Aleutian Islands the Axis and keep open supply and communications routes to German forces in Greece Typical Nazi techniques of mass reprisal for the smallest act of resistance soon cowed most of the population A Nazi-puppet regime was set up in Tirana It had a presence in a few other towns, but most of the countryside remained no-go territory for Axis troops The resistance split and a multisided civil war ensued when Hoxha and the Communists turned against all other Albanian resisters as German defeat approached outside the country This confused situation allowed German forces retreating from Greece to pass through Albania with minimal interference during September 1944 Hoxha’s partisans took control of Albania, with Yugoslav support, as the Germans departed A quixotic Stalinist regime was established in which Hoxha ruled as absolute dictator until his death in 1985 See also Victor Emmanuel ALCAN MILITARY HIGHWAY An American–Canadian joint project that cut a mountain road over 1,500 miles long to Alaska, linking supply bases in the United States and Canada It was opened to military traffic on October 29, 1942, but not completed until 1943 It was made possible because the mutual threat from Japan, along with logistics pressures of making Lend-Lease deliveries to Siberia, finally overcame traditional Canadian objection to a highway connecting Alaska to the lower 48 U.S states ALCOHOL See battle stress; Churchill, Winston; extraordinary events; Göring, Hermann; Hitler, Adolf; Imperial Japanese Army; Nanjing, Rape of; politruk; Rabe, John; rations; Red Army; Smith, Holland; Stalin, Joseph; Timoshenko, Semyon ALEUTIAN ISLANDS An Alaskan archipelago extending toward eastern Siberia Dutch Harbor was shelled by the Japanese Attu and Kiska, two islands in the far western Aleutians, were invaded at the beginning of June 1942 The attack was part of a diversion intended to draw U.S Navy forces away from the fight at Midway ( June 4–5, 1942) Admiral Chester Nimitz did not take the bait because he knew from ULTRA intercepts that the main blow would fall on Midway Island Nimitz ordered TF8 under Rear Admiral Robert Theobald to the Aleutians to intercept the Japanese invasion, while he retained all his carriers at Midway Theobald had cruisers, 14 destroyers, a complement of submarines and supply ships, and air support from land-based bombers Already in the Aleutians was Japanese 5th Fleet, commanded by Vice Admiral Hosagaya Boshiro He had divided his attack force into four groups: a mobile force with two light carriers and a seaplane carrier at its core, along with support ships; two strike forces, one each for Attu and Kiska; and his flagship group, comprising a heavy cruiser and two destroyers, protecting supply ships A separate and more distant Aleutian Screening Force was hurriedly pulled back to Midway, too late to save Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto’s four fleet carriers once the battle turned against Japan After Midway, 35