Communist Albania Wanted To Be Self-Reliant

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[ChuckSwiger]

You got to love a country with a King named Zog. What I remember of Albania is listening to Radio Tirana in the 1980s on shortwave telling us how the people live in paradise while the capitalist world is in decline.

[hollingsworth_hound]

A friend of mine played youth-league soccer in West Germany in the 80s when he was a teen. He told me that they once played an exhibition match against a team from Albania, and one of the Albanians defected. He told my friend that before going to Germany, government agents told them that all the wealth and prosperity they were going to see in West Germany was an elaborate capitalist deception created just to fool them. Imagine, all of West Germany making such an effort to deceive an Albanian youth soccer team, lol.

[cva]

Ironically, this comes as Albania is having a moment, with record tourism, the main airport reaching twice its pre pandemic levels and its economy so strong that currency appreciation is actually an issue. Only took 35 years after the iron curtain collapsed...

[Patrick_]

That's not Khrushchev in the picture with Stalin at 17:18. That is Soviet Marshall Georgy Zhukov.

[ionidhunedoara]

It was found later that Enver Hoxha's elaborate system of mini-bunkers were and ideal environment for growing mushrooms. Produce is grown in abundance with the surplus being shipped to the finest restaurants in Milan.

[skampisti]

A lot of fun stories come from the football teams that were the very frew who were allowed outside the country (because its big here). During the late 80 a team from Tirana went to spain for a match with Barcelona, as per usual they wernt allowed to do anything free, the funding was so little, that they brought food with them from Albania, bread and chees and some tomatoes, the only things they were allowed to eat. One day after practice they managed actually visit around the place, as per usual they were stunded. Just imagine a dozen of skinny tall elegante and fit dudes walking around in their uniforms(unchanged). When they pasted a restorant, the owner notticed that they where the team that would play against Barca. Fortunately for you, he said, i am a Real Madrid fan and as their rival i invite you to my restaurant. As one of the players said. I hadn't feasted in so much food and in so much diversity my entire life, it was devastating to see how my friend and I were brought to this level of hunger...

[Bareego]

Great summary here. As a sidenote, would have loved to see a mention of the stupendous amount of bunkers that were built during the Hoxa years, about 750, 000 of them. Imagine what the money used to build them could have done to improve infrastructure.

[zx]

You forgot to mention that Albania was particulalry valuable to China because it was part of the UN. China used Albania to bring up the issue of Taiwan in the international scene and ended its recognision as the "True China"

[OlsiSaqe]

As an Albanian myself im very surprised you touching upon this topic. Im curious how come you got into history of my country? I would suggest you to read the book called: Free, from Lea Yupi. Gives an interesting glimpse of what comes after as well. Great video. Very impartial datas are given. Much appreciated.

[artcamp]

I laughed out loud at "As you might expect, the Chinese love affair did not last for very long"

[Adam-tnyk]

I met an Albanian once and asked him what it was like under Communism. He said 'we thought we were the most luckiest people on earth until it ended and we realised how duped we were by the propaganda". He was laughing as he said it.

[Tgungen]

6:50 I would like to add that Yugoslavia too is often referred to as one of the countries who liberated itself

Another note: Its Zukhov at 17:22 not Khrushchev. Sorry for being a nerd.

[TheReubenShow]

You are doing great work, sir. When I see one of your videos, I feel both smarter, and aware of new gaps in my knowledge.
As far as I am concerned, you are one of the heroes of YouTube.

I don't use these videos as my only source in conversation, but to people who are like "How do you know so much about the semiconductor industry?" I say to start with Asianometry.

The work you do is a positive force in my life. Thank you.
I'll check out the mech store. I don't usually rock any recognizable brands--even as a kid I wanted a plain lunchbox. . . . but you have earned my respect. I think more people should watch this fine work.
rb

[Fuddleton]

Albanian Alps is such a funny term, since both have the same Latin root word.
It's like saying "mountains from the land of mountains"

[cva]

Fun fact - one of the mountain ranges in Albania goes by the name "Accursed Mountains".

[brycemartin]

Your videos are so good. I relish watching them. Long may you continue. It's just such a good formula that you have developed. Very polished and unique.

[wertywerrtyson]

Self reliance was impossible for the third reich so it makes sense that a tiny country didn’t manage it. Even a huge country such as the USSR couldn’t truly achieve it. Yet I sometimes see individual people saying they are moving towards being self sufficient. It makes no sense to me. Trade and cooperation has always been essential. It makes everyone better off. It doesn’t matter if you are capitalist or socialist. You need trade and cooperation.

[Wozza]

One of my favourite countries in Europe. We did a road trip around most of the country this summer and really enjoyed it. Lots of beautiful places to see and friendly people. We never experienced any trouble with crime etc (though your mileage may vary) and you seem to get left alone a decent amount. Even in the tourist areas they are more laid back than places like Turkey and even some parts of Montenegro (which are probably their biggest competitors for tourism). That did however lead to what I can only call 'abuse' to some of their natural beauty. Tourists were taking liberties around some areas (especially Italians for some reasons) acting like they owned the place and in a manner that will eventually make these places worthless. Little consideration is given to protection of those places for future generations and it's truly open season for capitalism in those areas atm.

But there were still a lot of stunning places and we went about them respectfully in the hopes to preserve it for others to see and I loved the vibe in Tirana which seems to be a real up and coming city, new big buildings going up everywhere in the centre. I hope the Albanian people can benefit from all this extra tourism and trade and hope to see them make it into the EU, along with some of their neighbours we visited.

[janveit]

Very interesting video. Just a note: at 17:21, it is not Stalin and Khrushchev, it is Stalin and Zhukov.

[kakwa]

I know it's a really complex and extremely touchy topic. But could you make a video about Taiwan & Mainland China relations, specially given the recent election? Two points I would find interesting to explore: 1) Independence vs Status Quo vs Unification sentiments within the Taiwanese population 2) Ignoring the politics, what are the realities of these relations on the ground in terms of trade (ex: many Taiwanese companies manufacture in China, how does it works?) and social exchanges (ex: do 'mixed' families exist?).