vested interest in the perpetuation of the system. The rest of
the population--peasants, workers, and remnants of the upper and middle
classes--were only cogs in the Communist apparatus, all used for the
purpose of implementing the Party policies for the building of a
Communist society.

Under Communist rule the stabilization of the class differentiations had
lessened social mobility both upward and downward. In 1970 it was
difficult to alter one's social status except through a long process of
training and education. Educational opportunities, however, had been
greatly expanded, although they were still limited in the rural areas.
The best opportunities were offered to the children of the Party elite
and Party faithful. But because of the great demand for qualified
personnel to manage the growing socialist sectors of the economy, some
children of worker and peasant backgrounds had opportunities to continue
their education to the highest levels and to fully develop their
abilities and capacities. The whole educational system, however, was
geared to the demands of the Party, and its first objective was the
inculcation of the youth with Communist ideology.

Perhaps the most radical change in the whole social system had been
effected in the area of religion. By 1970 the country's three principal
religious faiths had been eliminated as organizational bodies. All
churches and mosques had been closed; the clergy was not permitted to
function; and the country had been declared by the official media to be
the first atheist nation in the world. Top Party and government
officials admitted, however, that the closing of the houses of worship
and the action against the clergy had not eliminated the religious
feelings and beliefs of the people.

TRADITIONAL SOCIAL PATTERNS AND VALUES

The social structure of the country was until the 1930s basically tribal
in the north and semifeudal in the central and southern regions. The
highlanders in the north retained intact their medieval tribal pattern
of life until well into the twentieth century and were considered the
last peoples in Europe to preserve tribal autonomy. In the central and
southern regions, however, increasing contact with the outside world and
invasions and occupations by foreign armies had reduced the tribes to
tenure peasants.

Traditionally, there have been two major groupings or sub-cultures in
the country: the Gegs in the north, probably numbering slightly over