Colonel Fiqri Dine (5 May 1897 or 3 August 1897 – 26 November 1960) was

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

of Albania under Nazi Germany government under

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

. He was the chieftain of the Dine clan from

Debar Debar ( mk, Дебaр ; Albanian: ''Dibër''/''Dibra'' or ''Dibra e Madhe;'' ) is a city in the western part of North Macedonia, near the border with Albania, off the road from Struga to Gostivar. It is the seat of Debar Municipality. Debar has ...

.Albania's national liberation struggle: the bitter victory By Reginald Hibbert Page 9

Biography

Prime minister

Despite being chosen as the Prime minister of Albania, Dine was mainly influenced by

Mehdi Frashëri Mehdi bey Frashëri (28 February 1872 – 25 May 1963) was an Albanian intellectual and politician. He served as Prime Minister of Albania in the 1930s and as Chairman of the Provisional Administration Committee in the Albanian puppet governm ...

and

Abaz Kupi Abaz Kupi (6 August 1892 – 17 January 1976) or Abas Kupi. He was also known as Bazi i Canës. He was an Albanian military officer. Kupi was born in Krujë. He served as commander of the gendarmerie of the town of Kruja, and later of the tow ...

. Frashëri, using Dine's connection to the

Legaliteti The Legaliteti ( sq, Lëvizja Legaliteti; en, Legality Movement) were an Albanian royalist and pro-monarchy faction founded in 1941. It was led by Abaz Kupi. Ideology The Legaliteti sought the return of King Zog, who had fled the country on ...

, requested that Kupi join the government. Kupi agreed after the Albanian partisans began attacking Kupi's territory. However, the Germans refused to accept Dine and Mehdi Frashëri's proposed cabinet or Frashëri's choice to succeed Fuat Dibra, who died in February, as Regent. Dine and Frasheri proposed that a

Gheg Gheg (also spelled Geg; Gheg Albanian: ''gegnishtja'', Standard sq, gegërishtja) is one of the two major varieties of Albanian, the other being Tosk. The geographic dividing line between the two varieties is the Shkumbin River, which winds ...

coalition should be formed. The plan was to coordinate Ballist and Zogist strength and, in cooperation with the Germans, drive back the Communists. At the same time, they hoped to convince the Allies that they were acting on behalf of an independent Albania and therefore deserved, if not direct Allied support, at least a respite from active Allied resistance. Initial military operations against the partisans were seemingly quite successful. Germans and Zogist forces, without directly cooperating, managed to drive the partisans from Mati at the end of July.

Mehmet Shehu Mehmet Ismail Shehu (January 10, 1913 – December 18, 1981) was an Albanian communist politician who served as the 23rd Prime Minister of Albania from 1954 to 1981. As an acknowledged military tactician, without whose leadership the communist p ...

forces that controlled Debar, forced the partisans to retreat for the time being. However, the Allied forces began dropping supplies to partisan territory and helping them rebuild a new offensive. The Ballist-Zogist gamble had failed. A series of ominous international events during the last days of August made it abundantly clear to even the most pro-German Albanians that the German occupation of Albania would soon end. The German elite within Albania grew wary of Dine and Frasheri. Martin Schliep and Josef Fitzthum where enraged after discovering Dine's contact with the Allies, replaced him with Ibrahim Biçakçiu on 29 August 1944. Dine was Prime minister for only 43 days.

After World War II

After the war Dine, together with Muharrem Bajraktari, worked for the Albanian Committee in Paris. Dine fled from Yugoslavia to Belgium, where he died on 26 November 1960, aged 63.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dine, Fiqri Government ministers of Albania Prime Ministers of Albania 1897 births 1960 deaths Balli Kombëtar Albanian collaborators with Nazi Germany Albanian anti-communists People from Dibër (municipality)