Balli Kombëtar
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Balli Kombëtar
The Balli Kombëtar (literally ''National Front''), known as Balli, was an Albanian nationalist, collaborationist and anti-communist resistance movement during the Second World War. It was led by Ali Këlcyra and by Midhat Frashëri. The movement was formed by members from the landowning elite, liberal nationalists opposed to communism and other sectors of society in Albania.... The motto of the Balli Kombëtar was: "'" (Albania for the Albanians, Death to the Traitors). Eventually the Balli Kombëtar joined the Nazi established puppet government and fought as an ally against communist guerrilla groups. The Balli Kombëtar engaged in significant acts of terror culminating in atrocities committed against Serb and Greek civilians. History Although Këlcyra and Frashëri had initiated opposition actions against the Italian authorities almost from the beginning of the fascist occupation in 1939, they had practically not developed any military organization for open struggle agains ...
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World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis powers. World War II was a total war that directly involved more than 100 million personnel from more than 30 countries. The major participants in the war threw their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities behind the war effort, blurring the distinction between civilian and military resources. Aircraft played a major role in the conflict, enabling the strategic bombing of population centres and deploying the only two nuclear weapons ever used in war. World War II was by far the deadliest conflict in human history; it resulted in 70 to 85 million fatalities, mostly among civilians. Tens of millions died due to genocides (including the Holocaust), starvation, ma ...
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National Liberation Movement (Albania)
The National Liberation Movement ( sq, Lëvizja Nacional-Çlirimtare; or ''Lëvizja Antifashiste Nacional-Çlirimtare'' (LANÇ)), also translated as National Liberation Front, was an Albanian communist resistance organization that fought in World War II. It was created on 16 September 1942, in a conference held in Pezë, a village near Tirana, and was led by Enver Hoxha. Apart from the figures which had the majority in the General Council it also included known nationalists like Myslim Peza. In May 1944, the Albanian National Liberation Front was transformed into the government of Albania and its leaders became government members, and in August 1945, it was replaced by the Democratic Front. The Albanian National Liberation Army (''Ushtria Nacional-Çlirimtare'') was the army created by the National Liberation Movement. Background Italian invasion Albania did not put an organized resistance to the Italian invasion (April 7–12, 1939). However different Albanian groups of patri ...
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Kurtës Ambush
The Kurtez ambush occurred on August 12, 1943, near the village of Kurtez in the Kolonjë District of Korçë County in southeastern Albania. It was carried out by Balli Kombëtar during the Albanian Resistance of World War II. Two hundred local Balli Kombëtar militants, commanded by Qemal Burimi and David Smiley, ambushed a German convoy and a troop carrier, inflicting heavy losses on the German troops. Background After the Italian occupation of Albania in 1939, several resistance groups gradually formed. One of the most important of these groups was Balli Kombëtar, a nationalist organization led by Mit'hat Frashëri and Ali Këlcyra. In mid-1943 the Special Operations Executive (SOE), a British clandestine organisation, sent several agents to Albania to cooperate with Balli Kombëtar and the Albanian National Liberation Front. David Smiley, one of the SOE agents, contacted a unit of two hundred Balli Kombëtar soldiers under the command of Qemal Burimi. After ...
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Battle Of Drashovica
The Battle of Drashovica ( sq, Beteja e Drashovicës) was a battle of the Albanian Resistance of World War II against Nazi Germany. The battle took place in late 1943, in the areas of Drashovicë and Mavrovë in south-western Albania in the region of Shushicë. Prelude After the occupation of the Albanian Kingdom by the Kingdom of Italy in 1939, several resistance groups were formed. The most important of these groups were Balli Kombëtar (BK), a nationalist organization formed by Mit'hat Frashëri and Ali Këlcyra and the Albanian National Liberation Front (ANLF), which later became a Communist group led by Mehmet Shehu and Enver Hoxha. After the victorious battle of Gjorm and the establishment of German troops in Albania, many former Italian encampments became German bases, while many Italian soldiers were imprisoned for defection. In the Shushicë valley in the barracks of Drashovicë and Mavrovë the German army had imprisoned about 7,000 Italian soldiers guarded by abou ...
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Battle Of Gjorm
The Battle of Gjorm ( sq, Beteja e Gjormit) was a battle of the Albanian Resistance of World War II against the Kingdom of Italy. The battle took place on January 1–2, 1943, in the areas of Gjorm, Vranisht, Dukat, Tragjas and Tërbaç in south-western Albania. Prelude After the occupation of the Kingdom of Albania by the Kingdom of Italy in 1939, several resistance groups were formed. The most important of these groups were Balli Kombëtar, a nationalist organization formed by Mit'hat Frashëri and Ali Këlcyra and the Albanian National Liberation Front, which later became a communist group led by Mehmet Shehu and Enver Hoxha. Dukat and Gjorm became two of the centers of Balli Kombëtar, whose forces in the region were led by Hysni Lepenica, a military commander, and Skënder Muço, a prominent lawyer from Tragjas. Mehmet Shehu, a commander of the Albanian National Liberation Front, created a partisan unit in the wider region of Mallakastër. Beginning in mid-1942, th ...
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World War II In Albania
In Albania, World War II began with its invasion by Italy in April 1939. Fascist Italy set up Albania as its protectorate or puppet state. The resistance was largely carried out by Communist groups against the Italian (until 1943) and then German occupation in Albania. At first independent, the Communist groups united in the beginning of 1942, which ultimately led to the successful liberation of the country in 1944. The Center for Relief to Civilian Populations (Geneva) reported that Albania was one of the most devastated countries in Europe. 60,000 houses were destroyed and about 10% of the population was left homeless. Background As Germany annexed Austria and moved against Czechoslovakia, Italy saw itself becoming a second-rate member of the Axis. After Hitler invaded Czechoslovakia without notifying Mussolini in advance, the Italian dictator decided in early 1939 to proceed with his own annexation of Albania. Italy's King Victor Emmanuel III criticised the plan to take A ...
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World War II In Yugoslav Macedonia
World War II in Yugoslav Macedonia started with the Axis invasion of Yugoslavia in April 1941. Under the pressure of the Yugoslav Partisan movement, part of the Macedonian communists began in October 1941 a political and military campaign to resist the occupation of Vardar Macedonia. Officially, the area was called then Vardar Banovina, because the very name ''Macedonia'' was prohibited in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. It was occupied mostly by Bulgarian, but also by German, Italian, and Albanian forces. Initially there was no organised resistance because the majority of the Macedonian Slavs were pro-Bulgarian oriented. It started to grow only in 1943 with the capitulation of Italy and the Soviet victories over Nazi Germany. The role of the Bulgarian communists, who avoided organizing mass armed resistance, was also a key factor. Their influence over the Macedonian Party organization remained dominant until 1943, when it became obvious that Germany and Bulgaria would b ...
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Kosovo Operation (1944)
The Kosovo Operation (15 October–22 November 1944) was a series of military operations leading up to one final push during World War II, launched by the Bulgarian army (commanded by Major General Kiril Stanchev) with the assistance of Albanian and Yugoslav Partisans to expel German forces from Kosovo and prevent the retreat of German forces from Greece. German Army Group E was withdrawing through it from Greece towards Bosnia, since the escape route through Niš and Belgrade had been closed by the Yugoslav Partisan, Bulgarian and Soviet forces (during the Belgrade Offensive). The operation resulted in the capture of Kosovo by the Communists, although the Germans were able to successfully withdraw most of their forces and break out of the encirclement the combined communist forces had set up. By the end of the month Bulgarian 9th Infantry Division pursued the retreating enemy and reached the defensive line Raška– Novi Pazar. Background Developments in Kosovo ...
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Battle Of Novi Pazar
The Battle of Novi Pazar was a battle fought between November and December 1941 during World War II, between the Chetniks and Albanian forces under Axis command in the city of Novi Pazar, Sandžak, in the German occupied Kingdom of Yugoslavia. Despite launching three assaults, the Chetniks failed to capture Novi Pazar. During World War II, the territory of Sandžak was the subject of territorial disputes between Germany, Italy, as well as the local Muslim and Albanian populations. Due to the multiple insurgent, ethnic and religious groups in the region, persecution and genocide of Serbs, Jews and Romani people characterised the conflict in Yugoslavia. Background Axis invasion of Yugoslavia The Axis invasion of Yugoslavia began on 6 April 1941, and within several days it was conquered by Axis forces. On 17 April German troops, the 60th Infantry Division and the 8th Panzer Division, captured the city of Novi Pazar. Yugoslavia was then partitioned between the Axis po ...
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World War II In Yugoslavia
World War II in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia began on 6 April 1941, when the country was swiftly conquered by Axis forces and partitioned between Germany, Italy, Hungary, Bulgaria and their client regimes. Shortly after Germany attacked the USSR on 22 June 1941, the communist-led republican Yugoslav Partisans, on orders from Moscow, launched a guerrilla liberation war fighting against the Axis forces and their locally established Puppet state, puppet regimes, including the Axis-allied Independent State of Croatia (NDH) and the Government of National Salvation in the Territory of the Military Commander in Serbia, German-occupied territory of Serbia. This was dubbed the National Liberation War and Socialist Revolution in post-war Yugoslav communist historiography. Simultaneously, a multi-side civil war was waged between the Yugoslav communist Partisans, the Serbian royalist Chetniks, the Axis-allied Croatian Ustaše and Croatian Home Guard (World War II), Home Guard, Serbian Volun ...
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