Stalin, when
they informally agreed to divide Eastern Europe into spheres of
influence, at least for the duration of the war. Accordingly, when the
last German troops were driven out of Albania, there was a kind of
political vacuum that the Communists, with superior political
organizations and substantial armed partisan groups, were able to fill.

In August 1945 the first congress of the National Liberation Front was
held, and the name of the organization was changed to the Democratic
Front in an effort to make it more palatable to the public. Contending
that the Democratic Front represented the majority of the population
because all political opinions and groups except Fascists were included
in it, the Communist rulers allowed only Democratic Front Candidates for
the first postwar national elections held in December 1945.

The Constituent Assembly elected at this polling was originally
composed of both party members and some nationalist elements. The latter
apparently continued to feel that cooperation with the Communists was
possible but, within a year after the elections, they were summarily
purged from the Assembly, and subsequently a number of them were tried
and executed on charges of being "enemies of the people." All national
and local elections since 1945 have been held under the aegis of the
Democratic Front.

Even after the "liberation," the Party continued its conspiratorial
nature and did not come into the open until the First Party Congress was
held in November 1948. Before that time all its meetings were held in
closest secrecy, and no statements, communiques, or resolutions were
published in its name. The Party thus continued to use the front
technique effectively even after it became the undisputed ruler of the
country.

THE COMMUNIST PERIOD

The Constituent Assembly, elected on December 2, 1945, proclaimed on
January 11, 1946, the People's Republic of Albania; and on March 14 it
approved the first Albanian Constitution, based largely on the Yugoslav
Communist Constitution. In this first Constitution no mention of any
kind was made of the role played by the Party or any other political
organizations. The Constitution was, however, amended after the break
with Yugoslavia in 1948, and revisions of the Constitution published
since 1951 have cited in Article 12 the Albanian Workers' Party as the
"vanguard organization of the working class."

The Communist regime quickly consolidated its power throu