Feubrary 16th, 1950
Enver Hoxha silently rested on his bed, inside his room which found itself on the building across the street from the Soviet Embassy on Tirana. He pondered the events that had occured in the past weeks; a fascist invasion and a retreat, a humiliation that was only equal to the one that the Yugoslavian government had presented with an attempted annexation of Albania into their petty union. The Soviet Union had intervened but it was far too late, the intervention on Albania by Italian forces, which had marched on Tirana with a force of 20,000 men, had showed Hoxha the inbality presented to him in case of defense. Taking this into consideration, Hoxha searched around his dark room for a pen and a piece of paper, turning on the lights and making his resting spouse grumble as she covered herself with the bedsheets. The Secretary of the Party of Labour of Albania started writing a letter.
To: Joseph Stalin
From: Enver Hoxha
Comrade, it is with great joy I send you a letter I could not send before. This is done in order to thank you for your quick intervention in the unjustified landing of Italian fascist forces on the coasts of Albania. I couldn't write to you before because as soon as the invaders arrived, my ministers and I had to run into the country side far away from the capital, hide in the mountains with my most loyal generals and order them to prepare for a guerrilla warfare with the army, which had also taken refuge in the countryside, if the Italians did not leave within three days. My people were expressing their discontent with the situation at hand, already contacting our leaders in order to cooperate with the distribuition of propaganda and weaponry, and also sabotage if the Italians started building infrastructure in order to aid them. Why is it that we did not fight as soon as we saw the fascists arrive, you may ask yourself. And it is a reasonable question, Comrade.
The first of my reasons to not order an attack is the fact that we had been overwhelmed in numbers and given our geographical position, if we had decimated the invading forces, which we could have done, a million more would drop from the heavens, since both you and I know this imperialist agression was well orchestrated not only by Italy, but by the whole of the Western world. This kind of tactic had already been tried on Albania before, although I wasn't entirely sure if it was just enemies of communism that rejected to accept progress for the people's of the world, reactionaries. Several small groups that attempt to sow anger within the fields we've nationalized and given to the workers and farmers have been captured and executed, yet them alone wouldn't have the strength to come to our shores. We believe that these invasions have also been carefully arranged by the imperialists from the West; as for who, the bullets hit their bodies faster than they could speak about the men who commanded them, yet they weren't fast enough to stop them from shouting the name of an opressor by the name of Zog; filthy monarch who ruled over the Albanians over an iron fist and took the fruits of their work. The Albanian people support our cause, Comrade Stalin, they faced off these invaders with civil discontent but they are also my second reason not to react.
Had we reacted, and given that the Italians were already marching on Tirana by the time we could do so, the massacre and bloodbath experienced would be that of proportions faced by the fascists oppresing the brave partisans with their weapons in the recent wars. My people, our people, would have suffered the most. We were prepared to defend the interests of the workers, Comrade, but doing so would unleash a greater evil. And not only that, but a reaction would have sparked a most outrageous war, that could have involved forces far from the ones between Italy and Albania; the workers of Italy would have screamed in pain just as much as the people of Albania and it could have gone far beyond the Adriatic.
But all of this leads to this point, Comrade. This land is small and its forces feeble compared to the enemies that have already shown their true nature, that of imperialistic actions against a peaceful land that only strives to reach the best for the workers of the world. We hereby request, Comrade, if forces from the Soviet Union could build a military base, with its corresponding troops, on the Albanian coast, in order to defend the interests of the people and the workers of Albania. Do not misunderstand me Comrade, this is not a show of weakness. It is a fact that the population of this country is low and its forces even more, we can not handle a raging wave with an oar handled by a brave, yet small man. But what if we had a fellow man, that cooperated with us against the most dangerous storms? We could handle things in a better way. But not only do we need cooperation between fellows but also the tools to protect ourselves, should worst come to fruition once again, as it did already. We also request, if possible, training and finer equipement for the Albanian Armed Forces, with its Army, Air Forces and Navy Branch.
I have also attempted to fix another problem, that of a low population but the economic model we are handling is outdated, most people work the fields and the country reaps little gain from it. We are not moving any faster to an industrialized model that our doctrine expects us to reach in order to accomplish great revolutions. We need, as you have bravely accomplished on your nation, industrialization on a rapid rate. But we do not have the resources or the knowledge of how to accomplish this objective, so far from our grasp. So we ask of you, Comrade, for economic aid in order to develop a healthy industry and to exploit the resources we have at hand for the improvement of the workers of Albania's living standards. May our people always cooperate, Comrade.
With admiration for the work done on your country and your written works,
Signed, Enver Hoxha, First Secretary of the Party of Labour of Albania.
Hoxha opened the door of his room and a cold breeze entered through the window facing the Embassy. He hesitated for a second, asking if such measures were really good for the Albanian people, a second of doubt that quickly erased from his mind as he briskly walked towards the Embassy with the envelope in his hand, in order to be delivered. No. He thought to himself. This is for socialism to reach all of the world.
Summary
-Hoxha explains why there was no self-defense against the Italians
-Hoxha asks the Soviets to build a base facing the Adriatic on Albanian territory
-He also asks for assistance for his military and economic aid in order to industrialize
