The term hermit kingdom is an epithet used to refer to any country, organization or society that willfully walls itself off, either metaphorically or physically, from the rest of the world. North Korea is commonly cited as a prominent example of a hermit kingdom in the present day.
The first country to be described as a "hermit kingdom" was Korea during the Joseon dynasty, in William Elliot Griffis's 1882 book Korea: The Hermit Nation. [1] [2] Korea, which had become increasingly isolationist since the 17th century, was frequently described as a hermit kingdom until 1905, when it became a protectorate of Japan. [3]
During the Cold War, Enver Hoxha's Albania was widely considered a "hermit kingdom" as it was a Stalinist regime, did not allow ordinary citizens out of the country, and pursued autarky to become entirely self-sufficient. Unlike North Korea, Hoxha's regime, after the Sino-Albanian split, refused to ally with anyone and was hostile towards the entire world, which made it more isolationist than North Korea, which was then Stalinist but was allied with other Eastern Bloc states and did not become isolationist until after the end of the Cold War. [4] [5]
Today, the term is often applied to North Korea in news and social media, and in 2009, it was used by Hillary Clinton, then the United States Secretary of State. [6] Other current countries considered isolationist "hermit kingdoms" include Turkmenistan, [7] [8] Belarus, [9] [10] Eritrea, [11] and the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. [12] Historically, the term has been applied to Nepal, [13] Ladakh, [14] and Bhutan [15] [16] in the Himalayas.
The term "hermit kingdom" has also been used to describe Western Australia when it closed its borders during the COVID pandemic. [17]
Enver Hoxha was an Albanian Communist politician who was the dictator of Albania from 1944 until his death in 1985. He was the First Secretary of the Party of Labour of Albania from 1941 until his death, a member of its Politburo, chairman of the Democratic Front of Albania, and commander-in-chief of the Albanian People's Army. He was the twenty-second prime minister of Albania from 1944 to 1954 and at various times was both foreign minister and defence minister of the country.
A satellite state or dependent state is a country that is formally independent in the world but under heavy political, economic, and military influence or control from another country. The term was coined by analogy to planetary objects orbiting a larger object, such as smaller moons revolving around larger planets, and is used mainly to refer to Central and Eastern European countries of the Warsaw Pact during the Cold War, as well as to Mongolia and Tuva between 1924 and 1990, all of which were economically, culturally, and politically dominated by the Soviet Union. While primarily referring to the Soviet-controlled states in the Central and Eastern Europe or Asia, in some contexts the term also refers to other countries under the Soviet hegemony during the Cold War, such as North Korea, Cuba, and some countries in the American sphere of influence, such as South Vietnam. In Western usage, the term has seldom been applied to states other than those in the Soviet orbit. In Soviet usage, the term applied to the states in the orbit of Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, and Imperial Japan, whereas in the West the term to refer to those has typically been client states.
This is a list of lists of universities and colleges by country, sorted by continent and region. The lists represent educational institutions throughout the world which provide higher education in tertiary, quaternary, and post-secondary education.
Koçi Xoxe was an Albanian politician who served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior of the People's Socialist Republic of Albania. He was supported by Yugoslav leader Josip Broz Tito during efforts to bring Albania into the Yugoslav federation. After Albania's leader, Enver Hoxha, established the country's independence with the support of the Soviet Union, Xoxe was arrested, tortured and executed.
The People's Socialist Republic of Albania, officially the People's Republic of Albania from 1946 until 1976, was the one-party communist state in Albania from 1946 to 1991. It succeeded the Democratic Government of Albania (1944–1946).
The visa policy of Kosovo deals with the requirements which a foreign national wishing to enter Kosovo must meet to obtain a visa, which is a permit to travel to, enter and remain in Kosovo.
Hardial Bains was an Indo-Canadian microbiology lecturer, but was primarily known as the founder of a series of left-wing movements and parties foremost of which was the Communist Party of Canada (Marxist–Leninist). Presenting himself as staunchly anti-revisionist and pro-Stalinist, until his death, Bains acted as the spokesperson and ideological leader of the CPC (ML) — known in elections as the Marxist–Leninist Party of Canada. During his lifetime, Bains' outlook swung from supporting the Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin, to Mao Zedong's China, then later to Enver Hoxha's Albania. Shortly before he died, and abandoning his previous sharp criticisms of the country, Bains turned to Fidel Castro's Cuba for inspiration. Spending most of his life in Canada, Bains was also politically active in England, Ireland, United States and India.
Hoxhaism is a variant of anti-revisionist Marxism–Leninism that developed in the late 1970s due to a split in the anti-revisionist movement, appearing after the ideological dispute between the Chinese Communist Party and the Party of Labour of Albania in 1978. The ideology is named after Enver Hoxha, First Secretary of the Party of Labour from 1941 to 1985 and leader of Albania from 1944 to 1985.
Diplomatic relations between Albania and North Korea were established on November 28, 1948, over one and a half months after the DPRK was proclaimed. The communist governments of Enver Hoxha and Kim Il Sung were often compared for their similarities in their diplomatic isolation and Stalinist-style regimes.
The expulsion of Soviets from Albania was an anti-Soviet campaign carried out by the Albanian leader Enver Hoxha. It was a significant event in the history of Albania and took place during the Cold War. This phase was characterized by tensions between the Soviet Union and the socialist regime in Albania. The expulsion began from 1961 and continued until 1964.