Check out Headstamp Publishing’s extensive catalog of excellent books:
https://www.headstamppublishing.com/home-forgotten
Albanian AKs are both pretty scarce to find outside Albania, and also a bit unusual in the AK field. Where most countries followed Russian AK development, Albania instead patterned theirs on the Chinese Type 56. China had Russian assistance in producing the original milled-receiver AK, but the milled AKM cam after the Sino-Soviet split and so China had to create their own stamped receiver design independently. We see those features in the Albanian ASh-78, in elements like the offset front trunnion rivet, gas vent holes, stock and grip style, single trigger guard rivets, and lack of a rate reducing mechanism in the FCG.
In 1960 China began providing military aid to Albania. The first rifle production there was a version of the SKS, which are made into the early 1970s. In 1974 the Albanian state arsenal began setting up AK production with Chinese help as well. Relations between the two countries broke down shortly thereafter, and by the time production began in 1978 the Albanians were working entirely independently. They added an underfolding model (the ASh-82) in 1982, and production continued past the end of the Cold War. Total production numbers are not known, as military information was pretty tightly controlled.
Albanian SKS video: https://youtu.be/-g0YFJ24OTc
Many thanks to the Royal Armouries for allowing me to film and disassemble this rare piece! The NFC collection there – perhaps the best military small arms collection in Western Europe – is available by appointment to researchers:
https://royalarmouries.org/research/national-firearms-centre/
You can browse the various Armouries collections online here:
https://royalarmouries.org/collection/
What does the “UCK” inscription mean? Is it an editorial comment on the build quality?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kosovo_Liberation_Army
There was the Kosovo Liberation Army during the late Balkans War. The acronym was U.C.K. in the local lingo. I don’t know whether they started their small arms though
There is no such thing as “Balkans war”, it was a war in Kosovo during legendary, end of the century year of 1999.
It’s what one says when looking at it. It’s inscribed on there to be sure you pronounce it properly.
There was the Kosovo Liberation Army during the late Balkans War. The acronym was U.C.K. in the local lingo. I don’t know whether they started their small arms though
Not “started”, “stamped”
Larry made his 56S much better than this hunk of junk.
Look… Here’s the deal: A weapon reflects the needs and natures of the people building it.
Albania did not have a Swiss culture, or a Swiss-style militia model of national defense. So, they didn’t chose to build K31 or StG57.
What they chose reflects the national needs and the necessities imposed by both culture and industrial base. As such, you have to evaluate within those constraints, not against some fantasy-ideal.
Did the Albanian weapons work for them? That’s the question, and I’d say that within that ideational framework, they mostly did. Not that we’ll ever know, thankfully, because the existential war envisioned by the Hoxha regime never happened…
Personally, I think the whole Albania “thing” is a fascinating insight into how a tiny fragment of a culture can manage to eke out an existence on the periphery of major empires, and still maintain something of an identity.
You go back far enough, and the Albanians were giving grief to the Romans… Along with nearly everyone else that ever had to deal with them.
Half a dozen Roman emperors were Illyrian in origin (the root of the later Albanians). These include Diocletian and Constantine the Great. Their truculence paid off now and again, eh?
Illyrian origin of Albanians is mostly myth, Albanians have about same in common with Illyrians that other inhabitants of southern Croatia/Serbia/Bosnia do do, ~5-10%.
Basically all people living in Balkans, including good part of Albanians are mix of Slavs and almost all previous inhabitants. Ratios may vary a bit, but for most it is clearly present.
I agree with Bojan.
Speaking of Slavs, the populations living these days in ex-Yugoslavian countries have little to nothing genetically with original Slav tribes that settled these lands in 7-8th century AD.
The “shquiperi” albanians as well as so called “bosniaks” suffer to a degree of phenomenon of wide population expansion in 20th century from smaller number of people, with not much, if any, external genetic admixture – they have characteristic looks in them, that is somewhat different compared to some other south slavic nations.
An interesting read is the 2023 “The Geonomic History of Southeastern Europe From the Bronze Age to the Present.” Its point is that marked genetic continuity goes back at least 4,000 years there.(See https://increase.pw/Study ADN)
Horses for courses. What’s interesting is that the AK design envelope allows for production by what amounts to Sten MK III level materiel technology and QC, and the darned thing still works.
At least well enough for the kind of war Hoxha thought he’d get to fight.
Just like he needed 173,371 one-man concrete bunkers spread across the country.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enver_Hoxha
The problem was that you never really get to decide what kind of war you’re going to be fighting all on your own.
The enemy has a vote on that, as well.
Hoxha’s enemies mainly “fought” him by ignoring him.
cheers
eon
The really amazing thing about Hoxha is how everyone in Albania just went along with his nuttiness, as if he’d cast some sort of spell over them. It was similar in Romania, with Ceaucescu… Right up until it wasn’t.
I do rather wonder what the hell the war he was preparing for would have looked like, if it had ever actually, y’know… Happened. What unGodly coalition of Albanian enemies would have played into his hands, to make that bunker system setup even work?
Friend of mine did some survey work, down there. He came back and was just shaking his head over the siting and setup for most of those bunkers… The vast majority were totally pointless, just blobs of concrete stuck out in the countryside to make it look like a serious defense. No rhyme or reason, and sure as hell no interlocking fields of fire.
The ‘shelter in place’ mentality as a way of dealing with distasteful leaders is an age old expedient. Look at the political Right in the US
Biden.
I wonder about those 173,371 mini-bunkers.
173.
371.
One is the reverse of the other.
Along with his other whackdoodleness, was Hoxha into some weird kind of numerology?
cheers
eon
Not everyone went with Hoxha’s madness, but those people tended to disappear.
My high school friend’s father escaped from Albania to Yugoslavia in the ’60s when he was in his teens. His whole family was arrested for “counter revolutionary activity”, including his 16 y/o sister and 12y/o brother. His family was catholic and Christian (catholic and orthodox) Albanians were particularly targeted. None of his family was ever seen again.
He was visiting some relatives so he escaped initial arrest, and then relatives mIlyrian orygin of Albanians is mostly myth managed to smuggle him across a border with Yugoslavia. He first lived with some relatives in Kosovo (that he could not stand, in his word “They were always complaining and talking about Albania while living a good life and having no clue what was going on in Albania) where he registered as a refugee, attended high school, then, when he was 18 moved to Belgrade on government assistance program helping refugees from Albania, where he became a bus driver, later manager in the public transportation company.
Quite interesting guy with quite interesting world view, still quite sharp today in his ’80s.
damn, part of previous quote went here, and there is no way to edit it…
Frankly, maybe I’m ignorant by a degree, but I think I’m not off when I say its hard to comprehend what is interesting in Albania for invaders to conquer. I’ve stated it few years before here, but again, they were post 1945 not in danger of becoming a happy family of south slavic united brothers (and their Communist party “fathers” that acted as overseers with a big bloody stick) because their culture, history and religion, and especially the language, had nothing in common with serbs, croats, slovenians, macedonians etc.
As for the bunkers, they seem stupid, but with such high number if you were to attack every one of them with some (un)guided munitions, it quickly becomes IMO very expensive endeveaour.
There is noticeable genetic link to original Slavs, about 30-50%, depending on place, but overall it is a mix.
Ironically “Bosniaks” from Sanjak are closest to medieval Serbians…
Another stereotype is about significant % of Turkish ancestry, but it is hardly present, as most local “Turks” were actually Christian converts, either willing or forced, real Turks rarely intermarried to locals.
Another interesting part is significant genetically difference between south and north in both Croatia and Serbia.
Albanians also vary considerably, those from Kosovo, northern/eastern, southern and coastal parts of Albania, with influence of Slavic (north, east and central), Greek (southern) and Italian (coastal) ancestry.
Unfortunately this research often tainted by nationalism and national stereotypes. 🙁
The way it was explained to me, by a Serbian no less, was that the reason the Bosniaks were so hated by the Serbs was threefold: One, they were the “townies” who were always living in the towns and cities, while the “true Serbs” were largely rural, so that was an existing point of contention, and then two, the Bosniaks converted over to Islam to get in with the Turks, making them Quislings, and three, the miserable bastards then performed much of the administrative Turkish stuff like tax collecting and all that.
Which, per his take on it all, included taking people’s property and kids for sale when they couldn’t come up with the coin for taxes. Basically, what he said was there was still residual folk-memory out in the countryside of the “Quisling converted townies” coming out and taking kids away to be sold at auction in Istanbul…
Not to say that this is historically accurate, but that was the way he explained why he hated Bosnian Muslims so very, very much. It was really weird to watch him over the years, because back in the ’70s when I was a kid, he got along great with all the other “Yugoslav” expats, including the Bosnian Muslims. Once the BS lit off over there, at home…? It was like a switch got thrown, and all the memories came flooding back, stuff he’d literally absorbed with his mother’s milk. The depth and the utterly feral nature of that hatred always took me aback, but I can understand it when I look at the history he’d absorbed growing up…
I’d reckon these truly ethnic turks or ones that strongly identified as such were “repatriated” back to turk mainland during the end of 19th century, and as it was said, domicile population had no huge turk gene influx. Probably its the opposite, the hundred of thousands of people that they enslaved and sent to Anatolia were more numerous then turks settling in Balkans.
As for the albanians, there is also one peculiarity not found in modern european states these days or even centuries; the national split between 2 tribes, which is serious enough that in iirc 1996 or 97. there was almost a civil war in the country, sparked by failed ponzi schemes that infested their financial system.
During that times, military warehouses were looted and part of the gear ended in Kosovo, thus arming by degree belligerents like UCK, which sparked the clashes and war in 1998-1999.
The actual Turks didn’t like the harsh winters, and didn’t stick around.
Their hirelings, however…? Mostly local, mostly converts, and really, really hated.
The Serbs I’ve known had easier times making friends and doing things socially with actual Turks than they did Bosnian Muslim types. Universally, the Turks were “OK people, they beat us fair and square…”. The Bosnian Muslims? “Race traitors; turncoats, city-bred scum…”
It’s about like anywhere, where a conquering party comes in, takes over, and then picks locals out to put in charge over “everyone else”. That’s why the Hutus hate the Tutsis so hard in Rwanda; anywhere you look, whoever the incoming conqueror puts in charge of things winds up being the on-scene bastard everyone blames. Happened the world over, everywhere. Have a look at the deal with regards to the Indian tribes here in the US where they went to work for the US Army as scouts; those tribes are universally reviled by the ones they helped fight against.
Smart money says that the long-term game is to religiously avoid playing for the other side; inevitably, empire will recede, and then all those goodies you got from your new masters are going to have a price attached to them.
I cannot honestly think of a single case I’ve ever run across where becoming a Quisling has worked out, for anyone, over the long haul. I am sure someone far more erudite than myself can probably name some good examples, but I’m unable to come up with any at the moment.
I grew up with Albanians. Tough. They know how to survive.
I grew up with Elbonians. Wily. They know how to connive.
.
Scrubbed again
Great Review….VERY informative!