After World War II, Albania was governed by a Communist regime led by
Enver Hoxha,
which suppressed the minority (along with the rest of the population) and took measures to disperse it or at least keep it loyal to Albania.
[42] Pupils were taught only Albanian history and culture at primary level, t
he minority zone was reduced from 103 to 99 villages (excluding Himarë), many Greeks were forcibly removed from the minority zones to other parts of the country, thereby losing their fundamental minority rights (as a product of communist population policy, an important and constant element of which was to pre-empt ethnic sources of political dissent).
Greek place-names were changed to Albanian ones, and Greeks were forced to change their personal names into Albanian names.[43] Archeological sites of the Ancient Greek and Roman era were also presented as "Illyrian" by the state.[44] The use of the Greek language, prohibited everywhere outside the minority zones, was prohibited for many official purposes within them as well.
[18][45][46] As a result of these policies, relations with Greece remained extremely tense throughout most of the Cold War.[4] On the other hand, Enver Hoxha favored a few specific members of the minority, offering them prominent positions within the country's system, as part of his "tokenism" policy. However, when the
Soviet General Secretary
Nikita Khrushchev asked about giving more rights to the minority, even autonomy, the answer was negative.