The Skanderbeg Military University () was an educational entity of 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 ...

and the

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 ...

. It was the oldest military education institution in the

People's Socialist Republic of Albania The People's Socialist Republic of Albania, () was the Marxist-Leninist state that existed in Albania from 10 January 1946 to the 29 April 1991. Originally founded as the People's Republic of Albania from 1946 to 1976, it was governed by the P ...

History

Communist era

It was established on 8 November 1944 as a low-level training course for officers of the National Liberation Movement. This was during the

German occupation of Albania Albania was occupied by Nazi Germany between 1943 and 1944 during World War II. Before the armistice between Italy and the Allied armed forces on 8 September 1943, Albania had been in a ''de jure'' personal union with and was de facto under t ...

. It was housed in the buildings of the engineering department built by the

Italian Army The Italian Army ( []) is the Army, land force branch of the Italian Armed Forces. The army's history dates back to the Italian unification in the 1850s and 1860s. The army fought in colonial engagements in China and Italo-Turkish War, Libya. It ...

. In January 1945, it moved to the capital of

Tirana Tirana ( , ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in Albania, largest city of Albania. It is located in the centre of the country, enclosed by mountains and hills, with Dajti rising to the east and a slight valley to the northwest ov ...

, months after the

Liberation of Albania Liberation Day () in Albania is commemorated as the day, November 29, 1944, in which the country was liberated from Nazi Germany forces by the Albanian resistance during World War II. Background After Italy was defeated by the Allies, Germany o ...

. It moved to the buildings of the Military Department N. 1105 in Tirana, on what is now Myslim Keta Street. The first commander of this school was Lieutenant Colonel Irfan Peshtani. By order of the Ministry of People's Defense, the school accepted students from the

Skanderbeg Military High School The Skanderbeg Military High School (), nicknamed as the Army Nursery was a military boarding school of the Albanian People's Army of the People's Socialist Republic of Albania. It served to prepare youth with general military education and the ne ...

and from the districts of Albania. On 8 January 1949, it was renamed to the Enver Hoxha United School of Officers (). Graduates received a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

and became commissioned as

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

s. Many have led higher military structures as

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

s. From 1972 to 1983, it passed to the three-year system, and in 1984, it switched to a four-year higher education system. On 22–23 February 1991, a meeting of hard-line communists took place at the school, sparking rumors of a possible

coup d'état A coup d'état (; ; ), or simply a coup , is typically an illegal and overt attempt by a military organization or other government elites to unseat an incumbent leadership. A self-coup is said to take place when a leader, having come to powe ...

. As a result, a pro-democracy crowd gathered outside the school, prompting soldiers to shoot into the crowd below, killing four. A member of the

military police Military police (MP) are law enforcement agencies connected with, or part of, the military of a state. Not to be confused with civilian police, who are legally part of the civilian populace. In wartime operations, the military police may supp ...

was also killed amidst the tensions.

Post-1991

In 1995 the United High School of Officers reverted to the 3-year system and was renamed the Skanderbeg Military Academy (). In October 2003, the Skanderbeg Military University was established by merging into a single institution the Skanderbeg Military University, the

Naval Academy A naval academy provides education for prospective naval officers. List of naval academies See also

* Military academy {{Authority control Naval academies, Naval lists ...

and the Aviation Academy. In September 2004, it consisted of 2 faculties: * the Faculty of Economics * the Department of Business Management and the Faculty of Electronic Engineering Today, the Center for Foreign Languages and the Faculty of General Education of the Armed Forces Academy come from the remnants of the former Skanderbeg Military Academy.

Notable alumni and faculty

Bujar Nishani Bujar Faik Nishani (; 29 September 1966 – 28 May 2022) was an Albanian politician. He served as the president of Albania from 24 July 2012 to 24 July 2017. Nishani was the youngest person to have been chosen as president of Albania, taking of ...

, 7th

President of Albania The president of Albania (), officially the president of the Republic of Albania (), is the head of state, commander-in-chief of the Albanian Armed Forces, military and the representative of the unity of the Albanian people. The president sets ...

Kiço Mustaqi Kiço Mustaqi (22 March 1938 – 24 January 2019) was a former Albanian general and politician of the Albanian Party of Labour. He served as Chief of the General Staff of Albanian People's Army, the last Minister of Defence of the communist e ...

Minister of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...

in 1991 *

Alfred Moisiu Alfred Spiro Moisiu (; born 1 December 1929) is an Albanian military general, diplomat and politician who served as the president of Albania from 2002 to 2007. He is the oldest son of Albanian Army general Spiro Moisiu. Early life, education a ...

, 5th

* Iliriana Sulkuqi, Albanian poet *Drini Nikolla, deputy director of Defense Planning

References

{{Reflist Military academies of Albania Universities and colleges established in 1944 1944 establishments in Albania