The role of the military in the democratization of Marxist-Leninist regimes: Albania as a case study

The downfall of Marxist-Leninist regimes in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe challenged scholarly assumptions and conclusions regarding these regimes, including the role of the military. If the military was supposed to step in and help the communist parties to reestablish order, maintain stability and internal peace, and save these tottering regimes, why did the military not do it, or why did it fail so dismally, as in Russia in the August 1991 attempted coup? This article seeks to shed some light on these questions by examining the particulars of Albania, considered by all observers as the most closed, Stalinist, rigid, and xenophobic Marxist-Leninist regime. It provides a brief history of civil-military relations in Albania; analyses the role of rhe armed forces during the transition from a Marxist-Leninist, single-party state to a multiparty system; and examines the efforts made by the new, democratically elected government of president Sali Berisha to establish a Western-style system of civil-miliary relations in Europe's poorest country. -from Authors