ng
World War II represented the principal social classes then in existence
in the country. The Communist-dominated National Liberation Movement was
composed chiefly of low-level Tosk intellectuals and bureaucrats, some
labor leaders, and a few chieftains from the Geg areas, such as Haxhi
Leshi, who was head of state in 1970. The movement derived its main
support from the small working class and the poor peasants.

The nationalist Balli Kombetar (National Front) was composed of
nationalist _beys_ and Orthodox intellectuals and derived its support
from well-to-do peasants, merchants, and businessmen. The Legality
Movement, a pro-Zog organization, was headed by a chieftain from Mat,
and its supporters were confined to that region. Farther north the
resistance groups were led by the local chieftains, such as Muharem
Bajraktari and Gani bey Kryeziu. The collaborators with the Italian
authorities were composed of reactionary _beys_, Geg chieftains (both
Muslim and Catholic), and a small group of intellectuals that had
embraced the fascist ideology. This group had little or no popular
support.

SOCIAL STRATIFICATION UNDER COMMUNIST RULE

The general class structure of the country at the advent of the
Communist regime in 1944 consisted of the peasants and workers making up
the lower class and a small upper class. The peasants represented over
80 percent of the total population, most of whom lived at or below
subsistence level. Chiefly because of the old grievances against the
landowning _beys_ and the promises made by the National Liberation
Movement (which presented itself as a purely patriotic, democratic
movement for agrarian reforms), a large number of peasants, especially
the tenant and landless ones, sided with the movement (see ch. 1,
General Character of the Society).

Nonagricultural workers numbered about 30,000 persons, most of whom
worked in mines and in the small handicraft industries. The movement
found strong support from this group also. The upper class comprised
professional people and intellectuals; medium and small merchants;
moneylenders; and well-to-do artisans, whose capital was invested mostly
in trade, commerce, and the Italian industrial concessions. The
industrialists also belonged to this class; they owned very small
industries and workshops. Both the _beys_ and the tribal chiefs of the
north had been somewhat reduced in importance politically and
economically during Zog's rule, but it was chie