In Albania, there are currently over 700,000 bunkers littering the country. Most are grouped together in what were thought as 'strategic' places, such as at the bottoms of mountains, in fields, along the main roads, and on the beaches. These bunkers were built from 1950 until 1985 by the communist ruler Enver Hoxha, who was paranoid that either Serbia or Russia was going to invade the country and take over. Although Albania has recently found big oil deposits, there was really no reason for any country to invade Albania. There was not much economic prosperity during the communist years (hence it was communism), but it would also be hard to successfully invade Albania because of its rugged, and mountainous landscape. Granted the valleys and lowlands are easily tranversible, getting to these areas is a bit hard from the surrounding countries and from the sea.
When the prototype bunker was finished in the 1950s he asked the chief engineer how confident he was that it could withstand a full assault from a tank. The answer was, "Very confident". The Communist Party supremo then insisted that the engineer stand inside his creation while it was bombarded by a tank.
Sadly for the current generation, the shell-shocked engineer emerged unscathed and his look-out posts went into production on a massive scale. The Communist Party has now gone, as has the giant gilded statue of Hoxha from the main square of the capital, Tirana, but the bunkers remain and the prosperous future is nowhere in sight.
This is the top of bunker, which now a support mechanism for a beach bar, as well as being a decoration. The rest of the bunker is underneath the bar.
If you look closely, there are bunkers lined up in front of the treeline along the beach.
If you look closely, there are bunkers lined up in front of the treeline along the beach.
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