Koçi Xoxe (pronounced ; 1 May 1911 – 11 June 1949) was an Albanian politician who served as Deputy

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

and

Minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

of the

People's Socialist Republic of Albania The People's Socialist Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika Popullore Socialiste e Shqipërisë, links=no) was the Marxist–Leninist one party state that existed in Albania from 1946 to 1992 (the official name of the country was the People's R ...

. He was supported by Yugoslav leader

Josip Broz Tito Josip Broz ( sh-Cyrl, Јосип Броз, ; 7 May 1892 – 4 May 1980), commonly known as Tito (; sh-Cyrl, Тито, links=no, ), was a Yugoslav communist revolutionary and statesman, serving in various positions from 1943 until his deat ...

during efforts to bring Albania into the Yugoslav federation. After Albania's leader,

Enver Hoxha Enver Halil Hoxha ( , ; 16 October 190811 April 1985) was an Albanian communist politician who was the authoritarian ruler of Albania from 1944 until his death in 1985. He was First Secretary of the Party of Labour of Albania from 1941 unt ...

, established the country's independence with the support of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

, Xoxe was arrested, tortured and executed.

Life

Xoxe was born in 1911 in Negovan, near

Florina Florina ( el, Φλώρινα, ''Flórina''; known also by some alternative names) is a town and municipality in the mountainous northwestern Macedonia, Greece. Its motto is, 'Where Greece begins'. The town of Florina is the capital of the F ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

, back then part of the Manastir Vilayet of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

. Negovan (today ''Flampouro''/) had a majority of Orthodox Albanians, many of whom sided with the

Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople ( el, Οἰκουμενικὸν Πατριαρχεῖον Κωνσταντινουπόλεως, translit=Oikoumenikón Patriarkhíon Konstantinoupóleos, ; la, Patriarchatus Oecumenicus Constanti ...

, and a minority of

Aromanians The Aromanians ( rup, Armãnji, Rrãmãnji) are an Ethnic groups in Europe, ethnic group native to the southern Balkans who speak Aromanian language, Aromanian, an Eastern Romance language. They traditionally live in central and southern Alba ...

(Vlachs). According to some sources, Xoxe was an ethnic Macedonian or ethnic Bulgarian from

Aegean Macedonia Aegean Macedonia ( mk, Егејска Македонија, translit=Egejska Makedonija'';'' bg, Егейска Македония, translit=Egeyska Makedonia) is a term describing the modern Greek region of Macedonia in Northern Greece. It is ...

and was initially a tinsmith. Around 1937 he emerged among others, such as

and Koço Tashko, as prominent leaders of communist Albania. In the post-

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 opposin ...

era, Yugoslav leader

sought to exert his country’s influence over Albania through military support to Hoxha in an attempt to absorb Albania. Xoxe, who headed the

Ministry of the Interior An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministry ...

and the secret police, the

Sigurimi The Directorate of State Security (), commonly called the ''Sigurimi'', was the state security, intelligence and secret police service of the People's Socialist Republic of Albania. Its proclaimed goal was maintaining state security of Albania, ...

, was supported by Tito.

Josef Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretar ...

reportedly told

Milovan Đilas Milovan Djilas (; , ; 12 June 1911 – 30 April 1995) was a Yugoslav communist politician, theorist and author. He was a key figure in the Partisan movement during World War II, as well as in the post-war government. A self-identified democrat ...

, a leading figure in Yugoslavia, that Yugoslavia should “swallow up” Albania. Hoxha began to fear Xoxe as a rival to his own power. After Xoxe ordered the arrest of moderates with anti-Yugoslav sentiments, including

Sejfulla Malëshova Sejfulla Malëshova (2 March 1900 – 9 June 1971) was an Albanian politician, writer and translator. He was an early member of the Communist leadership in post-World War II Albania and served as the Ministry of Culture and Propaganda. Biography ...

, Tito attacked Hoxha in a letter to the Albanian Politburo. Hoxha responded by traveling to

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

with

Nako Spiru Athanas Spiru, known as Nako Spiru, (4 January 1918 – 20 November 1947) was an Albanian politician and high-ranking official of the Communist Party of Albania (PKSh). He served as Minister of Economy and Industry from 1946 until his untimely de ...

and returned with a formal trade agreement with the

without consulting Tito. Tito began to develop a more assertive policy towards the Soviets, which angered Stalin. Over time, Stalin began to side with Albania as a supportive bulwark against Tito. The Soviet Union began to increase Moscow’s presence in the country, spending specialists in mining and oil refining. Xoxe accused Spiru of subversion and, eventually, Spiru was found dead of a gunshot wound in his apartment under suspicious circumstances. Tito planned to send two army divisions into Albania under the pretense of protecting it from a Greek invasion, a move that angered Moscow. He then pushed Xoxe to convene a meeting of the Central Committee where he expelled Hoxha’s supporters and pushed a motion to combine Albania’s economy and military with Yugoslavia’s. Hoxha fought back with Soviet support and cancelled his agreements with Yugoslavia and expelled the country’s advisors. Xoxe attempted to save himself by declaring his support for the Soviet Union and arresting supporters of Tito in the government. The Central Committee, however, flipped on Xoxe, stripping him of his posts and expelling him from the party. In November 1948, he and many others were arrested. The Soviets wanted to paint Tito as the mastermind of anti-Marxist and anti-Albanian activities with the trials of Xoxe and the others. Xoxe was tortured in prison repeatedly until he confessed to conspiring with Tito against the Albanian government. In May 1949, he was placed on trial where he confessed to having been recruited by

Ahmet Zogu Zog I ( sq, Naltmadhnija e tij Zogu I, Mbreti i Shqiptarëve, ; 8 October 18959 April 1961), born Ahmed Muhtar bey Zogolli, taking the name Ahmet Zogu in 1922, was the leader of Albania from 1922 to 1939. At age 27, he first served as Albania's y ...

, as well as British intelligence and that Tito was an agent of the west. Xoxe was sentenced to death and was hanged on June 11, 1949. Berend, Iván T. ''Central and Eastern Europe, 1944-1993: Detour from the Periphery to the Periphery'', Cambridge University Press, 1996, page 65 - 66

References

External links

* Miranda Vickers, James Pettifer
''Albania: from anarchy to a Balkan identity''
C. Hurst & Co. Publishers, 1997. * Owen Pearson
''Albania in the twentieth century: a history''
I. B. Tauris, 2004, volume 3. * Karen Dawisha, Bruce Parrott
''Politics, power, and the struggle for democracy in South-East Europe''
Cambridge University Press, 1997. {{DEFAULTSORT:Xoxe, Koci 1911 births 1949 deaths Albanian communists Executed politicians Albanian people executed by the communist regime People executed by Albania by hanging Slavic speakers of Greek Macedonia Government ministers of Albania Deputy Prime Ministers of Albania Interior ministers of Albania Directors of the Sigurimi People from Manastir vilayet Albanian people of Bulgarian descent Albanian people of Macedonian descent Prosecutors general of Albania People from Perasma