Balli Kombëtar

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It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with National Front (Albania). (Discuss)

Balli Kombëtar (National Front) was a fascist organization of Albanians fighting for a Greater Albania during World War II. Founded in autumn 1942 with support from German and Italian occupying forces in Albania, it gathered notable conservative land owners and Bajraktars such as Mehdi Bej Frasheri and Bahri Omari, as well as liberal intellectuals such as Mid'hat Bey Frashëri, Kol Tromara and Sotir Kondi.

Armed memebrs of the Balli Kombëtar.

On March 15, 1943, Balli Kombëtar leaders Ali Kelciri and Nuredin Vlora concluded a treaty with the Italian general Renzo Dalmazzo in Tirana, by which they obliged themselves to fight the Albanian liberation movement.

After the Mukje Agreement in August 1943, Balli Kombëtar was superseded by the Legaliteti movement led by Abaz Kupi, seeking to reinstate king Ahmet Zogu. Many of its members chose exile in the USA, those who stayed fought alongside the Germans until their defeat in spring 1945. Under German leadership, the Kosovo regiment (Regjiment i Kosovës) of Balli Kombëtar committed many war crimes and atrocities among the Slavs of Kosovo, Montenegro and Macedonia.

Balli Kombëtar's initial objective was to defend the property of Albanian great land owners. Due to the political situation, it chose to collaborate with the Axis powers and fought against the Yugoslav resistance. It was defeated by the Communist Party of Albania led by Enver Hoxha, who later became Prime Minister of Albania.

[edit] References

(1972) "Bali Kombetar", Vojna Enciklopedija, I (in Serbo-Croatian). Belgrade: Vojnoizdavački zavod, 441-442.
Muharrem Dezhgiu (1985). "Balli Kombëtar". Fjalor enciklopedik shqiptar. Ed. Aleks Buda. Tiranë: Akademia e shkencave e RPSSH. 65.
Vladimir Dedijer (1949). Jugoslovensko-albanski odnosi 1939-1948 (in Serbo-Croatian). Belgrade: Borba, 86-93.
Stavro Skendi (June 1948). "Albania within the Slav Orbit: Advent to Power of the Communist Party". Political Science Quarterly 63 (2): 257-274.
Gani Manelli (2006). "Partisan Politics in World War II Albania: The Struggle for Power, 1939-1944". East European Quarterly 40 (3): 333+.
Fischer, Bernd J. (1999). Albania at War, 1939—1945. C. Hurst & Co., 132+.