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{{Short description|Albanian politician (1917–1975)}}
{{Infobox military person
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Beqir Balluku | name = Beqir Balluku
| image = Beqir Balluku (portret).jpeg | image =
| office = ]
| image_size =
| primeminister = ]<br/>]
| caption =
| term_start = 1 August 1953
| term_end = 28 October 1974
| predecessor = ]
| successor = ]
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1917|02|14|df=y}} | birth_date = {{Birth date|1917|02|14|df=y}}
| death_date = {{dda|1975|11|05|1917|02|14|df=y}} | death_date = {{dda|1975|11|05|1917|02|14|df=y}}
| birth_place = {{nobr|], ]}}
| placeofburial_label =
⚫ | death_place = Tirana, ]
| placeofburial =
| birth_place = ], (]) | branch = ]
⚫ | death_place = Tirana, (Albania)
| placeofburial_coordinates = <!-- {{coord|LAT|LONG|display=inline,title}} -->
| nickname =
| birth_name =
| allegiance =
| branch =
| serviceyears = 32 | serviceyears = 32
| rank = ] | rank = ]
⚫ | battles = {{Tree list}}
| servicenumber =
*]
| unit =
*]
| commands =
*]<ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-12-08 |title=Të maskuar edhe ushtarakët shqiptarë në luftën e Vietnamit |url=https://gazetasi.al/te-maskuar-edhe-ushtaraket-shqiptare-ne-luften-e-vietnamit/ |access-date=2022-10-25 |website=Gazeta Si |language=sq}}</ref>
⚫ | battles = World War II
*]
| battles_label =
**]
| awards =
{{Tree list/end}}
| relations =
| laterwork =
| signature = Beqir Balluku (nënshkrim).svg | signature = Beqir Balluku (nënshkrim).svg
}} }}


'''Beqir Balluku''' (14 February 1917 – 5 November 1975) was an ] politician, military leader, and Minister of Defense of ]. Balluku assisted ] in carrying out the 1956 purge in the ]. However, in 1974, Balluku himself, along with a group of other government members, was accused by Hoxha of an attempted ] against the ]. He was executed that same year. '''Beqir Balluku''' (14 February 1917 – 5 November 1975) was an ] politician, military leader, and Minister of Defense of ]. Balluku assisted ] in carrying out the 1956 purge within the ]. However, in 1974, Balluku himself, along with a group of other government members was accused by Hoxha of an attempted ] against the ]. He was executed the next year.


==Biography== ==Biography==
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On 28 January 1948 Balluku was named Chief of the Head Command of the ].<ref>Pearson p.376</ref> In 1948, in the first Congress of the ] (formerly the Communist Party of Albania), he was elected as a member of the ], a post he held until his arrest,<ref>Pearson 631</ref> and in 1952 he was named Minister of Defense.<ref>Rakowska-Harmstone p.226</ref> One year later he gained the military rank of ]. From 1948 to 1974 he was a member of the ].<ref name="Boriçi november 2007"/> On 28 January 1948 Balluku was named Chief of the Head Command of the ].<ref>Pearson p.376</ref> In 1948, in the first Congress of the ] (formerly the Communist Party of Albania), he was elected as a member of the ], a post he held until his arrest,<ref>Pearson 631</ref> and in 1952 he was named Minister of Defense.<ref>Rakowska-Harmstone p.226</ref> One year later he gained the military rank of ]. From 1948 to 1974 he was a member of the ].<ref name="Boriçi november 2007"/>


In 1953 he graduated from the ] (former ]). Earlier, in December 1952 the Yugoslav State radio of Belgrade and the newspaper '']'' had announced that he had been killed and his family interned, but it turned out that it was just speculation: he had been busy with his studies in Moscow.<ref>Pearson 450 and 454</ref> In 1953 he graduated from the ]. Earlier, in December 1952 the Yugoslav State radio of Belgrade and the newspaper '']'' had announced that he had been killed and his family interned, but it turned out that it was just speculation: he had been busy with his studies in Moscow.<ref>Pearson 450 and 454</ref>


In 1956 Balluku was presiding over the municipality of Tirana Conference of the Communist Party when the opponents of the Enver Hoxha - ] regime nearly overthrew the government. Balluku informed ] (Hoxha's wife) that Enver Hoxha should return from the holidays and keep the situation under control.<ref>{{cite book |title=Albania in the Twentieth Century, A History: Volume III: Albania as Dictatorship and Democracy, 1945–99 |last=Pearson |first=Owen |year=2007 |publisher=IB Taurus |page=505 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D4wx7kQp4bgC&pg=PA505&dq=beqir+balluku&hl=en&ei=KqkHTN3HLIKBlAe_hqidDg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=book-thumbnail&resnum=1&ved=0CCYQ6wEwAA#v=onepage&q=beqir%20balluku&f=false |access-date=2010-06-03 }}</ref> In 1956 Balluku was presiding over the municipality of Tirana Conference of the Communist Party when the opponents of the Enver Hoxha - ] regime nearly overthrew the government. Balluku informed ] (Hoxha's wife) that Enver Hoxha should return from the holidays and keep the situation under control.<ref>{{cite book |title=Albania in the Twentieth Century, A History: Volume III: Albania as Dictatorship and Democracy, 1945–99 |last=Pearson |first=Owen |year=2007 |publisher=IB Taurus |page=505 |isbn=9781845111052 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D4wx7kQp4bgC&dq=beqir+balluku&pg=PA505 |access-date=2010-06-03}}</ref>


Shehu and Balluku's intervention helped cause the 1956 purge of the Albanian Communist Party. After Hoxha returned to Tirana, he first tried to be conciliatory towards his critics and then he retaliated by ordering the arrest of all of those who had spoken up. The ] Hoxha-Shehu-Balluku was so described by ], then ] of the ]:<ref>Pearson pp.505–506</ref> Shehu and Balluku's intervention helped cause the 1956 purge of the Albanian Communist Party. After Hoxha returned to Tirana, he first tried to be conciliatory towards his critics and then he retaliated by ordering the arrest of all of those who had spoken up. The ] Hoxha-Shehu-Balluku was so described by ], then ] of the ]:<ref>Pearson pp.505–506</ref>
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{{quote|The Albanians are worse than beasts – they are monsters. Only later did we learn how the Albanian Communist leaders punished and eliminated members of their own Party. They had a sort of troika: Hoxha, Shehu and Balluku. These three used to bring someone to trial, and Enver Hoxha and Mehmet Shehu would sentence the accused to death themselves, without ever putting anything in writing; then they would look for an opportunity to have their victim murdered secretly, and Balluku would personally carry out the execution. It was all very similar to the system used by ] and ].}} {{quote|The Albanians are worse than beasts – they are monsters. Only later did we learn how the Albanian Communist leaders punished and eliminated members of their own Party. They had a sort of troika: Hoxha, Shehu and Balluku. These three used to bring someone to trial, and Enver Hoxha and Mehmet Shehu would sentence the accused to death themselves, without ever putting anything in writing; then they would look for an opportunity to have their victim murdered secretly, and Balluku would personally carry out the execution. It was all very similar to the system used by ] and ].}}


In 1960, following the Albanian ], Balluku, as a representative of the Albanian Party of Labour, took a strong pro-Chinese and anti-Soviet stand in his speech at the Congress of the ] ].<ref>Pearson p.572</ref> In 1960, following the ], Balluku, as a representative of the Albanian Party of Labour, took a strong pro-China and anti-Soviet stand in his speech at the Congress of the ] ].<ref>Pearson p.572</ref>


==Coup d'état accusation, arrest, and execution== ==Coup d'état accusation, arrest, and execution==
In July 1974, after 22 uninterrupted years of service as the Minister of Defense of the ], Balluku himself was accused by Enver Hoxha of being the instigator of ] ideas and was put on trial, accused of a military ] and high treason against his own country. Balluku was sentenced to death along with ], ] and Rrahman Perrllaku.<ref name="Boriçi november 2007"/> In July 1974, after 22 uninterrupted years of service as the Minister of Defense of the ], Balluku himself was accused by Enver Hoxha of instigating ] ideas and was put on trial, accused of a military ] and high treason against his own country. Balluku was sentenced to death along with ], ] and Rrahman Perrllaku.<ref name="Boriçi november 2007"/>


Political analysts and scholars{{who|date=January 2012}} seem to agree that Hoxha was aware of the military establishment's desire to decrease the Party's influence in the areas of the military and the economy. Their attempt to downgrade Hoxha's concept of the ''people's war'' was rewarded when Hoxha deposed the entire top level of the military establishment, including the Minister of Defense, Balluku. Hoxha seems to have feared a ].<ref>Rakowska-Harmstone p.220</ref> Balluku was then ranked as the fourth member of the ruling Communist Party (after ], ] and ])<ref>Rakowska-Harmstone p.227</ref> Political analysts and scholars{{who|date=January 2012}} seem to agree that Hoxha was aware of the military establishment's desire to decrease the Party's influence in the areas of the military and the economy. Their attempt to downgrade Hoxha's concept of the ''people's war'' was rewarded when Hoxha deposed the entire top level of the military establishment, including the Minister of Defense, Balluku. Hoxha seems to have feared a coup d'état.<ref>Rakowska-Harmstone p.220</ref> Balluku was then ranked as the fourth member of the ruling Communist Party (after ], Mehmet Shehu and ])<ref>Rakowska-Harmstone p.227</ref>


In the ], Balluku was the only leading Albanian politician not reelected (in his home district of ]). The removal of Balluku from the ] had already been disclosed in a report from Belgrade on 11 September 1974.<ref>Pearson pp.631–632</ref> In the ], Balluku was the only leading Albanian politician not reelected (in his home district of ]). The removal of Balluku from the Albanian Politburo had already been disclosed in a report from Belgrade on 11 September 1974.<ref>Pearson pp.631–632</ref>


Twelve days later, ], the US Ambassador to ], reported through a telegram sent to ] that it was possible that Balluku and other high defense functionaries had been removed from their posts. The first indication was a discrepancy between Hoxha's and Balluku's opinions on the defense system of Albania; the second was a request from ] to Hoxha that he remove Balluku, who was making too many requests on weapons imports from ]. The third possibility was the coup d'état intent of Balluku, possibly endorsed by the other pro-] defense high functionaries.<ref name="Koha Jone">{{cite web | url=http://www.kohajone.com/artikull.php?idm=12627 | title=Si u zhduk Beqir Balluku? | trans-title=How did Beqir Balluku Disappear | publisher=Koha Jone | access-date=2010-06-04 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110713164008/http://www.kohajone.com/artikull.php?idm=12627 | archive-date=2011-07-13 | url-status=dead }}</ref> Twelve days later, ], the US Ambassador to ], reported through a telegram sent to ] that it was possible that Balluku and other high defense functionaries had been removed from their posts. The first indication was a discrepancy between Hoxha's and Balluku's opinions on the defense system of Albania; the second was a request from ] to Hoxha that he remove Balluku, who was making too many requests on weapons imports from ]. The third possibility was the coup d'état intent of Balluku, possibly endorsed by the other pro-] defense high functionaries.<ref name="Koha Jone">{{cite web |url=http://www.kohajone.com/artikull.php?idm=12627 |title=Si u zhduk Beqir Balluku? |trans-title=How did Beqir Balluku Disappear |publisher=Koha Jone |access-date=2010-06-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110713164008/http://www.kohajone.com/artikull.php?idm=12627 |archive-date=2011-07-13 |url-status=dead}}</ref>


Balluku was executed by firing squad on 5 November 1975.<ref>{{cite book |title=The artful Albanian: memoirs of Enver Hoxha |last=Halliday |first=Jon |year=1986 |publisher=Jon Halliday |isbn=0-7011-2970-0 |pages=304 and 307 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TaC4AAAAIAAJ&q=Beqir+Balluku&dq=Beqir+Balluku&cd=10 |access-date=2010-06-03 }}</ref> Balluku was executed by firing squad on 5 November 1975.<ref>{{cite book |title=The artful Albanian: memoirs of Enver Hoxha |last=Halliday |first=Jon |year=1986 |publisher=Jon Halliday |isbn=0-7011-2970-0 |pages=304 and 307 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TaC4AAAAIAAJ&q=Beqir+Balluku |access-date=2010-06-03}}</ref>


Balluku's remains were retrieved only 26 years later, on 18 July 2000, on request of his family members. He had been put in a secret common grave in ], ], together with the other two former Albanian generals (Dume and Çako) who had also been accused by Hoxha in 1974.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Boriçi |first=Kujtim |date=November 2007 |title=Enver: For high Treason, Balluku, Dume and Çako to Military Trial! (Albanian: Enveri: Për tradhti të lartë, Balluku, Dume e Çako në gjyq ushtarak!) |journal=Shekulli |issue=November 3, 2007 |url=http://www.shekulli.com.al/news/51/ARTICLE/17371/2007-11-03.html |access-date=2010-06-03 |language=sq |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080207165215/http://www.shekulli.com.al/news/51/ARTICLE/17371/2007-11-03.html |archive-date=2008-02-07 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Balluku's remains were retrieved only 26 years later, on 18 July 2000, on request of his family members. He had been put in a secret common grave in ], ], together with the other two former Albanian generals (Dume and Çako) who had also been accused by Hoxha in 1974.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Boriçi |first=Kujtim |date=November 2007 |title=Enver: For high Treason, Balluku, Dume and Çako to Military Trial! (Albanian: Enveri: Për tradhti të lartë, Balluku, Dume e Çako në gjyq ushtarak!) |journal=Shekulli |issue=November 3, 2007 |url=http://www.shekulli.com.al/news/51/ARTICLE/17371/2007-11-03.html |access-date=2010-06-03 |language=sq |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080207165215/http://www.shekulli.com.al/news/51/ARTICLE/17371/2007-11-03.html |archive-date=2008-02-07 |url-status=dead}}</ref>


In 1979, following the ideological ] of the ] from the ], Enver Hoxha wrote in his memories that the "enemy groups" of ] (Minister of the Economy) and Beqir Balluku (Minister of Defense) had drafted their inimical plan based on suggestions from ], who was ].<ref>{{cite book |title=Reflections on China: extracts from the political diary |last=Hoxha |first=Enver |author2=Nase, Nesti |year=1979 |publisher=Naim Frasheri |pages=110 and 124 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oIlCAAAAYAAJ&q=Beqir+Balluku&dq=Beqir+Balluku&cd=7 |access-date=2010-06-03 }}</ref> In 1979, following the ideological ] of the Party of Labour of Albania from the ], Enver Hoxha wrote in his memoirs that the "enemy groups" of ] (Minister of the Economy) and Beqir Balluku (Minister of Defense) had drafted their inimical plan based on suggestions from ], who was ].<ref>{{cite book |title=Reflections on China: extracts from the political diary |last=Hoxha |first=Enver |author2=Nase, Nesti |year=1979 |publisher=Naim Frasheri |pages=110 and 124 |isbn=9780888030832 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oIlCAAAAYAAJ&q=Beqir+Balluku |access-date=2010-06-03}}</ref>


==References== ==References==
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|title=Albania in the Twentieth Century, A History: Volume III: Albania as Dictatorship and Democracy, 1945–99 |title=Albania in the Twentieth Century, A History: Volume III: Albania as Dictatorship and Democracy, 1945–99
|publisher=IB Taurus |publisher=IB Taurus
|isbn=9781845111052
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D4wx7kQp4bgC&pg=PA505&dq=beqir+balluku&hl=en&ei=KqkHTN3HLIKBlAe_hqidDg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=book-thumbnail&resnum=1&ved=0CCYQ6wEwAA# |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D4wx7kQp4bgC&dq=beqir+balluku&pg=PA505
}} }}
*{{cite journal |last=Boriçi |first=Kujtim |date=November 2007 |title=Enver: For high Treason, Balluku, Dume e Çako to Military Trial! (Albanian: Enveri: Për tradhti të lartë, Balluku, Dume e Çako në gjyq ushtarak!) |journal=Shekulli |issue=November 3, 2007 |url=http://www.shekulli.com.al/news/51/ARTICLE/17371/2007-11-03.html |access-date=2010-06-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080207165215/http://www.shekulli.com.al/news/51/ARTICLE/17371/2007-11-03.html |archive-date=2008-02-07 |url-status=dead }} *{{cite journal |last=Boriçi |first=Kujtim |date=November 2007 |title=Enver: For high Treason, Balluku, Dume e Çako to Military Trial! (Albanian: Enveri: Për tradhti të lartë, Balluku, Dume e Çako në gjyq ushtarak!) |journal=Shekulli |issue=November 3, 2007 |url=http://www.shekulli.com.al/news/51/ARTICLE/17371/2007-11-03.html |access-date=2010-06-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080207165215/http://www.shekulli.com.al/news/51/ARTICLE/17371/2007-11-03.html |archive-date=2008-02-07 |url-status=dead}}
*{{cite journal |last=Boriçi |first=Kujtim |date=October 2007 |title=Enver Hoxha: Here's why Beqir Balluku is an Enemy (Albanian: Enver Hoxha: "Ja pse është armik Beqir Balluku!") |journal=Shekulli |issue=October 8, 2007 |url=http://www.shekulli.com.al/news/51/ARTICLE/16512/2007-10-08.html |access-date=June 3, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100330225201/http://www.shekulli.com.al/news/51/ARTICLE/16512/2007-10-08.html |archive-date=March 30, 2010 |url-status=dead }} *{{cite journal |last=Boriçi |first=Kujtim |date=October 2007 |title=Enver Hoxha: Here's why Beqir Balluku is an Enemy (Albanian: Enver Hoxha: "Ja pse është armik Beqir Balluku!") |journal=Shekulli |issue=October 8, 2007 |url=http://www.shekulli.com.al/news/51/ARTICLE/16512/2007-10-08.html |access-date=June 3, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100330225201/http://www.shekulli.com.al/news/51/ARTICLE/16512/2007-10-08.html |archive-date=March 30, 2010 |url-status=dead}}
*{{cite journal |last=Boriçi |first=Kujtim |date=January 2010 |title=Enver Hoxha: Here's how Beqir Balluku was a hypocrite (Albanian: Enver Hoxha: Si ma dridhte llafin Beqir Balluku) |journal=Shekulli |issue=January 28, 2010 |url=http://www.shekulli.com.al/2010/01/28/enver-hoxha-si-ma-dridhte-llafin-beqir-balluku-1.html |access-date=June 4, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110113113633/http://www.shekulli.com.al/2010/01/28/enver-hoxha-si-ma-dridhte-llafin-beqir-balluku-1.html |archive-date=January 13, 2011 |url-status=dead }} *{{cite journal |last=Boriçi |first=Kujtim |date=January 2010 |title=Enver Hoxha: Here's how Beqir Balluku was a hypocrite (Albanian: Enver Hoxha: Si ma dridhte llafin Beqir Balluku) |journal=Shekulli |issue=January 28, 2010 |url=http://www.shekulli.com.al/2010/01/28/enver-hoxha-si-ma-dridhte-llafin-beqir-balluku-1.html |access-date=June 4, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110113113633/http://www.shekulli.com.al/2010/01/28/enver-hoxha-si-ma-dridhte-llafin-beqir-balluku-1.html |archive-date=January 13, 2011 |url-status=dead}}
*{{cite journal |last=Boriçi |first=Kujtim |date=January 2010 |title=Hoxha: Here's how we are going to heal Beqir Balluku (Albanian: Hoxha: Ja si do ta shërojmë ne Beqirin) |journal=Shekulli |issue=January 29, 2010 |url=http://www.shekulli.com.al/2010/01/29/hoxha-ja-si-do-ta-sherojme-ne-beqirin.html |access-date=June 4, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100328012211/http://www.shekulli.com.al/2010/01/29/hoxha-ja-si-do-ta-sherojme-ne-beqirin.html |archive-date=March 28, 2010 |url-status=dead }} *{{cite journal |last=Boriçi |first=Kujtim |date=January 2010 |title=Hoxha: Here's how we are going to heal Beqir Balluku (Albanian: Hoxha: Ja si do ta shërojmë ne Beqirin) |journal=Shekulli |issue=January 29, 2010 |url=http://www.shekulli.com.al/2010/01/29/hoxha-ja-si-do-ta-sherojme-ne-beqirin.html |access-date=June 4, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100328012211/http://www.shekulli.com.al/2010/01/29/hoxha-ja-si-do-ta-sherojme-ne-beqirin.html |archive-date=March 28, 2010 |url-status=dead}}
*{{cite journal |last=Boriçi |first=Kujtim |date=February 2010 |title=The Accuse: Dume's Plan to Annichilate the Central Committee and the Party's Leadership (Albanian: Akuza: Plani i Dumes për të asgjësuar Komitetin Qendror dhe udhëheqjen) |journal=Shekulli |issue=February 1, 2010 |url=http://www.shekulli.com.al/2010/02/01/akuza-plani-i-dumes-per-te-asgjesuar-komitetin-qendror-dhe-udheheqjen.html |access-date=June 4, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100313091900/http://www.shekulli.com.al/2010/02/01/akuza-plani-i-dumes-per-te-asgjesuar-komitetin-qendror-dhe-udheheqjen.html |archive-date=March 13, 2010 |url-status=dead }} *{{cite journal |last=Boriçi |first=Kujtim |date=February 2010 |title=The Accuse: Dume's Plan to Annichilate the Central Committee and the Party's Leadership (Albanian: Akuza: Plani i Dumes për të asgjësuar Komitetin Qendror dhe udhëheqjen) |journal=Shekulli |issue=February 1, 2010 |url=http://www.shekulli.com.al/2010/02/01/akuza-plani-i-dumes-per-te-asgjesuar-komitetin-qendror-dhe-udheheqjen.html |access-date=June 4, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100313091900/http://www.shekulli.com.al/2010/02/01/akuza-plani-i-dumes-per-te-asgjesuar-komitetin-qendror-dhe-udheheqjen.html |archive-date=March 13, 2010 |url-status=dead}}
*{{cite journal |last=Boriçi |first=Kujtim |date=February 2010 |title=Hoxha: Here are the Sentences for the Traitor Generals (Albanian: Hoxha: Ja dënimet për gjeneralët tradhtarë) |journal=Shekulli |issue=February 2, 2010 |url=http://www.shekulli.com.al/2010/02/02/hoxha-ja-denimet-per-gjeneralet-tradhtare.html |access-date=June 4, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100330204842/http://www.shekulli.com.al/2010/02/02/hoxha-ja-denimet-per-gjeneralet-tradhtare.html |archive-date=March 30, 2010 |url-status=dead }} *{{cite journal |last=Boriçi |first=Kujtim |date=February 2010 |title=Hoxha: Here are the Sentences for the Traitor Generals (Albanian: Hoxha: Ja dënimet për gjeneralët tradhtarë) |journal=Shekulli |issue=February 2, 2010 |url=http://www.shekulli.com.al/2010/02/02/hoxha-ja-denimet-per-gjeneralet-tradhtare.html |access-date=June 4, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100330204842/http://www.shekulli.com.al/2010/02/02/hoxha-ja-denimet-per-gjeneralet-tradhtare.html |archive-date=March 30, 2010 |url-status=dead}}


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Latest revision as of 16:08, 16 October 2024

Albanian politician (1917–1975)
Beqir Balluku
Minister of People's Defence
In office
1 August 1953 – 28 October 1974
Prime MinisterMehmet Shehu
Enver Hoxha
Preceded byEnver Hoxha
Succeeded byMehmet Shehu
Personal details
Born(1917-02-14)14 February 1917
Tirana, Principality of Albania
Died5 November 1975(1975-11-05) (aged 58)
Tirana, PR Albania
Signature
Military service
Branch/serviceAlbanian People's Army
Years of service32
RankLieutenant General
Battles/wars

Beqir Balluku (14 February 1917 – 5 November 1975) was an Albanian politician, military leader, and Minister of Defense of Albania. Balluku assisted Enver Hoxha in carrying out the 1956 purge within the Party of Labour. However, in 1974, Balluku himself, along with a group of other government members was accused by Hoxha of an attempted coup d'état against the Albanian People's Republic. He was executed the next year.

Biography

Balluku was born on 14 February 1917 in Tirana, Albania. He studied at a technical high school in Tirana. While he was doing his military service, he joined the ranks of the Albanian resistance against the Axis during the partisan war in Albania.

On 20 May 1943 he was appointed commander of the Communist partisan battalion "Krujë Ishëm", and on 18 September 1943 he was named commissar of the third brigade. Later he was appointed commander of the second brigade.

On 28 January 1948 Balluku was named Chief of the Head Command of the Albanian Army. In 1948, in the first Congress of the Party of Labour of Albania (formerly the Communist Party of Albania), he was elected as a member of the Politburo, a post he held until his arrest, and in 1952 he was named Minister of Defense. One year later he gained the military rank of Lieutenant General. From 1948 to 1974 he was a member of the Albanian parliament.

In 1953 he graduated from the Marshal Voroshilov Military Academy of the USSR Army General Staff. Earlier, in December 1952 the Yugoslav State radio of Belgrade and the newspaper Politika had announced that he had been killed and his family interned, but it turned out that it was just speculation: he had been busy with his studies in Moscow.

In 1956 Balluku was presiding over the municipality of Tirana Conference of the Communist Party when the opponents of the Enver Hoxha - Mehmet Shehu regime nearly overthrew the government. Balluku informed Nexhmije Hoxha (Hoxha's wife) that Enver Hoxha should return from the holidays and keep the situation under control.

Shehu and Balluku's intervention helped cause the 1956 purge of the Albanian Communist Party. After Hoxha returned to Tirana, he first tried to be conciliatory towards his critics and then he retaliated by ordering the arrest of all of those who had spoken up. The troika Hoxha-Shehu-Balluku was so described by Nikita Khrushchev, then First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union:

The Albanians are worse than beasts – they are monsters. Only later did we learn how the Albanian Communist leaders punished and eliminated members of their own Party. They had a sort of troika: Hoxha, Shehu and Balluku. These three used to bring someone to trial, and Enver Hoxha and Mehmet Shehu would sentence the accused to death themselves, without ever putting anything in writing; then they would look for an opportunity to have their victim murdered secretly, and Balluku would personally carry out the execution. It was all very similar to the system used by Joseph Stalin and Lavrentiy Beria.

In 1960, following the Sino-Soviet split, Balluku, as a representative of the Albanian Party of Labour, took a strong pro-China and anti-Soviet stand in his speech at the Congress of the North Vietnam Communist Party.

Coup d'état accusation, arrest, and execution

In July 1974, after 22 uninterrupted years of service as the Minister of Defense of the People's Republic of Albania, Balluku himself was accused by Enver Hoxha of instigating revisionist ideas and was put on trial, accused of a military coup d'état and high treason against his own country. Balluku was sentenced to death along with Petrit Dume, Hito Çako and Rrahman Perrllaku.

Political analysts and scholars seem to agree that Hoxha was aware of the military establishment's desire to decrease the Party's influence in the areas of the military and the economy. Their attempt to downgrade Hoxha's concept of the people's war was rewarded when Hoxha deposed the entire top level of the military establishment, including the Minister of Defense, Balluku. Hoxha seems to have feared a coup d'état. Balluku was then ranked as the fourth member of the ruling Communist Party (after Enver Hoxha, Mehmet Shehu and Hysni Kapo)

In the 6 October 1974 elections for the People's Assembly, Balluku was the only leading Albanian politician not reelected (in his home district of Shkodër). The removal of Balluku from the Albanian Politburo had already been disclosed in a report from Belgrade on 11 September 1974.

Twelve days later, John A. Volpe, the US Ambassador to Italy, reported through a telegram sent to Washington that it was possible that Balluku and other high defense functionaries had been removed from their posts. The first indication was a discrepancy between Hoxha's and Balluku's opinions on the defense system of Albania; the second was a request from Beijing to Hoxha that he remove Balluku, who was making too many requests on weapons imports from People's Republic of China. The third possibility was the coup d'état intent of Balluku, possibly endorsed by the other pro-Soviet Union defense high functionaries.

Balluku was executed by firing squad on 5 November 1975.

Balluku's remains were retrieved only 26 years later, on 18 July 2000, on request of his family members. He had been put in a secret common grave in Vranisht, Vlorë County, together with the other two former Albanian generals (Dume and Çako) who had also been accused by Hoxha in 1974.

In 1979, following the ideological split of the Party of Labour of Albania from the Chinese Communist Party, Enver Hoxha wrote in his memoirs that the "enemy groups" of Abdyl Këllezi (Minister of the Economy) and Beqir Balluku (Minister of Defense) had drafted their inimical plan based on suggestions from Zhou Enlai, who was Premier of the People's Republic of China.

References

  1. "Të maskuar edhe ushtarakët shqiptarë në luftën e Vietnamit". Gazeta Si (in Albanian). 2019-12-08. Retrieved 2022-10-25.
  2. Teresa Rakowska-Harmstone (1984). Communism in Eastern Europe. Indiana University Press. pp. 226–. ISBN 978-0-253-31391-1. Retrieved 8 July 2012.
  3. ^ Boriçi november 2007 issue
  4. Pearson p.376
  5. Pearson 631
  6. Rakowska-Harmstone p.226
  7. Pearson 450 and 454
  8. Pearson, Owen (2007). Albania in the Twentieth Century, A History: Volume III: Albania as Dictatorship and Democracy, 1945–99. IB Taurus. p. 505. ISBN 9781845111052. Retrieved 2010-06-03.
  9. Pearson pp.505–506
  10. Pearson p.572
  11. Rakowska-Harmstone p.220
  12. Rakowska-Harmstone p.227
  13. Pearson pp.631–632
  14. "Si u zhduk Beqir Balluku?" [How did Beqir Balluku Disappear]. Koha Jone. Archived from the original on 2011-07-13. Retrieved 2010-06-04.
  15. Halliday, Jon (1986). The artful Albanian: memoirs of Enver Hoxha. Jon Halliday. pp. 304 and 307. ISBN 0-7011-2970-0. Retrieved 2010-06-03.
  16. Boriçi, Kujtim (November 2007). "Enver: For high Treason, Balluku, Dume and Çako to Military Trial! (Albanian: Enveri: Për tradhti të lartë, Balluku, Dume e Çako në gjyq ushtarak!)". Shekulli (in Albanian) (November 3, 2007). Archived from the original on 2008-02-07. Retrieved 2010-06-03.
  17. Hoxha, Enver; Nase, Nesti (1979). Reflections on China: extracts from the political diary. Naim Frasheri. pp. 110 and 124. ISBN 9780888030832. Retrieved 2010-06-03.

Sources

Politburo of the Party of Labour of Albania
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Members
1st Congress (1948)
2nd Congress (1952)
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4th Congress (1961)
5th Congress (1966)
6th Congress (1971)
7th Congress (1976)
8th Congress (1981)
9th Congress (1986)
10th Congress (1990)
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