Stalinism and the Stalinist model: Comparative study on its origins and characteristics in the communist regime in Albania

For more than 45 years, Albania was ruled by one of the harshest dictatorial regimes that Europe has experienced during the 20-th century. The communist regime in Albania had several special features, starting from its origins and establishment, and continuing further with its special characteristics, the society and the economic-social system it built. These features set it apart from other communist regimes in Eastern Europe. But what remains as the primary feature of the communist regime in Albania is its loyalty and steadfastness in following and further developing the Stalinist model, a model that was finally abandoned in Eastern Europe and the USSR in the mid-1950s, and further in China after the death of Mao Zedong (1978). This study aims to investigate the special characteristics underlying the Stalinist model and the causes that enabled its implementation, adaptation and development in the conditions of the rule of the dictatorial regime in Albania.