50 Lekë 1976, Albania
| in Krause book | Number: 45 |
| Years of issue: | 1976 |
| Edition: | |
| Signatures: | no signature |
| Serie: | 1976 Issue |
| Specimen of: | 1964 |
| Material: | Cotton fiber |
| Size (mm): | 150 х 85 |
| Printer: | Albanian printer (unknown) |
* All pictures marked 
are increased partially by magnifying glass, the remaining open in full size by clicking on the image.
** The word "Specimen" is present only on some of electronic pictures, in accordance with banknote images publication rules of appropriate banks.
Description
Watermark:
Abbreviation of Albanian State Bank BSHSH, in a semicircle, near five-pointed star (repeated).
Avers:
The main motive of the obverse is the parade of the detachment of the National Liberation Army of Albania, with the Albanian flag. Along the edges - right and left - bay leaves.
On the front are the army officers with red ties, which meant that the partisan detachment belonged to the communist movement during the Second World War (since, at that time, there were partisan detachments of various ideologies in the country).
In fact, in my opinion, partisans and the People’s Army of Albania are mixed on the banknote (in the uniform).
Most likely, there was a view of the army, in its collective sense, as a defender of the socialist fatherland.
Now a little history:
The national liberation army of Albania is an armed guerrilla unit led by the Communist Party of Albania during the Second World War.
As a result of the Italian-Albanian War, April 7-12, 1939, Albania was occupied by Italian troops. In 1940, the first partisan anti-fascist units, led by former officers of the royal army, appeared in the country. On November 8, 1941, disparate Marxist groups in Tirana united in the Communist Party of Albania. On September 16, an underground conference was held in the city of Peza, as a result of which the National Liberation Front of Albania (NOFA) was created. In this front, anti-fascist groups and movements with different political orientations were united, but the Communists dominated it. By the end of 1942, 22 partisan detachments operated in the country.
The Albanian Communist Party, headed by Enver Hoxha, acted on the territory of southern Albania. From June 1941, small partisan detachments began to ambush Italian patrols. In the spring of 1942, the formation of mobile battalions and local self-defense forces began, and in April 1943, an English military mission arrived in Albania, whose task was to support the partisans. In May, the territory of Albania was divided into operational zones and a partisan general staff was formed. By July, the forces of the Albanian partisans numbered about 10,000 men, operating in the composition of 20 battalions and 30 detachments.
At the head of these forces, known as the People’s Liberation Army, was Colonel General Enver Hoxha. Khoja tried to unite all the Albanian rebels by signing the Mukai Pact, but this policy soon collapsed, since the opponents of Khoja saw in this an attempt to spread the influence of the Albanian Communist Party to the north of the country. In August, Khoja, following a Yugoslav pattern, forms the 1st Shock Brigade, consisting of five infantry battalions and an artillery battery.
Other Albanian rebels were much worse organized. In the north of the country, the local Albanian clans began to lead the guerrilla war traditional for these places. In central Albania (Kruja region), the brave Abbas Kupi, who returned to the country from Yugoslavia in April 1941, tried to revive the insurgency, despite the unreliability of his people and the lack of support from Yugoslavia already occupied by that time. In 1942, in the south of Albania, conservative, anti-communist and anti-linguistic forces organized the Bally Kombetar movement, so named after the creator of this movement. Supporters of the movement formed several small "battalions", but did not conduct active hostilities, fearing reprisals from the Italians. The ratio of NOFA to it was ambiguous. Until the autumn of 1943, communist and nationalist guerrillas conducted joint operations against the Italian troops.
In 1943, the partisan movement in the country became widespread. On July 10, the decision of the General Council of the NOFA to establish the General Staff of the partisan detachments was issued. On July 27, the General Staff ordered the unification of all partisan detachments into the National Liberation Army of Albania. the largest unit in the army was a brigade of four or five battalions. The battalions, in turn, were formed from three or four partisan detachments. The whole territory of Albania was divided into operational zones within which the headquarters operated, subordinate to the center. On August 15, 1943, by decision of the General Staff, the 1st Brigade was formed, headed by one of the first leaders of the Central Committee member Dali Ndreu. The leader of the Communist Party, Enver Hoxha, became the Supreme Commander.
In the fall of 1943, Anglo-American troops landed in Italy. Using the confusion of the Italian troops, parts of NOAA took control of the coast of the Ionian Sea from Logory to Saranda, creating in the future the possibility of establishing links with the Allied forces in southern Italy.
The capitulation of Italy, which took place in September 1943, became a turning point in the history of the Albanian partisan movement. Some Italian soldiers went home, but the entire Firenz division went over to the partisan side. The Italians formed a battalion "Antonio Gramsci" of about 1,500 men in the 1st Shock Brigade (which later became the brigade). The Germans hastily sent the 21st Mountain Rifle Corps to Albania (the 100th Jäger and 297th Infantry Divisions). Power in Albania passed into the hands of the Albanian National Committee. The committee hastily severed all ties with Italy and declared the neutrality of Albania, referring to Egypt, which also maintained neutrality, despite the British occupation. But the war continued. At the beginning of 1944, the Albanian collaborationist forces consisted of the 1st and 4th infantry regiments, four battalions of the fascist militia and gendarmerie, formed in the spring of 1943 by General Prenkom Previs. In April 1944, the Mountain Division of the Skanderbeg SS was formed in Kosovo, in which about 6,500 Albanians served. The division proved to be unreliable and in October 1944 ceased to exist.
After the failure of the Mukai Pact at the end of 1943, relations between different currents of the Albanian rebels developed into an armed conflict. Abas Kupi returned to Kruja and in December organized the royalist movement "Legality" ("Zogis movement"), in which mainly Muslims participated. Members of the Bally Kombetar preferred the German occupation to the Italian, because they believed that only the Germans would be able to help Albania retain Kosovo after the war. Therefore, the movement "Bally Kombetar" went over to the side of the Nazis and provided its 20 battalions to fight the Albanian partisans.
In December 1943, the Germans attacked partisan-controlled territory in the south of Albania. The Nazis did not succeed in defeating the partisans - by this time Enver Hoxha had six brigades with a total number of 35,000 bayonets - the partisans retreated into the mountains under the onslaught of the enemy. In February 1944, they descended from the mountains, again seized the lost territories and began to advance north. In May 1944, the 1st Shooting Division was formed (1st, 2nd and 5th Brigade). Together with the division, the Anti-Fascist Council of National Liberation arose - a provisional Albanian government controlled by the Communists. In response, the Hitlerites and the Bally Kombetar launched a retaliatory offensive, striking at the 7th and 12th partisan brigades in central Albania. The SS division "Skanderbeg" mentioned above participated in this attack. In July 1944, poorly equipped and small units of the “Legality” movement were defeated, and Abas Kupi fled to Italy. The 1st Division of the partisans, with the support of their Yugoslav comrades, attacked gendarme units in the west of Macedonia. The gendarmes were scattered, and Previsi sought asylum in the British military mission.
In August 1944, Khoja formed the 2nd Shooting Division, which, together with the 1st Shock Division, formed the 1st Army Corps. By this time, Khoja had 70,000 soldiers united in 22 brigades (two more brigades soon appeared: 23rd and 24th) and territorial battalions. However, the capital of Albania - Tirana - still remained in the hands of the enemy. In October 1944, Hoxha put the 1st Division (1st, 4th, 23rd Brigade) and the 3rd, 6th, 8th and 10th Brigades to take the city. Tirana passed into the hands of partisans after three weeks of intense fighting. Meanwhile, the British landed troops in Albania, which, with the support of the partisans, dispersed parts of the Bally Kombetar. The Germans evacuated their troops from Albania. By December 1944, it was all over. In 1945, three new Albanian divisions appeared - from the 3rd to the 6th - which were sent to Kosovo to help the local Yugoslav partisans.
On November 17, 1944, parts of NOAA took Tirana. November 29 was taken Shkodra, the last Albanian city held by the invaders. It was the Day of Liberation of Albania from the Fascist invaders by the proud and courageous partisans of Albania. The day when this beautiful and wonderful country was almost close to becoming a kind of colony for the ideologues of racism, Nazism and the racial superiority of the "true Aryans." At the end of the year, Albanian partisans, together with the units of the Yugoslav People's Liberation Army, participated in military operations in Montenegro and Kosovo.
Albanian military parade, 1959.
Albanian military parade, 1969.
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The national flag of the Republic of Albania is a rectangular red cloth with a 5: 7 aspect ratio with a black double-headed eagle from the coat of arms of Albania in the center. The red color of the flag is a symbol of the blood of the Albanian patriots, spilled by them in the centuries-old struggle against the enslavers (primarily Turkish).
A variant of the Albanian flag, which depicts a red star, bordered in yellow, dates back to the 1946 communist coup.
In 1912, Albania declared independence from the Ottoman Empire. Since then, absolutely all versions of the Albanian flag had an image of an eagle. In 1992, Albania again became a parliamentary republic.
The red flag with a black double-headed eagle was the banner of George Kastriot, known as Skanderbeg, the hero of the struggle against the Turks and the founder of an independent state in 1443. It is possible that the eagle on the banner was chosen by him, as a sign of the tradition by which the Albanians are descendants of the eagle. According to another version, the eagle was borrowed from the coat of arms of the Byzantine Empire.
On right side is Skanderbeg.
George Castriot (Albanian: Gjergj Kastrioti, 6 May 1405 – 17 January 1468), known as Skanderbeg (Albanian: Skënderbej or Skënderbeu from Ottoman Turkish: اسکندر بگ, translit. İskender Beğ), was an Albanian nobleman and military commander, who served the Ottoman Empire in 1423-1443, the Republic of Venice in 1443-1447, and lastly the Kingdom of Naples until his death. After leaving Ottoman service, he led a rebellion against the Ottoman Empire in what is today Albania and North Macedonia. Skanderbeg always signed himself in Latin: Dominus Albaniae ("Lord of Albania"), and claimed no other titles but that in documents.
A member of the noble Castriot family, he was sent to the Ottoman court as part of the Devshirme, where he was educated and entered the service of the Ottoman sultan for the next twenty years. He rose through the ranks, culminating in the appointment as sanjakbey (governor) of the Sanjak of Dibra in 1440. In 1443, he deserted the Ottomans during the Battle of Niš and became the ruler of Krujë, Svetigrad, and Modrič. In 1444, he was appointed the chief commander of the short-lived League of Lezhë that consolidated nobility throughout what is today Northern Albania. Thus, for the first time Albania was united under a single leader. Skanderbeg's rebellion was not a general uprising of Albanians, because he did not gain support in the Venetian-controlled north or in the Ottoman-controlled south. His followers included, apart from Albanians, also Slavs, Vlachs, and Greeks. Despite this military valor he was not able to do more than to hold his own possessions within the very small area in nowadays northern Albania where almost all of his victories against the Ottomans took place. His rebellion was a national rebellion. The resistance led by him brought Albanians of different regions and dialects together in a common cause, helping define the ethnic identity of the Albanians. Skanderbeg's military skills presented a major obstacle to Ottoman expansion, and he was considered by many in western Europe to be a model of Christian resistance against Muslims. For 25 years, from 1443 to 1468, Skanderbeg's 10,000 man army marched through Ottoman territory winning against consistently larger and better supplied Ottoman forces, for which he was admired.
In 1451, he recognized de jure the sovereignty of the Kingdom of Naples over Albania through the Treaty of Gaeta, to ensure a protective alliance, although he remained a de facto independent ruler. In 1460-1461, he participated in Italy's civil wars in support of Ferdinand I of Naples. In 1463, he became the chief commander of the crusading forces of Pope Pius II, but the Pope died while the armies were still gathering. Together with Venetians he fought against the Ottomans during the Ottoman–Venetian War (1463-1479) until his death in January 1468. He ranks high in that military history, as the most persistent opponent of the Ottoman Empire in its heyday who was also ever-victorious. 
An inscription::"Banka e Shtetit Shqiptar. I Paguhet Prurёsit Me Tё Parё".
In English: "Bills of Albanian State Bank should be accepted everywhere in the country".
Revers:
The banknote shows a residential house under construction, a rifle and a pickaxe.
Apparently, an association is being held that the working class of Albania is ready to defend to protect the Motherland and build communism or developed socialism.
The transformational period of development of the economies of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) covered the housing and utilities sector, which was at the breaking point of the problems of developing market relations, on the one hand, and the formation of a social protection system for the population, on the other. The crisis of the transformation period manifested itself in a reduction in the volume of housing and communal construction, a reduction in the costs of local budgets for financing repair and operational production in the housing sector, providing the population with household and utility services, and slowing down the process of improving the quality characteristics of the housing stock and the living conditions of citizens.
The housing reform of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe envisaged a gradual transition to an increase in reimbursement of expenses for the payment of utility bills through public payments. However, state intervention in order to strengthen control over the activities of utilities was recognized as expedient, which was explained both by the high monopolization of housing and communal services and management features that were formed in this area during the years of socialism, and by the difficulties that arose during the implementation of reforms. Government regulation was recognized as essential mainly in social protection programs for vulnerable segments of the population. The housing policy of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe provided for financial assistance to pay utility services to all citizens in need.
In the socialist period, much attention in the CEE countries was paid to the problem of providing the population with housing. Until the late 1960s more than 5% of the national income was spent for these purposes, and housing was distributed free of charge under the strict control of the state. However, by the early 1970s. most of the CEE countries (except Romania and Albania) abandoned the “Soviet model” of free housing distribution and switched to its commercial acquisition by households (the only exception was poor citizens). At the same time, various forms of state financial support for citizens were provided for (loans, loans, long-term rental housing with subsequent purchase by installments, etc.). However, it was not possible to completely solve the problem of providing households with housing in the CEE countries until the second half of the 1980s. (the only exception was the GDR). In addition, the quantitative and, especially, qualitative parameters of the housing stock in socialist European countries were markedly lower than in other Western European countries.
Analysis of the structure of capital investments in the construction of a new housing stock in the CEE countries in the period up to the mid-1980s. showed that the main contractors in the GDR, Czechoslovakia, Romania and Albania were state developers, whose share in the total volume of new housing construction exceeded 50% (for the GDR and Czechoslovakia) and 70% for Romania and Albania. The private sector and housing construction cooperatives in the GDR and Czechoslovakia accounted for approximately 25% each. In Romania and Albania, these sectors were represented much weaker and did not exceed 25%. In Poland, Hungary and Bulgaria, private sources (up to 70%) of new housing construction funds prevailed. For comparison, in the USSR, the main developers were government contractors, and the central budget of the country financed more than 80% of new housing construction and public utilities, there was mainly a free distribution of housing.
The second half of the 1980s characterized by growing tensions in the development of the economy and social sphere in the socialist countries of CEE. The increase in government domestic and foreign debt, budget deficits, rising world prices for energy, consumer price liberalization, etc., reduced the possibilities for housing and communal construction. 1981-1990 its volumes in some countries of the region (Poland, Hungary, Romania, Albania) decreased by almost 30%. The situation in Bulgaria remained relatively stable during this period, where the decline in housing construction was only 1%. (Д. Г. Родионов, д. э. н., профессор Ленинградского областного института экономики и финансов (ЛОИЭФ) .rus)
There is another topic that, as I think, is related to the reverse of a banknote.
Albania was a member of the CMEA (Comecon) from 1949 to 1961.
The CMEA (The Council for Mutual Economic Assistance) acted as an intergovernmental organization from 1949 to 1991. It was created by representatives of the USSR, Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Czechoslovakia. Over the years, Albania, the GDR, Mongolia, Cuba, and Vietnam participated in its work.
The Council for Mutual Economic Assistance was created in January 1949, when, during a closed economic meeting (January 5-8), in which representatives of the governments of the USSR, Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, Poland and Czechoslovakia took part, a decision was made to establish the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance.
The purpose of the Council is to promote the establishment of close economic ties between the Soviet Union and the countries of the new democracy. The protocol on the creation of the CMEA was signed in Moscow on January 18, 1949.
The key priorities of the activities of the CMEA were the economic, scientific and technical cooperation of the member countries of the Union, which implied the development of mutual trade, the exchange of economic experience, the provision of mutual assistance with raw materials, food, equipment, machinery and other goods.
In the mid-1970s, the Council was granted observer status at the UN, which was a confirmation of the authority and economic success of the organization, during these same years one third of the global industrial production fell on the CMEA countries.
The key task of the CMEA was to help, by coordinating the efforts of the member countries of the organization, to deepen and improve economic cooperation, systematically develop their economies, accelerate economic, scientific and technological progress, level out their economic development levels.
The CMEA contributed greatly to the development of the participating countries. At the initial stage of its development (1949–1960s), the CMEA played an important role in boosting the economies of the Central European countries belonging to the Soviet bloc. During the years of being in the CMEA, a number of countries went through a stage of industrialization, the living standards of the population rose sharply, and there was extensive housing construction. In this connection, the CMEA began to be perceived as an alternative only to the European integration process, which was then gaining momentum, demonstrating a number of advantages of a socialist planned economy. Attempts were made to move within the framework of the CMEA to sectoral specialization, covering both industry and agriculture.
Tirana, Albania, 1976.
Sarandё, Albania, 1978.
Top, right is the Coat of arms of the People’s Socialist Republic of Albania 1946-1992.
"The coat of arms of the People’s Socialist Republic of Albania is an image of a black double-headed eagle, framed by two bunches of wheat ears, which have a five-pointed red star at the top and are tied at the bottom with a red ribbon on which the date" May 24, 1944 "is written."
Inscription at the bottom:"Ligja dёnon ata qё fabrikojnё dhe ndajne bileta tё fallsifikuara".
In English: "Forgery of state bills is punishable by law".
Comments:
In 1965, notes (dated 1964) were introduced by the Banka e Shtetit Shqiptar in denominations of 1, 3, 5, 10, 25, 50 and 100 lekë. A second series of notes was issued in 1976 when the country changed its name to the People's Socialist Republic.
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