'The 1971 Re-establishment of Diplomatic Relations between Greece and Albania: Cooperation and Strategic Partnership within Cold War Bipolarity?', Greece in the Balkans: Memory, Conflict and Exchange (original) (raw)

Albanian-Hungarian relations during the Greek Civil War (1946-1949)

Book chapter in: Csaplár-Degovics, Krisztián (szerk.) "These were hard times for Skanderbeg, but he had an ally, the Hungarian Hunyadi" : Episodes in Albanian-Hungarian Historical Contacts Budapest, Magyarország : HAS Research Centre for the Humanities, Institute of, (2019) pp. 219-230., 2019

This study attempts to examine Albanian–Hungarian relations during the post–Second World War period and seeks to describe the most important milestones of the era when diplomatic relations were re-established between the two countries and more frequent bilateral contacts emerged from almost nothing. Besides explaining the factors surrounding the (re-)establishment1 of diplomatic relations, the study also analyses this period from a third point of view, namely from the perspective of the Greek Civil War, which – among other things – strengthened cooperation between Albania and Hungary. The paper attempts to demonstrate that the renewal of bilateral relations between Budapest and Tirana was part of an international process and reflected in large part the intentions of Moscow.

Shifting Alliances. Albania in the Early Cold War

Journal of Cold War Studies, 2022

Although emerging from the ashes of the Second World War as an appendage of Tito’s Yugoslavia, soon Albania dismissed this alliance, to build another with the Soviet Union. However, following Moscow’s reformism of Nikita Khrushchev, the Soviet-Albanian alliance became unsustainable due to Albanian leaders’ refusal of destalinization. Subsequently, Mao’s China emerged as the new lighthouse for the only Stalinist regime left in Europe. The aim of this article is to reassess in light of new available archives, how Albanian communist leaders turned in their favor international conjectures which made possible for Tirana to minimize the risks of shifting from one alliance to another. The security dilemma was in fact the key factor in their decision-making process. Based on recently declassified archives, this article explores the early Cold War history of one of the less investigated countries of the former communist camp, and shed further light on Albania’s Cold War history, but also on the history of East Europe and China.

Splitting Apart: How the Soviet-Albanian Relations Came to an End

Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 2021

Albania was the only Eastern European country to exit from the Warsaw Pact and consequently become diplomatically isolated by its member states by late 1961. Such an event was the result of the continuous accusations exchanged between the Albanian and the Soviet Leaders, primarily between Enver Hoxha and Nikita Khrushchev. In the midst of the turbulent Soviet-Albanian relations, China offered its alliance to Albania which only worsened the situation. This study aims to illustrate how the curve of the Albanian-Soviet partnership changed over time, starting from the Stalin era and finishing with the Khrushchev era. More precisely, this study explains how Khrushchev’s decision-making concerning other countries, especially Yugoslavia, pushed the Albanian leaders into changing attitude towards the Soviet Union and make alliances with Mao Zedong. Received: 2 May 2021 / Accepted: 15 June 2021 / Published: 8 July 2021

Greek–Soviet relations 1959–1962: the Greek response to the Kremlin's challenge

2021

In 1959–62, relations between Greece and the USSR entered a new phase. The tactics of the Soviet Union regarding Cyprus in 1955–9 did not pay off, as the rift between Greece, Turkey, and NATO was largely bridged in the aftermath of the 1959 Cyprus agreements. However, the search for a Cold War détente engendered pervasive insecurity in a frontline state like Greece, always afraid that its larger allies might abandon it. Nuclear intimidation, Greek anti-communism on the one hand; on the other, the impressive development of trade relations, created a complex environment. This article, based on the archives of the Greek Foreign Ministry, and the personal archive of the Greek prime minister, Constantine Karamanlis, discusses Athens’ response to the new Soviet policy.