Balli Kombëtar in the context of "Puppet government"

Albania was occupied by Nazi Germany between 1943 and 1944 during World War II. Before the armistice between Italy and the Allied armed forces on 8 September 1943, Albania had been in a de jure personal union with and was de facto under the control of the Kingdom of Italy. After the armistice and the Italian exit from the Axis, German military forces entered Albania and it came under German occupation, creating a client-state called the Albanian Kingdom (Albanian: Mbretëria Shqiptare; German: Königreich Albanien) like the Italian protectorate and the pre-war monarchy.

The Germans favoured the nationalist Balli Kombëtar over King Zog's Legalists and the occupation was marked by collaboration between them and the Germans. Albania under German occupation retained control of the areas it had received during Italian rule, including most of Kosovo, as well as Western Macedonia, the town of Tutin in Serbia and a strip of Eastern Montenegro. It was the policy of the Balli Kombëtar to have all Albanian populated territories under one state.

The Democratic Government of Albania (Albanian: Qeveria Demokratike e Shqipërisë) also known as the Hoxha I Government was established on 20 October 1944 by the National Liberation Movement, as the Albanian partisan resistance of 1940–1944 came to a close. A provisional government took power after the liberation of the country from German forces on 28 November. Its interim Prime Minister was Secretary-General Enver Hoxha of the Communist Party of Albania. The interim government was to be in existence until the holding of elections and the convening of a Constituent Assembly.

The government was led by the National Liberation Movement (LANÇ), which in turn was dominated by the Communist Party. From the outset, the Democratic Government was a Communist state. It sidelined the nationalist Balli Kombëtar, a task made somewhat easier by large amounts of British support. King Zog I was effectively dethroned; the Democratic Government barred him from ever returning to the country. The LANÇ quickly established fraternal relationships with other Communist countries.