Albania's bunker mentality

Travels with David: Asia, Africa and The Balkans

One of the legacies of Albania’s communist era are concrete bunkers. Around 175,000 were constructed all over the country. They range in size from small, shallow bunkers for a couple of soldiers to massive underground complexes with rooms, corridors and heating, electrical and water systems. Although the regime sometimes put out the line that the Americans or NATO were planning to invade, it was likely more scared of the Soviet Union. Albania broke with Moscow in the 1960s and allied with China. Its leader Enver Hoxha refused to reimburse Moscow for all the military hardware sent since the end of World War II. I guess he feared that the Soviets would send in the repo squad. The bunkers would be the first line of defense. But no one ever bothered to invade.