The
Albanian Fascist Party (Albanian
Partia Fashiste e Shqipërisë — PFSh) was a
fascist movement which held nominal power in
Albania from 1939, when the country was conquered by
Italy, until 1943, when Italy
capitulated to the
Allies. Afterward, Albania fell under
German occupation, and the PFSh was replaced by the
Albanian National Socialist Party.
The PFSh was a branch of the Italian
National Fascist Party (PNF) with
Benito Mussolini at its head and organized along the same lines and principles, and with its own paramilitary
Black Shirts, the
Albanian Militia. It was never a mass movement, with membership reported at 13,500 in May 1940; however, during the PFSh's time in power, it did realize the vision of
Greater Albania, expanding the borders of Albania into modern-day
Epirus and
Kosovo. It also engaged in some
anti-semitism, with Albanian
Jews forbidden from joining the party , and therefore excluded from some professions such as
education; future
communist leader
Enver Hoxha also lost his job as a teacher for refusing to join the PFSh.
In early 1943,
Maliq Bej Bushati, an anti-
monarchist nationalist, reorganized the PFSh as the
Guard of Great Albania and worked to distance Albania from Italy, striking fascist symbols from the
flag (two
fasces, one on each side of the Albanian eagle) and asserting Albanian autonomy in many spheres. However, the Italian surrender led to the country's occupation by Nazi Germany and changed the political situation in the...
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