1980: Kardeli died, Tito died... "I'm not feeling so well today either"!

What are the events that marked Albanians and the world in 1980?

This was the year of Kosovo's boxers. KB "Prishtina" - Xhevdet Peci, Sami Buzolli, Nazif Gashi, etc. are the four-time state champions.

Bravo!

The autonomy of 1974 was functioning in Kosovo, the University was working as it is best, Kosovo was developing new cadres, Kosovo was also developing economically, while our boxers beat all the boxers of Yugoslavia at that time. Everything seemed to be OK, that Kosovo is the "Garden of Eden". But this was not so. We were still living in illusions, unfortunately. At that time, articles were published about the suffering of blacks in America, while no one thought to understand that we are the blacks of Europe. However, the University was working, at least the students, who will later let us know that something is wrong!

The most important events noted at that time in the world are: Eight American commandos were killed in Iran after the failed action to free the 52 American hostages captured by the decision of Ayatollah Khomeini - five months ago; the specialized air unit made a successful attack on the occupied Iranian embassy - by terrorists in London; the Olympic Games are held in Moscow, but the USA, West Germany and Japan boycotted them protesting the invasion of the USSR in Afghanistan; Ronald Reagan is appointed president of America. Meanwhile, in the Balkans, in a part of it, this will be the saddest year in recent decades: Marshal Josip Broz Tito, the lifelong president of the former Yugoslavia, died. Tito's burial is said to have been graceful, as the greatest people of that time were present. This burial is said not to have been done to anyone else. So, it was one of the most televised events in the world.

Tito died, regardless of the pathetic headlines in the then Albanian-language newspapers and magazines in Kosovo: "Why doesn't his heart beat anymore? Yes, it has stopped beating, but only in His body. It beats even more in our hearts, because it is the heart of our hearts", "There is only one Tito, we are all Tito" ... Regardless of the fact that people were waiting in huge queues in front of the "Boro e Ramizi" Youth Palace - not to vote, but to sign the Book of Mourning, to honor Tito's work; regardless of the fact that elementary school students still gave the "pioneer's word of honor" and that they were waiting for the Relay of Youth to pass through their town, while the old people swore for "determination in the path of Tito"... Tito died, there is no dilemma here, but it will take another decade, another decade of suffering and monotony, to understand that the state, its creature, the false stories about fraternity-union have also died.

When Tito died, a sports journalist at RTP put on this barsolet: "Kardeli died, Tito died, and I'm not very well." In fact, this is a revised quote from Woody Allen who first said: "God died, Marx died... but even I don't feel so well today."

What preoccupied the students of Kosovo at that time were the textbooks and postgraduate studies. A big problem was the extremely large number of students in the Faculty of Medicine, Economics and Law. This problem still preoccupies Kosovars today. At that time there was still talk about the emancipation of women. Of course, for her rights and equal treatment in society. Interestingly, it seems this topic will follow the Albanians all their lives.

The most popular films in the world were: "Heaven's Gate", "Raging Bull", "Ordinary People", "Coal Miner's Daughter" etc. Television projects and films were watched in Kosovo: "Three people cross the mountain", "Seed", "White Footprints", "Era and Lisi"...

The year 1980 was the beginning of the end of Yugoslavia and the time of calendars with photos from grape harvest shares.

The world danced to the rhythm of The Police, The Jam, Joy Division, Adam & The Ants, Rod Stewart, Blondie, Kate Bush, etc. While we listened to Irfan Blakçor, Arian Kerliu, Gazmend Pallaska, Bedri Islami, Valentina Sarakini, Hilmi Obërtinca, Shaban Kelmendi, etc.

The Chairman of the Presidium of the People's Assembly of Albania was Haxhi Lleshi and Prime Minister Mehmet Shehu, who will soon suffer like many of his victims. This same year, Enver Hoxha appoints Ramiz Ali as the future leader of the Labor Party of Albania.

In 1980, Bahri Oruçi's place as chairman of the Executive Council of Kosovo was taken by Riza Sapunxhiu.

Magazine reporter "National Geographic", Mehmet Biber, makes a report from Albania in 1980, with the title: "Albania, alone against the world". At the beginning of his writing, he says: "Without allies and surrounded by nations that have had historical goals towards its land, Albania is mobilized to go it alone under the strict dictatorship of Enver Hoxha who has held power for 36 years. The symbols of the pickaxe and the rifle dominate public scenes. A dogmatic Marxist-Leninist, Hoxha severed relations with the Soviet Union, which he considers 'revisionist', in 1961, and severed ties with the People's Republic of China two years ago.

He says that Enver had announced his country "closed to enemies, spies, hippies and hooligans, but open to friends (Marxist or non-Marxist), revolutionaries and progressive democrats, to honest tourists... who do not interfere in our affairs".

"Albania bans entry to men with long hair or beards, and women in short skirts, baggy pants, and other displays of bourgeois decadence. Stories abound of hapless visitors being sent to the airport barber for a haircut... Albania does not allow private cars and its capital has only 20 taxis, all state-owned. Most were lined up near the square. Albanians rarely use them".

At that time, the country was covered with banners. P. sh. a banner in "Skenderbej" square said: "Without any aid and without any credit from outside, we must rely entirely on our own forces." On the old town hall: "To break the blockade and siege of imperialism and revisionism". Above the office of the Prime Minister: "Long live popular power". A foreign language class studies Hoxha's slogan on the blackboard in English: "To build socialism with a pickaxe in one hand and a rifle in the other".

"Marxism-Leninism is the basic subject in all faculties, which leads to the 'ideological formation' of students. Core courses include the history of the Albanian Labor Party, the economic policies of capitalism and socialism, dialectical materialism, 'revisionist' philosophy – and of course, the works of Enver Hoxha... In Tirana a guy can take his girlfriend to a park, weather permitting , or to watch a film on a favorite topic, the Anti-Fascist National Liberation War... Albania's 'Cultural Revolution' sets the rules for youth behavior and appearance. Not only long hair and miniskirts, but also jeans, tight pants and make-up are taboo. No drugs, premarital sex, vulgar jokes or chewing gum. Rock music and fast-paced jazz are frowned upon... In addition to two years of military service for young men and women, all able-bodied citizens, regardless of occupation, must serve a month or more in the armed forces. armed. Frequent military exercises in all factories, farms, and offices prepare the people against attacks... Everywhere I traveled - on the coast, on mountain paths, in fields, in city parks, between apartment blocks - I saw bunkers, their popular name. They look - and come out - like mushrooms...Albania's armaments, mostly made in China...Other communist countries keep religion under control; Albania stops it by declaring itself 'the first atheist state in the world' in 1967. All 2,169 mosques, churches, monasteries and other places of 'obscurantism and mysticism' have been closed, demolished or converted into recreation centers, clinics, warehouses or stables. Shkodra's great cathedral resounds with the screams of 2,000 basketball fans... Albania's new generation knows only atheism. Marxist-Leninist belief replaces religious belief. Enver Hoxha's books, published piecemeal in newspapers, quoted on the radio, the selected slogans serve as a New Testament. Hoxha is seen as a middle man - infinitely wise, far-sighted and benevolent, but also relentless towards his enemies".

Well, this was Albania in 1980.

In 1980, Israel and Egypt establish diplomatic relations, Lech Walesa organizes the first Solidarity strike in Gdansk and forces the state to recognize this labor movement, while one of the most famous "toys" of all time - the Rubik's Cube - appears on the market. In 1980, the actors Steve McQueen and Mae West, the director Alfred Hitchcock, and the overthrown ruler of Iran, Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, die. On December 8, 1980, one of the biggest icons of rock music, John Lennon, was killed by a fan. From that moment, as Paul McCartney said, "he became Martin Luther Lennon", a saint with whom peace and equality were identified. In fact he was violent, he hurt others, he was a drug user and a millionaire who did not mix with the middle class and the poor. But, as David Quantick says, Lennon was a self-mythologist, self-obsessed, who over time had mythologized himself.

In 1980, the first singer of the AC/DC group, Bon Scott, died. /Telegraph/