# Glossary -- Albania

- bajrak
- A political union of Geg clans under a single head, the bajraktar  ( q.v. ). Term literally means"standard" or "banner".
- *bajraktar*
- The hereditary leader of a  bajrak  ( q.v. ).Term literally means "standard bearer".
- Bektashi
- An order of dervishes of the Shia branch of the Muslim  faithfounded, according to tradition, by Hajji Bektash Wali ofKhorasan, in present-day Iran, in the thirteenth century andgiven definitive form by Balim, a sultan of the Ottoman Empire inthe sixteenth century. Bektashis continue to exist in theBalkans, primarily in Albania, where their chief monastery is atTiran�.
- bey
- ruler of a province under the Ottoman Empire.
- caliph
- Title of honor adopted by the Ottoman sultans in thesixteenth century, after Sultan Selim I conquered Syria andPalestine, made Egypt a satellite of the Ottoman Empire, and wasrecognized as guardian of the holy cities of Mecca and Medina.Term literally means "successor"; in this context, the successorof the Prophet Muhammad.
- Comecon  (Council for Mutual EconomicAssistance)
- A multilateraleconomic alliance headquartered in Moscow. Albania waseffectively expelled from Comecon in 1962 after the rift inrelations between Moscow and Tiran�. Members in 1989 wereBulgaria, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, the German Democratic Republic(East Germany), Hungary, Mongolia, Poland, Romania, the SovietUnion, and Vietnam. Comecon was created in 1949, ostensibly topromote economic development of member states through cooperationand specialization, but actually to enforce Soviet economicdomination of Eastern Europe and to provide a counterweight tothe Marshall Plan. Also referred to as CEMA or CMEA.
- Cominform  (Communist InformationBureau)
- An international  organization of communist parties, foundedand controlled by the Soviet Union in 1947 and dissolved in 1956.The Cominform published propaganda touting internationalcommunist solidarity but was primarily a tool of Soviet foreignpolicy. The Communist Party of Yugoslavia was expelled in June1948.
- Conference  on Security andCooperation in Europe (CSCE)
- Furthers  European security through diplomacy, based onrespect for human rights, and a wide variety of policies andcommitments of its more than fifty Atlantic, European, and Asianmember countries. Founded in August 1975, in Helsinki, whenthirty-five nations signed the Final Act, a politically bindingdeclaratory understanding of the democratic principles governingrelations among nations, which is better known as the HelsinkiAccords ( q.v. ).
- Constantinople
- Originally a Greek city, Byzantium, it was made the capitalof the Byzantine Empire by Constantine the Great and was soonrenamed Constantinople in his honor. The city was captured by theTurks in 1453 and became the capital of the Ottoman Empire. TheTurks called the city Istanbul, but most of the non-Muslim worldknew it as Constantinople until about 1930.
- cult  of personality
- A term coined by Nikita Khrushchev at the  Twentieth Congressof the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1956 to describethe rule of Joseph Stalin, during which the Soviet people werecompelled to deify the dictator. Other communist leaders,particularly Albania's Enver Hoxha, followed Stalin's example andestablished a cult of personality around themselves.
- democratic  centralism
- A Leninist doctrine requiring discussion  of issues until adecision is reached by the party. After a decision is made,discussion concerns only planning and execution. This method ofdecision making directed lower bodies unconditionally toimplement the decisions of higher bodies.
- European  Community (EC)
- The EC comprises three communities: the  European Coal andSteel Community (ECSC), the European Economic Community (EEC,also known as the Common Market), and the European Atomic EnergyCommunity (Euratom). Each community is a legally distinct body,but since 1967 they have shared common governing institutions.The EC forms more than a framework for free trade and economiccooperation: the signatories to the treaties governing thecommunities have agreed in principle to integrate their economiesand ultimately to form a political union. Belgium, France, Italy,Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and the Federal Republic of Germany(then West Germany) are charter members of the EC. Britain,Denmark, and Ireland joined on January 1, 1973; Greece became amember on january 1, 1981; and Portugal and Spain entered onJanuary 1, 1986. In late 1991, Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Polandapplied for membership.
- European  Currency Unit (ECU)
- Instituted in 1979, the ECU is the  unit of account of the EC( q.v. ). The value of the ECU is determined by the valueof a basket that includes the currencies of all EC member states.In establishing the value of the basket, each member's currencyreceives a share that reflects the relative strength andimportance of the member's economy. In 1987 one ECU wasequivalent to about one United States dollar.
- European  Economic Community (EEC)
- See EC.
- GDP  (gross domestic product)
- A measure of the total value of  goods and services producedby the domestic economy during a given period, usually one year.Obtained by adding the value contributed by each sector of theeconomy in the form of profits, compensation to employees, anddepreciation (consumption of capital). Only domestic productionis included, not income arising from investments and possessionsowned abroad, hence the use of the word  domestic  todistinguish GDP from gross national product (GNP-- q.v. ).Real GDP is the value of GDP when inflation has been taken intoaccount.
- glasnost '
- Public discussion of issues; accessibility of  information sothat the public can become familiar with it and discuss it. Thepolicy in the Soviet Union in the mid- to late 1980's of usingthe media to make information available on some controversialissues, in order to provoke public discussion, challengegovernment and party bureaucrats, and mobilize greater supportfor the policy of  perestroika (q.v. ).
- GNP  (gross national product)
- GDP ( q.v. ) plus the net income or loss stemming fromtransactions with foreign countries. GNP is the broadestmeasurement of the output of goods and services by an economy. Itcan be calculated at market prices, which include indirect taxesand subsidies. Because indirect taxes and subsidies are onlytransfer payments, GNP is often calculated at a factor cost,removing indirect taxes and subsidies.
- Helsinki  Accords
- Signed in August by all the countries of Europe  (exceptAlbania) plus Canada and the United States at the conclusion ofthe first meeting of the Conference on Security and Cooperationin Europe, the Helsinki Accords endorsed general principles ofinternational behavior and measures to enhance security andaddressed selected economic, environmental, and humanitarianissues. In essence, the Helsinki Accords confirmed existing,post-World War II national boundaries and obligated signatoriesto respect basic principles of human rights. Helsinki Watchgroups were formed in 1976 to monitor compliance. The termHelsinki Accords is the short form for the Final Act of theConference on Security and Cooperation in Europe and is alsoknown as the Final Act.
- International  Monetary Fund(IMF)
- Established along with the  World Bank ( q.v. ) in1945, the IMF has regulatory surveillance, and financialfunctions that apply to its more than 150 member countries and isresponsible for stabilizing international exchange rates andpayments. Its main function is to provide loans to its members(including industrialized and developing countries) when theyexperience balance of payments difficulties. These loansfrequently have conditions that require substantial internaleconomic adjustments by recipients, most of which are developingcountries. Albania joined the IMF in October 1991.
- janissaries
- Soldiers, usually of non-Turkish origin, who  belonged to anelite infantry corps of the Ottoman army. Formed a self-regulating guild, administered by a council of elected unitcommanders. From the Turkish  yeni�eri;  literally, newtroops.
- Kosovo
- A province of the Serbian Republic of Yugoslavia that  sharesa border with Albania and has a population that is about 90percent Albanian. Serbian nationalists fiercely resist Albaniancontrol of Kosovo, citing Kosovo's history as the center of amedieval Serbian Kingdom that ended in a defeat by the OttomanTurks at the Battle of Kosovo Polje in 1389. Residents of Kosovoare known as Kosovars.
- lek  (L)
- Albanian national currency unit consisting of 100 qintars. Inearly 1991, the official exchange rate was L6.75 to US$1; inSeptember 1991, it was L25 = US$1; and in January 1992, theexchange rate was L50 = US$1.
- machine  tractor stations
- State organizations that owned the  major equipment needed byfarmers and obtained the agricultural products from collectivizedfarms. First developed in the Soviet Union and adopted by Albaniaduring the regime of Enver Hoxha.
- Marxism -Leninism/Marxist-Leninist
- The ideology of communism, developed by Karl Marx and refinedand adapted to social and economic conditions in Russia by Lenin,which guided the communist parties of many countries includingAlbania and the Soviet Union. Marx talked of the establishment ofthe dictatorship of the proletariat after the overthrow of thebourgeoisie as a transitional socialist phase before theachievement of communism. Lenin added the idea of a communistparty as the vanguard or leading force in promoting theproletarian revolution and building communism. Stalin andsubsequent East European leaders, including Enver Hoxha,contributed their own interpretations of the ideology.
- most -favored-nation status
- Under the provisions of the General  Agreement on Tariffs andTrade (GATT), when one country accords another most-favored-nation status it agrees to extend to that country the same tradeconcessions, e.g., lower tariffs or reduced nontariff barriers,which it grants to any other recipients having most-favored-nation status. As of January 1992, Albania had not been a memberof GATT and had not received most-favored-nation status from theUnited States.
- net  material product
- The official measure of the value of goods  and servicesproduced in Albania, and in other countries having a plannedeconomy, during a given period, usually a year. It approximatesthe term gross national product (GNP-- q.v. ) used byeconomists in the United States and in other countries having amarket economy. The measure, developed in the Soviet Union, wasbased on constant prices, which do not fully account forinflation, and excluded depreciation.
- Ottoman  Empire
- Formed in thirteenth and fourteenth centuries when Osman I, aMuslim prince, and his successors, known in the West as Ottomans,took over the Byzantine territories of western Anatolia andsoutheastern Europe and conquered the eastern Anatolian Turkmenprincipalities. The Ottoman Empire disintegrated at the end ofWorld War I; the center was reorganized as the Republic ofTurkey, and the outlying provinces became separate states.
- pasha
- Title of honor held by members of the Muslim  ruling class inthe Ottoman Empire.
- *perestroika* (restructuring)
- Mikhail S. Gorbachev's campaign in the Soviet Union in themid- to late 1980s to revitalize the economy, party, and societyby adjusting economic, political, and social mechanisms.Announced at the Twenty-Seventh Party Congress in August 1986.
- Shia  (from Shiat Ali, the Party ofAli)
- A member of the smaller  of the two great divisions of Islam.The Shia supported the claims of Ali and his line to presumptiveright to the caliphate and leadership of the Muslim community,and on this issue they divided from the Sunni ( q.v. ) inthe first great schism within Islam. In 1944, when the communistsassumed power in Albania, about 25 percent of the country'sMuslims belonged to an offshoot of the Shia branch known asBektashi ( q.v. ).
- Stalinism /Stalinist
- The authoritarian practices, including mass  terror, andbureaucratic applications of the principles ofMarxism-Leninism ( q.v. ) in the Soviet Union under JosephStalin and in East European communist countries.
- Sublime  Porte (or Porte)
- The palace entrance that provided  access to the chiefminister of the Ottoman Empire, who represented the governmentand the sultan ( q.v. ). Term came to mean the Ottomangovernment.
- sultan
- The supreme ruler of the Ottoman Empire. Officially  calledthe  padishah  (Persian for high king or emperor), thesultan was at the apex of the empire's political, military,judicial, social, and religious hierarchy.
- Sunni  (from Sunna, meaning "custom,"having connotations of orthodoxy in theory and practice)
- A member of the larger of the two great  divisions withinIslam. The Sunnis supported the traditional (consensual) methodof election to the caliphate and accepted the Umayyad line. Onthis issue, they divided from the Shia ( q.v. ) in thefirst great schism within Islam. In 1944, when the communistsassumed power in Albania, about 75 percent of the country'sMuslims were Sunnis.
- Titoist
- A follower of the political, economic, and social  policiesassociated with Josip Broz Tito, Yugoslav prime minister from1943 and later president until his death in 1980, whosenationalistic policies and practices were independent of andoften in opposition to those of the Soviet Union.
- Treaty  of San Stefano
- A treaty signed by Russia and the Ottoman  Empire on March 3,1878, concluding the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78. Ifimplemented, would have greatly reduced Ottoman holdings inEurope and created a large, independent Bulgarian state underRussian protection. Assigned Albanian-populated lands to Serbia,Montenegro, and Bulgaria. Substantially revised at Congress ofBerlin ( q.v. ), after strong opposition from GreatBritain and Austria-Hungary.
- Uniate  Church
- Any Eastern Christian church that recognizes the  supremacyof the pope but preserves the Eastern Rite. Members of theAlbanian Uniate Church are concentrated in Sicily and southernItaly, and are descendants of Orthodox Albanians who fled theOttoman invasions, particularly after the death of Skanderbeg in1468.
- Warsaw  Treaty Organization
- Formal name for Warsaw Pact. Political-military alliancefounded by the Soviet Union in 1955 as a counterweight to theNorth Atlantic Treaty Organization. Albania, an original member,stopped participating in Warsaw Pact activities in 1962 andwithdrew in 1968. Members in 1991 included Bulgaria,Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and theSoviet Union. Before it was formally dissolved in April 1991, theWarsaw Pact served as the Soviet Union's primary mechanism forkeeping political and military control over Eastern Europe.
- World  Bank
- Name used to designate a group of four affiliatedinternational institutions that provide advice on long-termfinance and policy issues to developing countries:  theInternational Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), theInternational Development Association (IDA), the InternationalFinance Corporation (IFC), and the Multilateral InvestmentGuarantee Agency (MIGA). The IBRD, established in 1945, has theprimary purpose of providing loans to developing countries forproductive projects. The IDA, a legally separate loan fundadministered by the staff of the IBRD, was set up in 1960 tofurnish credits to the poorest developing countries on mucheasier terms than those of conventional IBRD loans. The IFC,founded in 1956, supplements the activities of the IBRD throughloans and assistance designed specifically to encourage thegrowth of productive private enterprises in less developedcountries. The president and certain senior officers of the IBRDhold the same positions in the IFC. The MIGA, which beganoperating in June 1988, insures private foreign investment indeveloping countries against such non-commercial risks asexpropriation, curl strife, and inconvertibility. The fourinstitutions are owned by the governments of the countries thatsubscribe their capital. To participate in the World Bank group,member states must first belong to the IMF ( q.v. ).
- Young  Turks
- A Turkish revolutionary nationalist reform party,  officiallyknown as the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), whose leadersled a rebellion against the Ottoman sultan and effectively ruledthe Ottoman Empire from 1908 until shortly before World War I.
- Yugoslavia
- Established in 1918 as the Kingdom of the Serbs,  Croats, andSlovenes. The kingdom included the territory of present-dayBosnia and Hercegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Croatia,and Slovenia. Between 1929 and 1945, the country was called thekingdom of Yugoslavia (land of the South Slavs). In 1945Yugoslavia became a federation of six republics under theleadership of Josip Broz Tito. In 1991 Yugoslavia broke apartbecause of long-standing internal disputes among its republicsand weak central government. The secession of Croatia andSlovenia in mid-1991 led to a bloody war between Serbia andCroatia. In the fall of 1991, Bosnia and Hercegovina andMacedonia also seceded from the federation, leaving Serbia (withits provinces, Kosovo and Vojvodina) and Montenegro as theconstituent parts of the federation. Under the leadership ofPresident Slobodan Milosevic, however, Serbia retainedsubstantial territorial claims in Bosnia and Hercegovina andCroatia at the beginning of 1992.