World War II in Albania

World War II in Albania
Part of the European theatre and Mediterranean and Middle East theatre of World War II

Map of Albania during World War II
Date7 April 1939 – 15 January 1945
Location
Result LANÇ victory
Belligerents
1942-1943
LANÇ
Balli Kombëtar

1942-1943
 Italy

1943-1945
Democratic Government of Albania

 Yugoslavia
 United Kingdom

1943-1945
 Germany

Balli Kombëtar

World War II in Albania began when the country was invaded by Fascist Italy and became a protectorate. Resistance movements like the National Liberation Movement and the Balli Kombëtar were formed but they had differences right from the start. The NLM were a Communist resistance movement while the BK were an Anti-communist and Nationalist resistance movements. When Germany occupied Albania in 1943, the Balli Kombëtar made a deal with Germany and continued the war against LANÇ and the Yugoslav Partisans. By august 1944 the German forces in Greece and Macedonia were retreating beacause of the Red Army advances in the Balkans and soon caught up to Yugoslavia, where they entered on September 30th. The Albanians liberated the capital city Tirana in November and would be fully liberated 12 days later.