Coup Atlas Research Database
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33903251957ConspiracyDissident coup

Albania, 1957 — dissident coup conspiracy

Albania (ALB)Southern Europe, EuropeMarch 25, 1957

Event Summary

The dataset records an event coded as a dissident coup conspiracy in Albania on 25 March 1957, during Enver Hoxha's consolidation of power in the post-Stalin era. After Stalin's death in 1953 and Khrushchev's 1956 denunciation of Stalin, Hoxha defended Stalinism and resisted de-Stalinization while purging party moderates with pro-Soviet and pro-Yugoslav leanings, most visibly at the 1956 Tirana Party Conference. He then made a pivotal trip to Moscow in April 1957 that won cancellation of about 105 million dollars in loans and additional food aid, temporarily softening his anti-Yugoslav rhetoric.

No discrete named plot precisely on 25 March 1957 appears in accessible English sources; the entry is thin. The relevant context is Hoxha's ongoing purges of alleged internal opponents, routinely framed as conspiracies, during a period of fraught relations with both Moscow and Belgrade.

Researched Details

Researched

Independent research, added record by record. Hover any label for what it means.

Target identified in Coup Atlas research: Hoxha purged alleged internal opponents and consolidated his Stalinist rule, which lasted until 1985
RESEARCHED NAME
Key figures
Enver Hoxha (communist ruler of Albania, target)
Pro-Soviet and pro-Yugoslav party moderates (purged)
Party of Labour of Albania (the instrument of the purges)

Sources

Hoxha during this period purged party moderates with pro-Soviet and pro-Yugoslav leanings, but toned down his anti-Yugoslav rhetoric after a successful April 1957 trip to Moscow.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia, People's Socialist Republic of Albania open source ↗
The April 1957 Moscow trip won cancellation of about 105 million dollars in outstanding loans and about 7.8 million dollars in additional food assistance.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia, People's Socialist Republic of Albania open source ↗
Hoxha defended Stalin and refused to follow Khrushchev's de-Stalinization, maintaining this position through the 1956 disturbances in Poland and Hungary.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia, People's Socialist Republic of Albania open source ↗
Hoxha's regime routinely framed internal opponents as participants in conspiracies to overthrow socialism and murder the nation's leader, a pattern that recurred across his rule.
SOURCE REVIEWED Idrit Idrizi, Enver Hoxha's Last Purge open source ↗

Editorial Note

No discrete plot precisely on 25 March 1957 was found in accessible English sources this session; the entry records the dataset's coding and the context of Hoxha's 1956-57 purges of alleged pro-Soviet and pro-Yugoslav deviants, with the specific plot unconfirmed and flagged as context only. Distinct from the earlier Operation Valuable and the later 1970s and 1980s purges. Continues the Albania run.

Cross-Reference

Only one dataset carries it. One of the three reference datasets we check against carries this event; the others do not list it. That is not a contradiction — the datasets cover different periods and use different thresholds — but it means the record has had less outside corroboration.

Identifiers for finding this same event in the other datasets:

Cline Center id
33903251957

How the match is made is described in crossref-report.md.

Outcome and Target

Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: Hoxha purged alleged internal opponents and consolidated his Stalinist rule, which lasted until 1985.

Baseline coding: Plot discovered and disrupted before execution. Recorded leader fate: remained in office; not physically harmed. The baseline file does not name individual targets; researched names are kept in a separate layer.

Baseline Dataset Citation

Cline Center Coup d’État Project Dataset, v2.2.2
Peyton, Buddy, Joseph Bajjalieh, Michael Martin, and Andrea Gerald. 2026. Cline Center Coup d’État Project Dataset. Cline Center for Advanced Social Research. V.2.2.2. February 17. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. doi: 10.13012/B2IDB-9651987_V10
⚑ This citation establishes the coded baseline record; use the claim-level sources above for the researched narrative.

Baseline Source-Document Entries

New York Herald Tribune

“Reds See U.S. Plot in Albania: Charge Spies Dropped From Sky,” by B.J. Cutler, March 26, 1957

New York Times

“New Eviction Wave Reported in Sofia,” March 26, 1957

Washington Post and Times Herald

“Revold Tried In Albania, Moscow Says,” March 26, 1957

This is the citation trail carried by the baseline dataset, grouped by outlet and rejoined from the line-wrapped original. Coup Atlas has not independently re-checked every document; read the original before citing a specific claim. URLs the import damaged beyond safe repair are shown as plain text and listed in citations-report.md. How this list is built →

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