Beqir Balluku
Encyclopedia
Beqir Balluku was an Albanian
politician, military leader, and Minister of Defense of Albania
. Balluku assisted Enver Hoxha
in carrying out the 1956 purge in the Communist Party of Albania. However, in 1974, Balluku himself, along with a group of other government members, was accused by Hoxha of an attempted coup d'état
against the Albanian Communist Government. He was executed that same year.
, Albania. He studied at a technical high school in Tirana. While he was doing his military service, he joined the ranks of the Albanian resistance against the Axis in the Antifascist war (1942–1944).
On May 20, 1943, he was appointed commander of the Communist partisan battalion "Krujë Ishëm", and on September 18, 1943, he was named commissary of the third brigade. Later he was appointed commander of the second brigade.
On January 28, 1948 Balluku was named Chief of the Head Command of the Albanian Army. In 1948, in the first Congress of the Party of Labour of Albania (later the Communist Party of Albania), he was elected as a member of the Politburo
, where he remained until his arrest, and in 1952 he was named Minister of Defense. One year later he gained the military rank of Lieutenant General
. From 1948–1974 he was a member of the Albanian parliament.
In 1953 he graduated from the General Staff Academy (Russia)
(former Marshal Voroshilov Military Academy of the USSR Army General Staff). Earlier, in December 1952 the Yugoslav State radio of Belgrade and the newspaper Politika
had announced that he had been killed and his family interned, but it turned out that it was just a speculation: he had been busy with his studies in Moscow.
In 1956 Balluku was presiding over the municipality of Tirana Conference of the Communist Party when the opponents of the Enver Hoxha - Mehmet Shehu
regime nearly overthrew the government. Balluku informed Nexhmije Hoxha
(Hoxha's wife), that Enver Hoxha should return from the holidays and keep the situation under control.
Shehu and Balluku's intervention helped cause the 1956 purge of the Albanian Communist Party. After Hoxha returned to Tirana, he first tried to be conciliatory towards his critics and then he retaliated by ordering the arrest of all of those who had spoken up. The troika
Hoxha-Shehu-Balluku was so described by Nikita Khrushchev
, then First Secretary
of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
:
In 1960, following the Albanian Sino-Soviet stand, Balluku, as a representative of the Albanian Party of Labour, took a strong pro-Chinese and anti-Soviet stand in his speech at the Congress of the North Vietnam
Communist Party
.
ideas and was sent to a military trial, where he was accused of a military coup d'état
and high treason against his own country. Balluku was sentenced to death along with Petrit Dume, Hito Çako and Rrahman Perrllaku.
Political analysts and scholars (who?) seem to agree that Hoxha was aware of the military establishment's desire to decrease the Party's influence in the areas of the military and the economy. Their attempt to downgrade Hoxha's concept of the people's war was rewarded when Hoxha deposed the entire top level of the military establishment, including then the Minister of Defense, Balluku. Hoxha seems to have feared a putsch. Balluku was then ranked as the fourth member of the ruling Communist Party (after Hoxha, Shehu and Hysni Kapo
)
In the October 6, 1974 elections for the People's Assembly, Balluku was the only leading Albanian politician not reelected (in his home district of Shkodër
). The removal of Balluku from the Albanian Politburo
had already been disclosed in a report from Belgrade on September 11, 1974.
Twelve days later, John A. Volpe
, then US Ambassador to Rome
, Italy
, reported through a telegram sent to Washington that it was possible that Balluku and other high Defense functionaries had been removed from their posts. The first indication was a discrepancy between Hoxha's and Balluku's opinions on the defense system of Albania; the second was a request from Beijing
to Hoxha that he remove Balluku, who was making too many requests on weapons imports from People's Republic of China
. The third possibility was the coup d'état intent of Balluku, possibly endorsed by the other pro-Soviet Union
Defense high functionaries.
Balluku was executed by a firing squad on November 5, 1974.
Balluku's remains were retrieved only 26 years later, on 18 July 2000, on request of his family members. He had been put in a secret common grave in Vranisht, Vlorë County
, together with the other two former Albanian generals (Dume and Çako) who had also been accused by Hoxha in 1974.
In 1979, following the ideological split of the Party of Labour of Albania from the Communist Party of China
, Enver Hoxha wrote in his memories that the "enemy groups" of Abdyl Këllezi
(Minister of the Economy) and Beqir Balluku (Minister of Defense), had drafted their inimical plan based on suggestions from Zhou Enlai
, then Premier of the People's Republic of China
.
|journal=Shekulli |volume= |issue=November 3, 2007 |pages= |id= |url=http://www.shekulli.com.al/news/51/ARTICLE/17371/2007-11-03.html |accessdate=2010-06-03 |quote= }}) |journal=Shekulli |volume= |issue=October 8, 2007 |pages= |id= |url=http://www.shekulli.com.al/news/51/ARTICLE/16512/2007-10-08.html |quote= }}) |journal=Shekulli |volume= |issue=January 28, 2010|pages= |id= |url=http://www.shekulli.com.al/2010/01/28/enver-hoxha-si-ma-dridhte-llafin-beqir-balluku-1.html|quote= }}) |journal=Shekulli |volume= |issue=January 29, 2010|pages= |id= |url=http://www.shekulli.com.al/2010/01/29/hoxha-ja-si-do-ta-sherojme-ne-beqirin.html|quote= }}) |journal=Shekulli |volume= |issue=February 1, 2010|pages= |id= |url=http://www.shekulli.com.al/2010/02/01/akuza-plani-i-dumes-per-te-asgjesuar-komitetin-qendror-dhe-udheheqjen.html|quote= }}) |journal=Shekulli |volume= |issue=February 2, 2010|pages= |id= |url=http://www.shekulli.com.al/2010/02/02/hoxha-ja-denimet-per-gjeneralet-tradhtare.html|quote= }}
Albanians
Albanians are a nation and ethnic group native to Albania and neighbouring countries. They speak the Albanian language. More than half of all Albanians live in Albania and Kosovo...
politician, military leader, and Minister of Defense of Albania
Albania
Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...
. Balluku assisted Enver Hoxha
Enver Hoxha
Enver Halil Hoxha was a Marxist–Leninist revolutionary andthe leader of Albania from the end of World War II until his death in 1985, as the First Secretary of the Party of Labour of Albania...
in carrying out the 1956 purge in the Communist Party of Albania. However, in 1974, Balluku himself, along with a group of other government members, was accused by Hoxha of an attempted coup d'état
Coup d'état
A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...
against the Albanian Communist Government. He was executed that same year.
Biography
Balluku was born on February 14, 1917 in TiranaTirana
Tirana is the capital and the largest city of Albania. Modern Tirana was founded as an Ottoman town in 1614 by Sulejman Bargjini, a local ruler from Mullet, although the area has been continuously inhabited since antiquity. Tirana became Albania's capital city in 1920 and has a population of over...
, Albania. He studied at a technical high school in Tirana. While he was doing his military service, he joined the ranks of the Albanian resistance against the Axis in the Antifascist war (1942–1944).
On May 20, 1943, he was appointed commander of the Communist partisan battalion "Krujë Ishëm", and on September 18, 1943, he was named commissary of the third brigade. Later he was appointed commander of the second brigade.
On January 28, 1948 Balluku was named Chief of the Head Command of the Albanian Army. In 1948, in the first Congress of the Party of Labour of Albania (later the Communist Party of Albania), he was elected as a member of the Politburo
Politburo of the Party of Labour of Albania
The Politburo was the leading organ of the Party of Labour of Albania. The following is the composition of the Politburo that would be formed after every Congress of the Party. The politburo for the 1941-1948 period is not included....
, where he remained until his arrest, and in 1952 he was named Minister of Defense. One year later he gained the military rank of Lieutenant General
Lieutenant General
Lieutenant General is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages where the title of Lieutenant General was held by the second in command on the battlefield, who was normally subordinate to a Captain General....
. From 1948–1974 he was a member of the Albanian parliament.
In 1953 he graduated from the General Staff Academy (Russia)
General Staff Academy (Russia)
The General Staff Academy of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation was founded in 1936 in Moscow by Leonid Govorov. It was the senior Soviet and now Russian professional school for officers....
(former Marshal Voroshilov Military Academy of the USSR Army General Staff). Earlier, in December 1952 the Yugoslav State radio of Belgrade and the newspaper Politika
Politika
Politika is a Serbian newspaper. It is considered the newspaper of record and is the oldest daily in the Balkans, having been founded on January 25, 1904 by Vladislav Ribnikar. It is currently being published by Politika Newspapers and Magazines , a joint venture between Politika AD and...
had announced that he had been killed and his family interned, but it turned out that it was just a speculation: he had been busy with his studies in Moscow.
In 1956 Balluku was presiding over the municipality of Tirana Conference of the Communist Party when the opponents of the Enver Hoxha - Mehmet Shehu
Mehmet Shehu
Mehmet Ismail Shehu was an Albanian communist politician who served as premier of Albania from 1954 to 1981...
regime nearly overthrew the government. Balluku informed Nexhmije Hoxha
Nexhmije Hoxha
Nexhmije Hoxha is the widow of Albanian Socialist leader Enver Hoxha.-Personal history:Hoxha was born in Debar, Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes; present-day Debar, Republic of Macedonia. She studied at a high school in Tirana. After the war, she continued her studies at the State University...
(Hoxha's wife), that Enver Hoxha should return from the holidays and keep the situation under control.
Shehu and Balluku's intervention helped cause the 1956 purge of the Albanian Communist Party. After Hoxha returned to Tirana, he first tried to be conciliatory towards his critics and then he retaliated by ordering the arrest of all of those who had spoken up. The troika
Troika (triumvirate)
Troika is a committee consisting of three members. The origin of "troika" comes from the term in Russian used to describe three-horse harnessed carriage, or more often, horse-drawn sledge.- Communist states :...
Hoxha-Shehu-Balluku was so described by Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev led the Soviet Union during part of the Cold War. He served as First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, and as Chairman of the Council of Ministers, or Premier, from 1958 to 1964...
, then First Secretary
General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the title given to the leader of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. With some exceptions, the office was synonymous with leader of the Soviet Union...
of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
Communist Party of the Soviet Union
The Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the only legal, ruling political party in the Soviet Union and one of the largest communist organizations in the world...
:
The Albanians are worse than beasts – they are monsters. Only later did we learn how the Albanian Communist leaders punished and eliminated members of their own Party. They had a sort of troika: Hoxha, Shehu and Balluku. These three used to bring someone to trial, and Enver Hoxha and Mehmet Shehu would sentence the accused to death themselves, without ever putting anything in writing; then they would look for an opportunity to have their victim murdered secretly, and Balluku would personally carry out the execution. It was all very similar to the system used by Joseph StalinJoseph StalinJoseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
and Lavrentiy BeriaLavrentiy BeriaLavrentiy Pavlovich Beria was a Georgian Soviet politician and state security administrator, chief of the Soviet security and secret police apparatus under Joseph Stalin during World War II, and Deputy Premier in the postwar years ....
.
In 1960, following the Albanian Sino-Soviet stand, Balluku, as a representative of the Albanian Party of Labour, took a strong pro-Chinese and anti-Soviet stand in his speech at the Congress of the North Vietnam
North Vietnam
The Democratic Republic of Vietnam , was a communist state that ruled the northern half of Vietnam from 1954 until 1976 following the Geneva Conference and laid claim to all of Vietnam from 1945 to 1954 during the First Indochina War, during which they controlled pockets of territory throughout...
Communist Party
Communist Party of Vietnam
The Communist Party of Vietnam , formally established in 1930, is the governing party of the nation of Vietnam. It is today the only legal political party in that country. Describing itself as Marxist-Leninist, the CPV is the directing component of a broader group of organizations known as the...
.
Coup d'état accusation, arrest, and execution
In July 1974, after 22 uninterrupted years of continuous service as the Minister of Defense of the Socialist People's Republic of Albania, Balluku himself was accused by Enver Hoxha as the instigator of revisionistRevisionism (Marxism)
Within the Marxist movement, the word revisionism is used to refer to various ideas, principles and theories that are based on a significant revision of fundamental Marxist premises. The term is most often used by those Marxists who believe that such revisions are unwarranted and represent a...
ideas and was sent to a military trial, where he was accused of a military coup d'état
Coup d'état
A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...
and high treason against his own country. Balluku was sentenced to death along with Petrit Dume, Hito Çako and Rrahman Perrllaku.
Political analysts and scholars (who?) seem to agree that Hoxha was aware of the military establishment's desire to decrease the Party's influence in the areas of the military and the economy. Their attempt to downgrade Hoxha's concept of the people's war was rewarded when Hoxha deposed the entire top level of the military establishment, including then the Minister of Defense, Balluku. Hoxha seems to have feared a putsch. Balluku was then ranked as the fourth member of the ruling Communist Party (after Hoxha, Shehu and Hysni Kapo
Hysni Kapo
Hysni Kapo was an Albanian military commander and leading member of Party of Labour of Albania. A member of the Communist Youth group Kapo was first distinguished as an artillery commander in the battle of Drashovica...
)
In the October 6, 1974 elections for the People's Assembly, Balluku was the only leading Albanian politician not reelected (in his home district of Shkodër
Shkodër
Shkodër , is a city located on Lake of Shkoder in northwestern Albania in the District of Shkodër, of which it is the capital. It is one of the oldest and most historic towns in Albania, as well as an important cultural and economic centre. Shkodër's estimated population is 90,000; if the...
). The removal of Balluku from the Albanian Politburo
Politburo of the Party of Labour of Albania
The Politburo was the leading organ of the Party of Labour of Albania. The following is the composition of the Politburo that would be formed after every Congress of the Party. The politburo for the 1941-1948 period is not included....
had already been disclosed in a report from Belgrade on September 11, 1974.
Twelve days later, John A. Volpe
John A. Volpe
John Anthony Volpe was the 61st and 63rd Governor of Massachusetts and a U.S. Secretary of Transportation.-Early life and education:Volpe was born in 1908 in Wakefield, Massachusetts. He was the son of Italian immigrants Vito and Filomena , who had come from Abruzzo to Boston's North End in 1905;...
, then US Ambassador to Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, reported through a telegram sent to Washington that it was possible that Balluku and other high Defense functionaries had been removed from their posts. The first indication was a discrepancy between Hoxha's and Balluku's opinions on the defense system of Albania; the second was a request from Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
to Hoxha that he remove Balluku, who was making too many requests on weapons imports from People's Republic of China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
. The third possibility was the coup d'état intent of Balluku, possibly endorsed by the other pro-Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
Defense high functionaries.
Balluku was executed by a firing squad on November 5, 1974.
Balluku's remains were retrieved only 26 years later, on 18 July 2000, on request of his family members. He had been put in a secret common grave in Vranisht, Vlorë County
Vlorë County
The County of Vlorë is one of the 12 counties of Albania. It consists of the districts Delvinë, Sarandë and Vlorë and its capital is Vlorë. As of January 1, 2010 the population of the Vlore District was estimated to be 211,773....
, together with the other two former Albanian generals (Dume and Çako) who had also been accused by Hoxha in 1974.
In 1979, following the ideological split of the Party of Labour of Albania from the Communist Party of China
Communist Party of China
The Communist Party of China , also known as the Chinese Communist Party , is the founding and ruling political party of the People's Republic of China...
, Enver Hoxha wrote in his memories that the "enemy groups" of Abdyl Këllezi
Abdyl Këllezi
Abdyl Këllezi was an Albanian politician. He served as Chairman of the Assembly of the Republic of Albania from 10 September, 1966 - 13 January, 1969.-Reference:...
(Minister of the Economy) and Beqir Balluku (Minister of Defense), had drafted their inimical plan based on suggestions from Zhou Enlai
Zhou Enlai
Zhou Enlai was the first Premier of the People's Republic of China, serving from October 1949 until his death in January 1976...
, then Premier of the People's Republic of China
Premier of the People's Republic of China
The Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China , sometimes also referred to as the "Prime Minister" informally, is the Leader of the State Council of the People's Republic of China , who is the head of government and holds the highest-ranking of the Civil service of the...
.
Sources
)|journal=Shekulli |volume= |issue=November 3, 2007 |pages= |id= |url=http://www.shekulli.com.al/news/51/ARTICLE/17371/2007-11-03.html |accessdate=2010-06-03 |quote= }}) |journal=Shekulli |volume= |issue=October 8, 2007 |pages= |id= |url=http://www.shekulli.com.al/news/51/ARTICLE/16512/2007-10-08.html |quote= }}) |journal=Shekulli |volume= |issue=January 28, 2010|pages= |id= |url=http://www.shekulli.com.al/2010/01/28/enver-hoxha-si-ma-dridhte-llafin-beqir-balluku-1.html|quote= }}) |journal=Shekulli |volume= |issue=January 29, 2010|pages= |id= |url=http://www.shekulli.com.al/2010/01/29/hoxha-ja-si-do-ta-sherojme-ne-beqirin.html|quote= }}) |journal=Shekulli |volume= |issue=February 1, 2010|pages= |id= |url=http://www.shekulli.com.al/2010/02/01/akuza-plani-i-dumes-per-te-asgjesuar-komitetin-qendror-dhe-udheheqjen.html|quote= }}) |journal=Shekulli |volume= |issue=February 2, 2010|pages= |id= |url=http://www.shekulli.com.al/2010/02/02/hoxha-ja-denimet-per-gjeneralet-tradhtare.html|quote= }}