Albania: history, economy, and contemporary issues

History Of Albania

Albania is a nation that sadly bears the scars of one of the most difficult histories of all of the Balkans. As a modern state, Albania is relatively young, although the Albanian ethnicity which predominates within its borders has a far older genealogy than the modern Albanian nation. The existence of Albania as a modern nation-state began when Albania declared its independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1912, after a long period of resistance to the Turkish campaign of so-called 'Ottoman-ization.' Although Ottoman forces quashed early rebellions and attempts to join the upsurge of nationalism in Europe during the early 20th century, by outlawing Albanian national organizations, and closing down Albanian language schools and publications, their effort was not successful ("The Balkan Wars and creation of an independent Albania," 2005, Library of Congress). The Ottoman Empire, the 'sick man of Europe' as it was often called, was unable to suppress the widespread revolt and desire for independence amongst the Albanian people. Eventually, "unable to control the Albanians by force, the Ottoman government granted concessions on schools, military recruitment, and taxation and sanctioned the use of the Latin script for the Albanian language" as opposed to Arabic phonetic translation ("The Balkan Wars and creation of an independent Albania," 2005, Library of Congress).

Yet after the end of World War I, the nation of Albania struggled. Despite its will to be independent, it lacked many of the qualities needed to be a fully functional, modern player in the world community. "About 90% of the country's peasants practiced subsistence agriculture, using ancient methods and tools, such as wooden plows. Much of the country's richest farmland lay under water in malaria-infested coastal marshlands. Albania lacked a banking system, a railroad, a modern port, an efficient military, a university, or a modern press. The Albanians had Europe's highest birthrate and infant mortality rate, and life expectancy for men was about thirty-eight years ("Social and economic conditions after World War I," 2005, Library of Congress). It was easily conquered by Italy in 1939. After the end of World War II, independent communist partisans occupied the country, first allying with the U.S.S.R. (until 1960), and then with China until 1978. The nation grew closely allied with Tito's Yugoslavia, another technically communist, but largely left-wing independent nation that managed to elude the direct control of Moscow or Beijing ("Albania," 2008, CIA Factbook).

In the early 1990s, like many of its formerly communist neighbors, Albania began the difficult transition to capitalism. However, its poverty, many years of inadequate investment in its infrastructure, and the influence of organized crime hampered its economic development as did its proximity to the warring regions of the Balkans ("Albania," 2008, CIA Factbook). Albania itself, though largely Muslim, has a Christian Orthodox population, and while it was not as embroiled in ethnic controversy after the dissolution of the Soviet Empire as was its neighbor of Yugoslavia, unity with bordering nations has proved difficult because of Albania's widespread poverty and Balkan regional instability.

One bright spot that emerged over the post World War II period came in terms of the improvement of its educational system. Today, Albania has a fairly high rate of literacy. Over 98.7% of the citizenry over the age of nine can read and write today. In 2004, the average duration of education of an Albanian citizen was eleven years ("Albania," 2008, CIA Factbook). This is particularly impressive, given that after World War I only 36% of all Albanian children of school age were receiving education of any kind. The rapid increase of literacy is largely attributed to the admittedly impressive attempts of the communists to improve the nation's schools education of its citizens. Although the required primary and secondary education had a strongly ideological slant, it did provide Albanian citizens with important basic skills.

Today, although Albania's economy has improved from its 20th century beginnings, and it exists as a multiparty democracy, it is still hampered by the legacy of its poverty, including its lack of infrastructure. Unlike other Eastern European countries, communism did not leave an impressive technological system of roads, bridges and factories, yet the nation suffered all of the negative effects of communism in terms of its planned economy and lack of reward for independent commerce and initiatives. Albania's population has, like other Eastern European nations, suffered exploitation because of its poverty. Many young women and girls are taken advantage of in the international 'sex trade,' and it has been used as a refuge for people involved in organized crime and the drug trade. The desperation of its populace has meant that Albania continues to lag more successful former communist nations like Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia in modernization and quality of life, although recently the Albanian government has taken measures to curb violent crime, and instituted fiscal reform packages to reduce corruption, curtail the 'gray' or quasi-illegal activities supporting the economy, and to attract foreign investments. Still, much of Albania's most talented individuals often move abroad, although they often send money home. It is estimated that the Albanian "economy is bolstered by annual remittances from abroad of $600-$800 million, mostly from Albanians residing in Greece and Italy," which also helps offset the towering trade deficit ("Albania," 2008, CIA Fact Book).

The one bright spot has been Albania's relatively smooth transition to democracy, as it is has not been afflicted by the xenophobic uprisings that characterized the dissolution of neighboring Yugoslavia. Economic corruption has been the primary problem for Albania, however, but with the curtailment of economic pyramid schemes: "When five of these schemes collapsed in the beginning of the year, robbing Albanians of an estimated $1.2 billion in savings, Albanians' rage turned against the government, which appeared to have sanctioned the nationwide swindle. Rioting broke out; the country's fragile infrastructure collapsed, and gangsters and rebels overran the country, plunging it into virtual anarchy' ("Albania, 2008, Infoplease). However, after these uprisings, Albania was able to reassert the rule of law: "international observers judged elections to be largely free and fair since the restoration of political stability in 1997. In the 2005 general elections, the Democratic Party and its allies won a decisive victory on pledges of reducing crime and corruption, promoting economic growth, and decreasing the size of government. The election, and particularly the orderly transition of power, was considered an important step forward" ("Albania, 2008, CIA Fact Book).