Yemen, one of the regions with the oldest
civilization in the world, is situated in a strategic location on the southern edge
of the Arabian Peninsula and at the entrance to the Red Sea. Unfortunately, it is now known for all the
wrong reasons: war, sectarian conflict, death, destruction and humanitarian disaster. After centuries of colonial subjugation, independent
Yemen has been suffering for more than half a century from violence, civil wars, fragmentation
and foreign meddling. Welcome to our video on Yemen, its civil wars,
two states and their unification. This video is sponsored by our kind youtube
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active and much more. Thanks for supporting us. We couldn’t be doing it without your help! HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
Yemen considered the most advanced region in Arabia at the time of the emergence of
Islam, converted to Islam and became part of the caliphate in the 7th century. Yemeni tribes played an important role in
the military expansion of the caliphate and enjoyed at least some degree of autonomy throughout
its existence. In the late 9th century, the Zaydi branch
of Shia Islam started spreading in North Yemen, which was going to have a major impact on
the country's future. In the following centuries, Yemen was ruled
by several Muslim dynasties, before falling to the Ottoman Empire, despite a fierce resistance
of the Yemeni tribes, spearheaded by the Zaydis. This was followed by a period in which Yemen
was divided between the Ottomans and the British Empire. After the collapse of the Ottoman Empire following
World War I, the Yemeni areas formerly ruled by them became the independent Mutawakkilite
Kingdom of Yemen. This part of Yemen was now an independent
Zaydi Shia theocracy ruled by Imam Yahya of the Hamid al-Din family. The rest was still under British occupation
in the form of the Aden Protectorate. It is important to note here that while the
Zaydis ruled the independent Kingdom of Yemen, the majority of Yemen's population belonged
to the Shafi branch of Sunni Islam. The coastal region, the South, the midlands
of Yemen, basically most of the relatively richer areas were largely populated by the
Shafi. So, Imam Yahya faced 3 threats to his rule
at the time. The Shafis were not content with the Zaydi
ruling over them. The Saudi dynasty captured Asir and two other
provinces from Yemen in the 1930s. And the British, who continued ruling over
the South. In the 1930s the Zaydis found a common ground
with the external actors, but the internal discontent manifesting in the form of the
rising anti-monarchic sentiments eventually led to the revolt against Imam Yahya in 1948
and his assassination. His son, Imam Ahmad, managed to defeat the
revolt and assume power in the kingdom, ending his father's isolationist policy. Imam Ahmad initially pursued a pro-Soviet
foreign policy, before joining the United Arab Republic of Egypt and Syria in 1958. This was a short-lived adventure for Yemen
as well, as the United Arab state collapsed very soon. 1960s Civil War and Creation of Two Yemens
Even though Imam Ahmad survived several attempts at his life by anti-monarchists in Yemen,
it was becoming clear that the tensions in the Kingdom were boiling over. North Yemen was poor, had a weak infrastructure,
bad governance, and sectarian grievances. In September 1962, Imam Ahmad died and 7 days
after his funeral, the Free Yemeni Movement, supported by the Egyptian leader Gamal Abdel
Nasser launched a rebellion against the Imamate. This movement was in favor of secular Arab
nationalism with strong backing from the Shafi Yemenis. The rebellion caused the start of the North
Yemen Civil War, which lasted for more than 8 years. On one side were the royalists headed by the
Imam Muhammad al-Badr, who was supported by Britain, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Israel. The latter's motivation was to make sure that
Egypt, which supported the rebel republicans and sent troops into Yemen, was fighting a
war elsewhere, not against Israel. The Soviet Union also sided with the republicans. By 1967, Egypt's economy was suffering from
this costly war and after losing the Six-Day War to Israel, Nasser decided to withdraw
his army from Yemen. But this unwelcome development and even the
infighting inside the ranks of the revolutionaries, which led to the dismissal of the incumbent
leader of the republicans, Abdullah al-Sallal could not prevent them from emerging victorious
from this war. The Saudis stopped helping the royalists while
the Soviet Union was giving its fighter jets to the republicans, which made a huge difference. The royalists' last attempt to turn the tide
of the war was the siege of Sana in 1967, but despite their initial success, bolstered
by Soviet jets, the republicans withstood the pressure. In February 1968, the monarchists lifted the
siege. Gradually, the republicans gained the upper
hand and won the war, which transformed North Yemen into a state called the Yemen Arab Republic. In the same time period, in the 1960s, anti-British
sentiments were also rising in the Aden Protectorate. In 1963, the National Liberation Front and
the Front for the Liberation of Occupied South Yemen launched an uprising to end the British
colonial rule in South Yemen. This would be known as the Aden Emergency. The anti-British movement was supported by
Egypt and the Soviet Union. They waged guerilla warfare against the British
until 1967, when they left Yemen. The National Liberation Front seized power
in South Yemen, which was independent now being named the People's Republic of South
Yemen. Two years later, the Marxist faction of the
National Liberation Front carried out a bloodless coup known as the Corrective Move, which turned
South Yemen into People's Democratic Republic of Yemen, a socialist state supported by the
USSR. Now there were two independent Yemens, which
had different governance systems and went through different ways of political and societal
development, which only broadened the chasm between these two states. YEMEN BEFORE THE UNIFICATION
Even though the republicans won the civil war in North Yemen, they still had to take
the tribal dominance in the Zaydi areas into consideration. While the civil war was still going on, the
Shafi population of the midlands, which was not as touched by the war as the North, prospered
economically thanks to a higher degree of decentralization. But after the war, in an attempt to incorporate
the Northern highlands into the nascent republic, the government chose to work with tribal leaders,
who maintained their power and influence in the Yemen Arab Republic. As the civil war ended with a reconciliation
of the monarchists and the republicans rather than an outright victory of the latter, the
new regime chose to give the tribal elite more power at the expense of the Left and
other modernist forces. The 1970 Constitution created the Consultative
Council, which was the legislative body of the new republic, but in the absence of political
parties, many representatives of the old elites remained powerful. The president of the republic, Abdul Rahman
al-Eryani, who deposed Sallal in the 1967 coup, focused on building political and economic
structures of the state. The Central Bank of Yemen, several ministries,
and the Central Planning Organization were established during al-Eryani's tenure. But al-Eryani's reign was marred with regular
government crises, including a rebellion in 1973. He was overthrown in June 1974 in a coup organized
by the Military Command Council led by Lt Colonel Ibrahim Muhammad al-Hamdi, who became
the new president. While he suspended the 1970 constitution of
the republic, he also made significant investments into Yemen's poor infrastructure and the country's
education. Charismatic and initially very popular, Al-Hamdi
also tried to enhance the power of the state vis a vis the tribal leaders in the North. He attempted to broaden his base by incorporating
modernists forces, but he eventually backed down, which pushed several leftist groups
to create the National Democratic Front, an organization that later challenged the power
of the future president Saleh. Al-Hamdi's short tenure as Yemen's president
should be remembered for his attempts to reform the Yemeni government and military and ended
in his assassination in 1977, allegedly, not without the participation of the tribal elites
and Saudi Arabia. His successor al-Ghashmi did not last long
either, as he was also assassinated in 1978. Lt. Colonel Ali Abdullah Saleh became the
new president and became the first person in the history of the young Yemen Arab Republic
to have a long tenure. Although initially his presidency was tumultuous
as well, since he had to suppress another coup against the background of having little
political support outside the army, by early 1980s he managed to solidify his power. Under Salih's guidance the National Dialog
Committee launched a campaign of townhall meetings with different groups of the Yemeni
society, which eventually led to the drafting of the National Pact, sort of a de-facto new
constitution for the Yemen Arab Republic. The National Pact was adopted by the General
People's Congress (GPC), which became the de-facto ruling party of Yemen. Even some of the leaders of the National Democratic
Front, the leftist organization that launched a failed rebellion against Saleh in 1982,
were later incorporated into the National Pact. The GPC conducted elections for its membership
and thousands of people of different political beliefs participated in this process. It was Saleh's way of controlling the political
process, co-opting other political groups, while also recognizing the need to give space
to different groups to express themselves within the limits of the system he created. He also invited exiled former leaders of Yemen
al-Sallal and al-Eryani, along with tribal leaders, who al-Hamdi had earlier suppressed. So, by the 1980s Saleh's grip over the Yemen
Arab Republic was quite solid. In 1984, relatively large oil reserves were
discovered in the Yemen Arab Republic, which started selling it in 1987. This was when the talks of unification with
South Yemen intensified. Before coming to the topic of unification
of Yemen, we need to briefly describe the situation in the post-British South Yemen
as well. As we already said, soon after South Yemen
got its independence, the Marxist wing of the National Liberation Front took power in
the country, and embarked on the construction of a socialist state in Yemen. Salim Rubaya Ali became the president of the
People's Democratic Republic of Yemen. Banks, industrial enterprises and other private
objects were nationalized and the state monopoly over grain, flour, sugar, oil, tea, vehicles
and medicine was established. Any private selling of agricultural produce
was banned, property of many small landholders was expropriated and the state pursued the
policy of coercive creation of economic cooperatives. Most of the pre-revolution newspapers were
shut down by the state and were substituted by the new state media, which along with radio
was on the forefront of the propaganda push to promote socialism and the new regime among
the Yemenis. Many new schools were opened in South Yemen
to fight low levels of literacy. In 1970, South Yemen adopted a socialist constitution,
which affirmed the equality of men and women, along with introducing women's suffrage. Needless to say, South Yemen had very close
relations with the USSR, East Germany, Cuba and other socialist states. In 1979, South Yemen and the USSR signed an
agreement on friendship and cooperation. The Soviet Union assisted South Yemen in the
modernization of its army, training of cadres for the government and energy industry, along
with construction of plants, power stations, buildings and hospitals. Later, in the 1980s, the Soviet Union discovered
oil reserves in South Yemen. The USSR also had military bases in the country. Other socialist countries also did their part. China assisted with the construction of roads
and civil engineering in general, along with the training of the army, Bulgaria and Hungary
helped with the development of agriculture and tourism, while East Germany and Czechoslovakia
supported South Yemen in the development of transport, communication and construction. South Yemen also had friendly relations with
left-leaning African nations like Libya and Ethiopia. In terms of political processes, South Yemen
had its own fair share of turmoil in its short period of existence as well. Salim Rubaya Ali, who was the leader of South
Yemen at the time was accused of orchestrating the assassination of the Yemen Arab Republic
president al-Ghashmi in 1978. It is claimed that Salim Rubaya Ali's goal
was to incite a war between two Yemens, and weaken the army of South Yemen and his opponents
within the ruling elite in order to create his personal dictatorship. He resigned after these accusations were made
against him at the ruling party's - the National Front's meeting. Rubaya Ali attempted a coup, which was suppressed. He was executed on the next day. In October 1978, the National Front was transformed
into the Yemen Socialist Party with a proclaimed goal of a unified democratic Yemen with a
socialist perspective. Abdul Fattah Ismail, who was in favour of
the Soviet model of socialism, became the Secretary General of the Socialist Party. Even before he assumed this position, he was
already one of the main decision-makers in the South Yemen political elite. He was a proponent of widespread nationalization
and collectivization. Ismail was behind the formation of Marxist
paramilitary organizations seeking to destabilize North Yemen and Oman. His aggressive policies were opposed by the
moderates in the ruling party and at one point even the Soviet Union had had enough of him. With tacit approval from the Soviet Union,
Ismail was forced to resign under the pretext of health problems and moved to the USSR. The moderate Ali Nasir Muhammad became the
new leader of South Yemen. During his tenure, Muhammad attempted to reform
the economic system of the country by allowing a small private sector and attracting the
emigre capital into South Yemen, but he had to deal with a powerful hard-line Marxist
group within the party and the military leadership. By 1985 tensions were reaching a boiling point. Previously deposed Abdul Fattah Ismail was
brought back to Yemen and became the new Secretary General of the party, while Muhammad continued
as a prime minister. Muhammad was apparently aware of the planned
opposition coup and he attempted a pre-emptive strike. On 13 January 1986, his guards started shooting
at the members of the politburo made out of the opposition against him. Muhammad's supporters were absent from the
meeting. Since the guards of the opposition were also
armed, the shootout ensued. Many leaders of the opposition, including
Abdul Fattah Ismail were killed. Most of the army was loyal to the opposition
and started fighting back, while Ali Naser's supporters were engaged in killing the opposition
supporters. The civil war in South Yemen continued for
12 days leading to the death of 4-10k people. Ali Naser Muhammad was defeated and fled to
North Yemen. Ali Salem al-Beidh became the new leader of
South Yemen. But the times were changing. The new Soviet leadership declared Perestroika
and many of its foreign policy endeavors were being revisited. The funding and assistance to South Yemen
decreased significantly. Momentum for unification was now very strong
in both Yemens. UNIFICATION
North and South Yemen had highs and lows in their relations. They even fought two short wars, several border
skirmishes, and rebellions incited by other Yemenis. In 1972, North Yemen launched an attack on
the Qatabah province of South Yemen, but the latter managed to recapture all lost territories
in the war, which was concluded by the Cairo agreement, in which both sides reaffirmed
their vision of a unified Yemen. The 1979 war ended in a similar way with the
Kuwait agreement. But despite these wars, relations between
two Yemens never really spiraled to permanent belligerence and rejection of the other like
in the cases of Two Koreas or Two Vietnams. Time and time again, both sides reiterated
their intention to unite Yemen in a peaceful manner. The simmering down of Cold War tensions and
the discovery of oil are among the factors behind the increased motivation on both sides
to get this done. In May 1988, the sides agreed on their borders
and the neutral zone after years of problems on the border. Soon after that the border was opened to the
free movement of Yemenis. There were discussions about the connection
of the power grids of the two states and the use of the Aden refinery to process oil from
the Yemen Arab Republic. In October 1989, the sides started meeting
in the form of a joint committee for a "unified political organization". A month later, Saleh and al-Beidh met in Aden,
signing an agreement taking a commitment to propose the 1981 draft unity constitution
for ratification in the parliaments of both countries. This was followed by a flurry of joint meetings,
bringing the unification of Yemen ever closer. In April 1990, the formal agreement, which
was only two pages long, was signed. YAR and PDRY united in a single unitary Republic
of Yemen. A five-member Presidential Council was tasked
with ruling the country in the transition period and drafting a new constitution. The unification of Yemen at the long last
was met with huge enthusiasm by the Yemeni people. After decades of being divided between two
imperial powers and then a long period of two states with two different systems, Yemen
was finally united with new-found oil reserves. Things were looking up for this Middle Eastern
nation. CONCLUSION
The 20th century was a period of war, internal conflict, and fragmentation for Yemen, just
like for many other nations. Yet, it was also a time of renewed hope. Unification and the discovery of oil reserves
gave hope for peace, prosperity and progress in Yemen. But as it often happens, this hope is shattered
cruelly by greed for power, the inability to rise above differences, and bad governance. In our next video, we will look at how the
unification project failed in Yemen and how the country spiralled into yet another civil
war once again, which is having a global impact to this day, so make sure you are subscribed
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