The Military ranks of Albania are the military insignia used by the
Albanian Armed Forces.
Current ranks (since 2011)
Commissioned officer ranks
The rank insignia of
commissioned officers.
Other ranks
The rank insignia of
non-commissioned officers and
enlisted personnel
An enlisted rank (also known as an enlisted grade or enlisted rate) is, in some armed services, any rank below that of a commissioned officer. The term can be inclusive of non-commissioned officers or warrant officers, except in United States mi ...
.
History
Albanian military insignia have undergone several periods during which their design changed radically.
The first ranks in the
Albanian Armed Forces were formed in 1926 during the reign of
King Zog I
Zog I ( sq, Naltmadhnija e tij Zogu I, Mbreti i Shqiptarëve, ; 8 October 18959 April 1961), born Ahmed Muhtar bey Zogolli, taking the name Ahmet Zogu in 1922, was the leader of Albania from 1922 to 1939. At age 27, he first served as Albania's ...
. His rule comprises two periods, the "Austrian" (1929-1936) and the "Prussian (generals) + Italian (other ranks)" style (1936-1939) of insignia.
During the time of
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
and
German occupations of Albania their respective ranks were worn on Albanian militia uniforms.
After the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
, when the
communist regime took power, military ranks were radically changed in looks and in naming. In the first years officers and generals wore sleeve insignia whose order was loosely based on that time's Yugoslav patterns. In 1947 a new model was introduced (both in Albania and Yugoslavia), where insignia and ranks came from the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
. This followed the traditions of Stalin's last years where insignia of all the
Communist Bloc countries tended to uniformity. While most socialist countries abandoned this model soon after Stalin's death, Albania preserved it until May 1966, when military ranks were abolished altogether following Chinese example and based on doctrines of guerilla warfare.
With the fall of the communist regime the military ranks were re-established in 1991 following a Western model. However, there were several crucial changes in their design (1991, 2004 and 2011) and a few minor ones.
1966–1991
On April 22, 1966, the military ranking system of the Armed forces of the People's Republic of Albania, was officially abolished by the order nr. 0227 ''"Mbi heqjen e gradave"'' of the Minister of People's Defence,
Beqir Balluku,in accordance with the Nr. 4113 decree edicted by the Presidium of the
People's Assemby on 7 March 1966.
1991–1999
;Officer
;Other
1999–2004
;Commissioned officers
;Enlisted
2004–2011
;Commissioned officers
;Enlisted
References
External links
*
{{Military ranks by country
Military of Albania
Albania
Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...