Evening star., 1948-07-03
What About AIbuniu?

w u0t SOO0t VtO0ib0s
The wheels within wheels in the complex
inter- Communist crisis centering about
Marshal Tito is exemplified by the rift be-
tween him and Enver Hoxa, the Red boss
of neighboring Albania.
Until Tito had his run-in with the Com
inform, it had been assumed that Hoxa
was a dependable vassal of his Yugoslav
suzerain, just as Tito was assumed to be
an equally dependable vassal of super-boss
Stain in the distant Kremlin OF Moscow.
Hoxa had made his Red revolution in
pint-size Albania largely with Tito's back
ing, and the two dictators have until re-.
Gently been collaborating closely, the most
notable instance being their common
policy Of covert aid to the Greek Com
munist rebels.
Now, however, the Tito-Hoxa intimacy
seems to be definitely disrupted. Tanjug,
the official Yugoslav news agency, reveals
that its Government has protested strongly
to Albania against the latter's hostile
and brutal acts" including gross "insults"
to Tito such as banning his portrait from
public display and forbidding the singing
| of songs which mention his exalted name.
Indeed, the Tanjug story gives us the in
teresting item that Hoxa started his break
with Tito even before the Cominform had
let loose its blast at the Yugoslav leader.
This suggests that Hoxa had inside in
formation of~what was coming and has
tened to climb on the bandwagon even
before it got moving.
All this naturally stimulates lively specu-
lation as to the motives and reasons for
Hoxas actions. 1t should be understood
that little Albania, narrow band of
mountainous country bordering the Adri-
attic Sea, is surrounded by Yugoslav terri
tory except where it touches Greece on its
southern frontier, and can thus expect no
direct material aid from either Soviet
Russia. or the satellites still obedient to
its orders. A primitive, backward country,
Albania's army has been dependent on
Yugoslavia for its equipment and supplies.
So despite its mountain defenses, Albania
might be hard put to 1t to maintain itself
long If Tito undertook to crush this sub
rebellion in his rear.
Two explanations for the Albanian de-
fection suggest themselves. First, Hoxa
might have argued that, as Tito's vaSsal,
he would be implicated with his chief in
the Cominform's denunciation and thus
acted promptly to square himself with Red
headquarters. That, of course, implies that
Hoxa was betting on the Cominform for
the long pull. Another possible explana-
ton is that Hoxa felt he could not rely on
his own people If he backed Tito in a
showdown struggle with the rest of the
Communist world. The Albanians are
hereditary enemies Of the Yugoslavs, and
their current dependence upon Yugoslavia
cannot have sat well with these fierce,
touchy mountatneers. BY posing as the
simultaneous champion of Albanian par
ticularsm and Communist orthodoxy,
Hoxa could argue that he would thereby
unite his own people behind him better
than in any other way, and thus be in a
position to face whatever might occur in
scrambled situation.
These are, of course, mere speculationS
concerning state of affairs so factually
obscure and so rapidly evolving that, like
railway timetable, it should be labeled:
Subject to change without notice" How
ever, it may be assumed that Hoxa is no
fool, and that his actions are guided by
what he deems to be his own best interest.
The larger significance of his move can
be better evaluated by the course of events.