This led to straining ties between the Albanians and Soviets. The latter used underhanded tactics like interference in internal matters of Albania by influencing two Albanian leaders, Liri Belishova and Koco Tashko as well as external political and economic pressure. The Soviet ambassadors and military commanders tried to spy on the Albanians and questioned the loyalties of Albanian army. They even threatened them with removing their military base and economic ties, something they in fact did carry out later on. The Soviets tried to trap Albania in a way that they would have been forced to appear as  dogmatic ‘recidivists’ in front of the international communist movement. However, the Albanian leadership was steeled and adept at seeing through these various schemes and exposed the revisionists internationally on 16th November 1960, in the International Conference of Communist and Workers’ Parties in Moscow.

In his speech Hoxha reminded the delegates present there of the threat posed by imperialists and revisionists. He told them about the espionage activities, regime change attempts and military threats by revisionist Yugoslavia, monarchist Greece and neo-Fascist Italy. He mentioned the role of Titoites in the infamous Budapest uprising and the attempts by these reactionaries to carry out similar activities in Hungary. He reminded them of crucial tenets of Marxism Leninism like ‘Peaceful Coexistence’ which were opportunistically misrepresented by the revisionists. He publically defended Stalin in front of all the communist parties and pointed out the negative consequences of Khrushchev’s fraudulent speech in 20th Congress of CPSU. Since the archives of USSR were yet to be declassified and the words of Molotov, Kaganovich, Zhukov and other sympathizers were no longer credible; he could never debunk the speech in its entirety like many later works. However like the Chinese at the time, he argued that the positive impact of Stalin’s time had been ignored by Khrushchev and that it served the cause of imperialists and their lackeys who for a long time had called USSR a totalitarian dictatorship.

He exposed the maneuvers by revisionists and their blatant defiance of democratic centralism in Bucharest meeting as well as their great power chauvinism in general. However, it must be mentioned, Hoxha never spoke a word against the peoples of USSR or even the CPSU with whom he expressed the eagerness of Albanians to maintain their friendship albeit as equals. In fact, they pointed out that they wanted strongest unity within the Socialist camp while the Khrushchev clique were splitting the international communist movement. However, the revisionists passionately threw poisonous slanders against them. Very few parties expressed their support for Albania and China. The Marxist Leninists failed to maintain the unity of the Socialist bloc and were ultimately defeated, however, their victory in 1960 needs to be praised. That a small country in the Balkans managed to counter the full force Imperialism and Revisionism is indeed most impressive.

Click here to return to the October 2024 index.