1939-1943: Annexation of Albanian by fascist Italy. It stayed under Italian control during WWII, but there was a lot of resistance (different partisan groups, also communist partisans led by Hoxha). There was an Italian-Greek war front in the south of Albania.
1943: Italy capitulated, the German army took its place in Albania.
1944: Albania free from invaders (but a lot of damage), Hoxha as prime minister. The new communist regime isolated border areas with barbed wire to avoid escape from the inside and infiltration from the outside. Almost 1000 people died trying to cross the border.
1945-1990: lots of ambitious projects of the government (education, roads and railways, ...). But also extreme international isolation and economic stagnation/crisis. *Hoxha was obsessed with a suspected attack so there were lots of (chemical) weapons in Albania and he bunkered the country (most bunkers were able to face chemical and atomic attacks).
1975-1983: bunkerisation of Albania. 173371 bunkers were built = +- one for every eleven residents. Hundreds of soldiers and civilians died due to accidents at work.
Two pillars of the communist regime: propaganda to glorify the regime and violence (need for extreme political & social uniformity).
Difficult international relationships: close relation between Tirana and Moscow until 1968, from the early 1960s until 1978, China was the closest ally of Hoxha (lot of financial and cultural aid from China). End of the relationship with China (because of a meeting between Mao and the American president) -> the immature Albanian economy stopped developing.
Illiteracy campaigns: in 1945 81% of the population was illiterate.
