Albania 1971: Former Backwater Of Europe Moves Into Twentieth Century.

Albania 1971: Former Backwater Of Europe Moves Into Twentieth Century.
Tirana has one of the bleakest capital cities in the world. It is plain and dull, a city without much of a soul, despite the socialist sloganeering. Statues of Stalin and Lenin dominate the main squares and parks, symbols of Albania's conservative brand of communism. The two main boulevards feature only a few large buildings, most of them offices for the Communist Party. The people dressed simply, and they live simply outside of work, there is little else to do.
To a Westerner, Tirana is a pedestrian paradise. There are almost no cars, and the bicycle has the biggest private luxury on wheels. But Albania is changing and advancing, and it is outside the capital where you get the feel of it.
A four-day bumpy ride in a Chinese minibus was a revealing experience. This country was once the poorest backwater of Europe. Now it produces enough to eat for its 2 million people. Almost every square inch of this mountainous land is being cultivated. 25 years ago, Albanians had never seen a train.
Now the major towns are connected by rail and the network is being extended. Manpower makes up for the shortage of machinery. Students are mobilized during the summer holidays to build a new railroad running to the Yugoslav border. And these pioneer brigades, as they're called, also help to meet highway construction deadlines. Albania is trying to industrialize in the Southwest. Primitive oil derricks are all over the countryside. It has plenty of other untapped mineral resources, including nickel and copper. One common feature of the landscape was the multitude of party slogans. They praised the Communist Party and its man in charge. Enver Hoxha Hodja takes all the credit for bringing Albania into the 20th century. And he is not shy about it. Already has immortalized himself in the National Museum of Gyro Custard, the town where he was born.
But in his country's development, Hoxha (Hodja) needs help from his friends. His only friends, for that matter, the Chinese. The ties are close. A recent visit by a music and dance theater from Peking got a warm reception in Tirana, though Albanian officials permitted the filming of this program. They won't allow Westerners to take pictures of the hundreds of Chinese working there as advisers or technicians. However, the signs of Chinese presence and help are everywhere in the modern Mao Tomb textile plant in Berat. Everything was imported from China, including the Fuze boxes and the light bulbs. The factory employs more than 6000 workers, mostly women. It covers all of Albania's textile needs and exports blankets and carpets to Eastern Europe. The Chinese have supplied extremely sophisticated equipment…