Abstract

Economic relations between Italy and Albania go back to the beginning of the 20th century, starting in 1912 with the establishment of the Albanian Republic. Italian historiography studied these relations during the fascist period from 1920-40, but the interest on the subject disappeared in the following period, with the exception of the book written by Roselli. The aim of this article is the study of the establishment of the economic and political hegemony on the Albanian economy for the period 1912-43. This process went on for thirty years and finished on Easter 39 with the formal annexation of the Kingdom of Albania by the fascist regime. The last part of the article takes into consideration the first attempt of central planning by the communist government. This attempt did not adopt immediately the Soviet model but built the essential central planning machinery which was the scaffolding structure which led the failed attempt of autarchic industrialisation for the coming 50 years.