The modern history of Yemen began with the withdrawal of the Ottoman Empire. In 1839 the British set up a protective area around the southern port of Aden and in 1918 the northern Kingdom of Yemen gained independence from the Ottoman Empire. North Yemen became a republic in 1962, but it was not until 1967 that the British Empire withdrew from what became South Yemen. In 1970, the southern government adopted a communist governmental system. The two countries were officially united as the Republic of Yemen on May 22, 1990.
North Yemen Kingdom
The Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen, established in 1918, was an autocratic, theocratic state governed under an absolute monarchy. The majority of the population spoke Arabic, with a minority speaking Yemenite Hebrew. Religiously, approximately 55% of the population were Zaydi Muslims, 45% Sunni Muslims, and a small portion were historically Jewish.Selahattin Tansel, From Mudros to Mudanya -1, Prime Ministry Printing House, Ankara 1973, p. 63"Mütevekkil-Al-Ellah, Yahyâ Hamîdüddin". TDV Encyclopedia of Islam (in Turkish). Archived from the original on 30 June 2022. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
Following Imam Yahya's assassination in 1948, his son Ahmad bin Yahya ascended the throne. In 1958, Yemen joined the United Arab States under pressure from Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser. However, after Syria's departure from the union in 1961, Yemen also withdrew. The monarchy was eventually overthrown in 1962 following a coup led by Abdullah al-Sallal, supported by Egypt, resulting in the establishment of the Yemen Arab Republic.Mackintosh-Smith, Tim (2000). Yemen: The Unknown Arabia. New York: The Overlook Press. pp. 93–99.
Republic
Shortly after assuming power in 1962, Ahmad's son, the Imam Muhammad al-Badr was deposed by revolutionary forces, who took control of Sana'a and created the Yemen Arab Republic (YAR).The United States extended diplomatic recognition to the Yemen Arab Republic (North Yemen) on 19 December 1962, The Times, 20 December 1962. Egypt assisted the YAR with troops and supplies to combat forces loyal to the Kingdom. Saudi Arabia and Jordan supported Badr's royalist forces to oppose the newly formed republic starting the North Yemen Civil War. Conflict continued periodically until 1967 when Egyptian troops were withdrawn. By 1968, following a final royalist siege of Sana'a, most of the opposing leaders reached a reconciliation and Saudi Arabia recognized the Republic in 1970.
South Yemen British domain, Colony of Aden and Aden protectorate British interests in the area which would later become South Yemen, began to grow when in 1839, British East India Company forces captured the port of Aden, to provide a coaling station for ships en route to India.The History of Aden and the Protectorate by J.R. Hall The colony, known as the Aden Settlement, gained much political and strategic importance after the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869.
Aden was ruled as part of British India until 1937, when the city of Aden became the Colony of Aden, a crown colony in its own right. The Aden hinterland and Hadhramaut to the east formed the remainder of what would become South Yemen and was not administered directly by Aden but were tied to Britain by treaties of protection. Starting in the latter decades of the 19th century and continuing into the 20th century, Britain signed agreements with local rulers of traditional polities that, together, became known as the Aden Protectorate. The area was divided into numerous sultanates, emirates, and sheikhdoms, and was divided for administrative purposes into the East Aden Protectorate and the West Aden Protectorate. The eastern protectorate consisted of the three Hadhramaut states (Qu'aiti State of Shihr and Mukalla, Kathiri State of Seiyun, Mahra Sultanate of Qishn and Socotra) with the remaining states comprising the west. Economic development was largely centred in Aden, and while the city flourished partly due to the discovery of crude oil on the Arabian Peninsula in the 1930s, the states of the Aden Protectorate stagnated.
Encouraged by the rhetoric of President Nasser of Egypt against British colonial rule in the Middle East, pressure for the British to leave grew. Following Nasser's creation of the United Arab Republic, attempts to incorporate Yemen in turn threatened Aden and the Protectorate. To counter this, the British attempted to unite the various states under its protection and, on 11 February 1959, six of the West Aden Protectorate states formed the Federation of Arab Emirates of the South to which nine other states were subsequently added. During the 1960s, the British sought to incorporate all of the Aden Protectorate territories into the Federation. On 18 January 1963, the Colony of Aden was incorporated against the wishes of much of the city's populace as the State of Aden and the Federation was renamed the Federation of South Arabia. Several more states subsequently joined the Federation and the remaining states that declined to join, mainly in Hadhramaut, formed the Protectorate of South Arabia.
In 1963, fighting between Egyptian forces and British-led Saudi-financed guerrillas in the Yemen Arab Republic spread to South Arabia with the formation of the National Liberation Front (NLF), who hoped to force the British out of South Arabia. Hostilities started with a grenade attack by the NLF against the British High Commissioner on 10 December 1963, killing one person and injuring fifty, and a state of emergency was declared, becoming known as the Aden Emergency.
In 1964, the new British government under Harold Wilson announced their intention to hand over power to the Federation of South Arabia in 1968, but that the British military would remain. There were around 280 guerrilla attacks in 1964, and over 500 in 1965. In 1966, the British Government announced that all British forces would be withdrawn at independence. In response, the security situation deteriorated with the creation of the socialist Front for the Liberation of Occupied South Yemen (FLOSY) which started to attack the NLF in a bid for power, as well as attacking the British.
In January 1967, there were mass riots by NLF and FLOSY supporters in the old Arab quarter of Aden town, which continued until mid February, despite the intervention of British troops. During the period there were many attacks on the troops, and an Aden Airways Douglas DC-3 plane was destroyed in the air with no survivors. At the same time, the members of FLOSY and the NLF were also killing each other in large numbers.Kostiner, Joseph (1984). The struggle for South Yemen. London: Croom Helm. p. 171.
The temporary closure of the Suez Canal in 1967 effectively negated the last reason that British had kept hold of the colonies in Yemen, and, in the face of uncontrollable violence, they began to withdraw.
On 20 June 1967, there was a mutiny in the Federation of South Arabia Army, which also spread to the police. Order was restored by the British, mainly due to the efforts of the 1st Battalion Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, under the command of Lt-Col. Colin Mitchell.
People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (1967–1990) The British pulled out on 30 November 1967, leaving Aden under NLF control. The Royal Marines, who had been the first British troops to occupy Aden in 1839, were the last to leave."Yemen". Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2013. Web. 22 September 2013 The Federation of South Arabia collapsed, and Southern Yemen became independent as the People's Republic of South Yemen. The NLF, with the support of the army, attained total control of the new state after defeating the FLOSY and the states of the former Federation in a drawn out campaign of terror.Brehony, Noel (15 April 2013). Yemen Divided: The Story of a Failed State in South Arabia. I.B. Tauris.
In June 1969, a Marxist wing of the NLF gained power and changed the country's name to the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (PDRY) on 1 December 1970. In the PDRY, all political parties were amalgamated into the Yemeni Socialist Party (YSP), which became the only legal party. The PDRY established close ties with the Soviet Union, the People's Republic of China, Cuba, and Palestine.Halliday, Fred (4 April 2002). Revolution and Foreign Policy: The Case of South Yemen. Cambridge University Press.
These major communist powers assisted in the building of the PDRY's armed forces. Strong support from Moscow resulted in the Soviet Navy gaining access to naval facilities in South Yemen.
Relations between North Yemen and South Yemen 1972 conflict
Although the governments of the PDRY and the YAR declared that they approved a future union in 1972, little progress was made toward unification, and relations were often strained. A declaration was made in 1972 that unification would eventually occur. However, fighting erupted between North Yemen and South Yemen in October of that year; North Yemen was supplied by Saudi Arabia and South Yemen by the USSR. The fighting was short-lived, and led to the Cairo Agreement of October 28, 1972, which put forward a plan to unify the two countries.CIA Study on Yemeni UnificationGause, Gregory, Saudi-Yemeni relations: domestic structures and foreign influence, Columbia University Press, 1990, page 98Dresch (2000) p.124
1979 conflict
Fighting broke out again in February and March 1979, with South Yemen allegedly supplying aid to rebels in the north through the National Democratic Front and crossing the border.Hermann, Richard, Perceptions and behavior in Soviet foreign policy, University of Pittsburgh Pre, 1985, page 152 Southern forces made it as far as the city of Taizz before withdrawing.Hoagland, Edward, Balancing Acts, Globe Pequot, 1999, page 218Interview with Al-Hamdani Middle East Research and Information Reports, February 1985 This conflict was also short-lived.Burrowes, Robert, Middle East dilemma: the politics and economics of Arab integration, Columbia University Press, 1999, pages 187 to 210 The war was only stopped by an Arab League intervention. The goal of unity was reaffirmed by the northern and southern heads of state during a summit meeting in Kuwait in March 1979.
What the PDRY government failed to tell the YAR government was that it wished to be the dominant power in any unification, and left wing rebels in North Yemen began to receive extensive funding and arms from South Yemen.
1980s In 1980, PDRY president Abdul Fattah Ismail resigned and went into exile. His successor, Ali Nasir Muhammad, took a less interventionist stance toward both North Yemen and neighbouring Oman.
South Yemen Civil War
On January 13, 1986, a civil war broke out in Aden between Ali Nasir's supporters and supporters of the returned Ismail, who wanted power back. Fighting lasted for more than a month and resulted in thousands of casualties, Ali Nasir's ousting, and Ismail's death. Some 60,000 people, including the deposed Ali Nasir, fled to the YAR.
Unification talks (1988-1990) In May 1988, the YAR and PDRY governments came to an understanding that considerably reduced tensions including agreement to renew discussions concerning unification, to establish a joint oil exploration area along their undefined border, to demilitarize the border, and to allow Yemenis unrestricted border passage on the basis of only a national identification card.Wright, Lawrence (2006). The Looming Tower : Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 (1 ed.). New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
In November 1989, the leaders of the YAR (Ali Abdullah Saleh) and the PDRY (Ali Salem al-Beidh) agreed on a draft unity constitution originally drawn up in 1981.
Efforts toward unification proceeded from 1988 and, on May 22, 1990, the Republic of Yemen's independence was declared.
Republic of Yemen Unification and transitional period