The Vlora incident was a military confrontation between

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

and the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

in 1961. The

Albanian People's Army The Albanian People's Army (, UPSh) was the national army of the People's Socialist Republic of Albania from 1946 to 1990. Like the militaries of other Communist states, the UPSh was subjected to the nation's ruling party, in this case the Party ...

blockaded the Vlora naval base, leading to the seizure of Soviet ships and equipment. The incident underscored the escalating diplomatic tensions between the two nations, ultimately resulting in the expulsion of Soviet forces from Albania.

Background and prelude (1945–1961)

After

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Albania came under communist leadership, and under

Enver Hoxha Enver Halil Hoxha ( , ; ; 16 October 190811 April 1985) was an Albanian communist revolutionary and politician who was the leader of People's Socialist Republic of Albania, Albania from 1944 until his death in 1985. He was the Secretary (titl ...

's direction, the country grew to be one of the Soviet Union's closest allies in Europe. The Albanian government received financial and military assistance from the Soviet Union, which also helped to industrialize the nation. However, in the 1960s, a rift developed between Albania and the Soviet Union as a result of divergent views on how to interpret Marxism-Leninism and the best method for implementing communism on a global scale. Albania criticised the USSR for being too accommodating towards the United States and its allies, and rejected the détente approach that the Soviet Union was pursuing with the West. In 1960, Enver Hoxha caused a rift with the Soviets after he aligned his military with China.

Nikita Khrushchev Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (– 11 September 1971) was the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and the Premier of the Soviet Union, Chai ...

hoped that Albania would serve as a military base on the Mediterranean Sea for "all the socialist countries" and provided equipment and training to the Albanian army, which included a fleet of twelve submarines. As a result of the rift the Soviet Union imposed economic sanctions on Albania, withdrew eight of the twelve submarines, broke up Soviet naval facilities at the Albanian port of Vlora, engaged in polemical exchanges with Albanian leadership and encouraged pro-Moscow leaders in Albania to stage a coup against Hoxha. Among the conspiracy's ringleaders was

Vice Admiral Vice admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, usually equivalent to lieutenant general and air marshal. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral. Australia In the Royal Australian Navy, the rank of Vice ...

Teme Sejko Teme Sejko (August 25, 1922 – May 31, 1961) was an Albanian rear admiral and commander of the Albanian navy and the naval base of Durrës. In 1961 he was executed for allegedly being the leader of a pro-Soviet group that had been planning a co ...

, a senior Albanian military officer. Although the submarines withdrawal came shortly after the announcement of a trial against Sejko, it should not be assumed that the Albanians had prompted the Soviets to withdraw.

The Soviet position in the Mediterranean

During the Cold War, the Soviet Union tried to increase its military presence and influence outside of its boundaries, notably in the Mediterranean area. The stance of the Soviet Union in the Mediterranean was mainly intended to counter the United States and

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

, who maintained a sizable naval presence in the area. The Soviet Union was successful in increasing its naval presence in the Mediterranean. Albania was one instance of this, giving the Soviet Union a portion of its coastline as part of the latter's swift push into the Mediterranean. While comparatively insignificant politically and economically to the Soviet Union, Albania allowed the country to establish a strong military base that housed

Marines Marines (or naval infantry) are military personnel generally trained to operate on both land and sea, with a particular focus on amphibious warfare. Historically, the main tasks undertaken by marines have included Raid (military), raiding ashor ...

and larger units similar to destroyers.

Vlora Base

Vlora Base, also known as

Pasha Liman Base The Pasha Liman Base, or Pashaliman Base, is an Albanian Navy base south of Vlorë, Albania. History Cold War history Pashaliman was the only Soviet base in the Mediterranean in the 1950s. It was the hot spot of conflict between the Soviets and ...

, was a major Soviet naval base on the Albanian coast. Established in 1957, it served as an important base for Soviet submarines and warships in the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

The attack and withdrawal of the Soviet Navy

In 1961, the Albanian government decided to use military force to expel the Soviet forces from Albania and to take control of four of the twelve Soviet

submarine A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability.) The term "submarine" is also sometimes used historically or infor ...

s. On April 7, 1961, Albanian troops began to position the Vlora base and encircle the Soviet soldiers. Soviet forces were ordered to evacuate the base and leave Albania. Soviet troops initially resisted, but after several days of siege and negotiations, an agreement was reached. Soviet forces left the Vlora base on April 12, 1961, and withdrew from Albania. The Soviets withdrew, recalling eight submarines. After the Soviets tried to leave Albania, they were pursued by the

Albanian Naval Force The Albanian Naval Force () is the naval branch of the Albanian military. Their name was changed from the Albanian Naval Defense Forces in 2010. The Naval Force is headquartered in Durrës, and operates multiple bases, including Kepi i Palit b ...

and threatened with gunships. During this crisis, a group of Soviets were killed and a Soviet ship was destroyed by the Albanian army. Following these events, Khrushchev sought revenge on Albania. In 1962 he engaged with

Warsaw Pact The Warsaw Pact (WP), formally the Treaty of Friendship, Co-operation and Mutual Assistance (TFCMA), was a Collective security#Collective defense, collective defense treaty signed in Warsaw, Polish People's Republic, Poland, between the Sovi ...

members on how they could launch an invasion of Albania. However, this plan was curtailed by the advent of the

Cuban Missile Crisis The Cuban Missile Crisis, also known as the October Crisis () in Cuba, or the Caribbean Crisis (), was a 13-day confrontation between the governments of the United States and the Soviet Union, when American deployments of Nuclear weapons d ...

Aftermath

It led to the expulsion of the

Soviets The Soviet people () were the citizens and nationals of the Soviet Union. This demonym was presented in the ideology of the country as the "new historical unity of peoples of different nationalities" (). Nationality policy in the Soviet Union ...

from Albania. During the attack several

Soviet sailors The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until it dissolved in 1991. During its existence, it was the largest country by area ...

were killed by

Albanian Armed forces The Albanian Armed Forces () are the military of Albania and were formed after the declaration of independence in 1912. Today, it consists of the General Staff, the Albanian Land Force, Albanian Air Force and the Albanian Naval Force. The P ...

. After the incident, diplomatic relations between

and the

were cut off and the Soviet Union lost access to the Mediterranean on the Albanian coast. Despite the dramatic shift in relations with the Eastern Bloc for Albania, the Vlora incident did not result in any kind of improvement in relations between Albania and Western countries, either. Albania maintained close relations with the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, until those too were broken off in 1978.

References