c relations, the other Eastern European
Communist countries also halted aid programs and withdrew advisers.
Khrushchev then became the object of violent attacks in the Albanian
press, being castigated as more of a revisionist than Tito. Khrushchev
counterattacked to defend himself but, in addition, used Albania as a
proxy for violent propaganda blasts that were obviously directed against
the Chinese Communists.

After the final break with the Soviet Union, Albania entered the third
stage of its Communist existence--the alliance with Communist China.
Stages one and two had been as a satellite, first of Yugoslavia and then
of the Soviet Union. In stage three, if not a satellite, it was a client
of a powerful sponsor. Albania, throughout the 1960s and into 1970,
continued to require the economic support of an outside power. Communist
China has provided that support, though apparently on a much reduced
scale.

In return for Chinese support the Albanians accept the Chinese view of
world affairs and speak for their sponsor in Eastern Europe and in the
United Nations. Albania successfully defied Moscow, but its internal and
international positions remained weak. In 1968 Hoxha withdrew his
country from the Warsaw Pact in protest against the invasion of
Czechoslovakia, but this was primarily a symbolic move because Albania
had not participated in Warsaw Pact affairs since 1961.

By 1970 Albania was attempting to normalize relations with its Balkan
neighbors, but its main propaganda thrusts continued to be against
revisionism and imperialism. Overtures toward both Greece and Yugoslavia
were made in 1970, which may indicate that the Hoxha regime recognized
the futility and danger of an isolationist policy. Official attitudes
toward the Soviet Union remained as they had been for ten
years--strident and abusive--but better relations were being sought
among Eastern European nations as well as with some non-Communist
states. Seemingly the regime recognized that Communist China was a
distant ally, that the Chinese could not support the Albanian economy,
and that, if Albania was to remain a viable national entity, it would
have to relate to its European neighbors and, in effect, become a part
of Europe.

CHAPTER 7

COMMUNICATIONS AND CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT

Information channels in 1970 were relatively well developed compared
with those of the pre-World War II period. The press was the most
advanced, although by 1970 a subs