Albanians appear to have embraced Marxist and/or social-democratic left-wing principles quite early. The research in this publication demonstrates that the history of the Albanian Left goes far back, undoubtedly preceding the totalitarian communist left; this is clear despite the 47 years that the Stalinist regime claiming that it began with the founding of the CPA.
The Albanian Left, like that throughout the world, was never entirely monolithic. From the beginning, at least six different currents could be distinguished. The romantic left (1) comprised individuals of different left-wing ideologies who were active up until the onset of World War I. Adherents of the utopic (communist) left (2) participated in Albania’s National Liberation War, but did not live to see the instalment of the ‘dictatorship of the proletariat.’ Followers of the Trotskyist left (3) were labelled as such only to be attacked as political opponents of the regime.
