During World War II
the country was occupied by the Germans. When they
retreated in 1944, a leader of the Communist-led resistance
movement, Enver Hoxha, became head of the Albanian
government. In 1946 a people's republic was declared;
private land was confiscated and industry nationalized. After
the war Yugoslavia controlled Albania. When Yugoslavia left
the Soviet bloc in 1948, Albania broke its ties with that
country and became an ally of the Soviet Union, joining the
Warsaw Pact in 1955. Albania broke with the Soviet Union
and became an ally of China in 1961; these ties to China
were severed in 1978 but were renewed in 1991. At his
death in 1985 Hoxha was the longest-serving head of a
Communist country. Under his successor, Ramiz Alia,
Albania slowly emerged from the isolation that had marked
the Hoxha era. Diplomatic relations were established with
many countries, and Albania began to take an active role in
Balkan affairs. In December 1990 the Democratic party......
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