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Title: 1997: The Albanian insurrection Author: Anarchist Federation Date: September 19, 2006 Language: en Topics: 1990s, Albania, insurrection, history Source: Retrieved on 18th February 2021 from https://libcom.org/history/1997-the-albanian-insurrection
The uprising that took Albania to the brink of revolution in 1997 was
not supposed to happen – the Albanians, we were told, had shaken off
their Stalinist masters and were now enjoying their new found capitalist
freedom.
The true picture was a little different however – millions of jobs lost,
social security and pensions cut and the countries infrastructure was
nearing collapse, all as a result of plans to open the country up to
western investment.
The real spark for the uprising was the IMF pressure which forced the
state to abolish guarantees on bank deposits, and liberalise the banking
and financial sector allowing pyramid schemes offering monthly interest
rates of up to 100% to become legally possible – many people deposited
their life savings with these crooked schemes – the end result being
that $2 Billion (80% of GDP) was stolen by the bosses who, to make
matters worse, then tried to invest this stolen money in businesses —
they tried to get the people to work for their own stolen money!
This state of affairs was met by fierce resistance by the heavily armed
population. Armouries were attacked and the weapons distributed;
prisoners were released; party buildings torched; police stations and
courts burnt to the ground; “shik” (secret police) agents killed on
sight; banks looted; presidential palaces occupied. The revolt spread
from the south of the country and soon covered the whole of the country
except parts of the capital, Tirana, which the “Shik” still controlled.
“Two Albanias” were in existence.
The state’s institutions had literally disintegrated over the period of
a few days fighting (with around 100 dead), the police were not to be
seen anywhere. But this was only a first step – a situation of dual
power soon developed, with towns organising their own organs of
self-defence (often with deserters from the Army being particularly
active) and local self-management with various forms of autonomous
councils springing up nationally and taking care of the supply and
circulation of essential provisions – decisions being taken at mass
public assemblies.
This situation threatened the EU who feared the insurrection could
spread to Greece and Macedonia. A multi-national taskforce was sent to
restore order – this was fully supported by the leftist parties who
rallied around a ‘government of national unity’ led by Berisha (who had
only recently survived a dynamite attack) and slowly the state crept
back into existence. It is important to remember though, that a state
was made to disappear in a matter of days.