Albanian–Yugoslav border conflict (1948–1954)
| Albanian–Yugoslav conflict | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Cold War and the Informbiro period | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
| PR Albania |
| ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
|
Enver Hoxha (First Secretary of the Party of Labour of Albania) Mehmet Shehu (Chief of the General Staff of the Albanian People's Army) Kadri Hazbiu (Chief of the Directorate of State Security) |
Josip Broz Tito (President of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia) Peko Dapčević (Chief of the General Staff of the Yugoslav People's Army) Aleksandar Ranković (Minister of the interior and chief of the military intelligence agency) | ||||||||
| Units involved | |||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
|
4 border battalions 800 military security services of the Sigurimi. | 2 Yugoslav Army divisions | ||||||||
| Political support | |||||||||
| Party of Labour of Albania | League of Communists of Yugoslavia | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
|
7 Albanian soldiers killed 16 arrested |
11–34 Yugoslav soldiers and militiamen killed 18–38 injured 8–15 were kidnapped including UDBA agents | ||||||||
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The Albanian–Yugoslav border conflict, was a period of armed confrontations between the armed forces of Albania and Yugoslavia between the years 1948 and 1954. This period of heightened tensions between Albania and Yugoslavia stemmed from territorial disputes and ideological divisions between the Yugoslav Leader Josip Broz Tito and Albanian Leader Enver Hoxha. During the Cold War period, the border between Albania and Yugoslavia became one of the most contentious in the Eastern Bloc.
The conflict also encompassed contentious issues, including the status of Kosovo, with its significant Albanian population. Hoxha's regime regarded Kosovo as part of its historical and ethnic territory, further fueling the tensions between the two nations.
The Sigurimi, Albania's secret police, played a significant role in fomenting separatism in Kosovo and advocating for the idea of a "Greater Albania". The Sigurimi actively supported early planners in exile, working to cultivate support for an independent Kosovo among Albanians in Yugoslavia. It was reported that Hoxha brought Albanian separatists into Yugoslavia to advance his aim of supporting separatism in Kosovo and implementing the Greater Albania project, as asserted by authors and the Yugoslav government.