84-523: Decisive Southern Yemeni victory The Second Yemenite War was a short military conflict between the Yemen Arab Republic (YAR; North Yemen) and the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (PDRY; South Yemen ). The war developed out of a breakdown in relations between the two countries after the president of North Yemen, Ahmad al-Ghashmi , was killed on 24 June 1978, and Salim Rubai Ali ,
168-494: A Maoist who had been working on a proposed merger between the two Yemens, was murdered two days later. The hostility of the rhetoric from the new leadership of both countries escalated, leading to small-scale border fighting, which then in turn escalated into a full-blown war in February 1979. North Yemen appeared on the edge of a decisive defeat after a three-front invasion by a South Yemeni combined arms formation, however this
252-544: A Republican Guard barracks and killing 19 soldiers and 15 civilians. Citing the alleged Soviet-backed PDRY aggression against the YAR, and the threat this could pose to U.S. ally Saudi Arabia, the United States greatly stepped up military assistance to the YAR government. As part of this aid, the U.S. shipped 18 F-5E planes to the YAR in order to strengthen the government. However, there were no YAR pilots trained in flying
336-687: A state legal code . Slavery in Yemen , which had been abolished in North Yemen by the 1962 revolution , was now abolished also in South Yemen. The major communist powers assisted in the building of the PDRY's armed forces. Strong support from Moscow resulted in Soviet naval forces gaining access to naval facilities in South Yemen. The most significant among them, a Soviet naval and air base on
420-815: A Northern aerial counter-attack. The attack was coordinated by the Deputy Chief of the Air Force, Brigadier Sa'ad Hesham al Din, formerly of the Aden Protectorate Levies since 1959 who had trained as a pilot in the United Kingdom and Soviet Union from 1969–1972. Brigadier Sa'ad himself led the aerial sorties, flying in an Su-22 . The Fighter Group was led by Colonel Khaled Omar, of the ALP since 1964, who had trained in India in 1971–73. He led
504-550: A great role in Yemen's political and economic life, it had an important historical role in Yemen before the lifetime of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad . The antique Yemeni engravings mentioned Dhamar city as being a very famous center of the Islamic studies and sciences, and many of the great scientists are attributed to this historical town. In past times, the people of Dhamar were known for bringing up horses ;
588-906: A national identification card. In November 1989, after returning from the Soviet–Afghan War , Osama bin Laden offered to send the newly formed al-Qaeda to overthrow the South Yemeni government on behalf of Saudi Arabia , but Prince Turki bin Faisal found the plan reckless and declined. In 1990, the parties reached a full agreement on joint governing of Yemen, and the countries were effectively merged as Yemen . South Yemen's ethnic groups were, as of 2000, ethnic Yemeni Arabs (92.8%), Somalis (3.7%), Afro-Arab (1.1%), Indians and Pakistanis (1%), and other (1.4%). South Yemen has maintained control over religious expression and has worked to diminish
672-536: A number of collective farms, however, those set up following the Soviet model produced poorer results than cooperative-run farms. The national budget was 13.43 million dinars in 1976, and the gross national product was US$ 650 - 500 million. The total national debt was $ 52.4 million. Limited natural resources posed challenges to the economic development of the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (PDRY). Despite this constraint, significant, albeit modest, oil reserves were discovered shortly after
756-561: A poor economy, the government ensured a basic level of living standard for all citizens and established a welfare state . Income equality improved, corruption was reduced, and health and educational services expanded. Overall, the population was assured of a basic but adequate living standard for all. Democratic Yemen had a "National Science Day" on 10 September. According to the UNESCO in 1985, education in Democratic Yemen
840-467: A productive capacity of 10,000 barrels per day (bpd), that between 5,000-10,000 bpd were being trucked to the Aden refinery, and that there were plans to increase the number of trucks on the oil run to bring deliveries up to 25,000 bpd, considerably more than the PDRY's total domestic need at the time. The discovery was viewed as a potential pathway to reduce dependence on external sources of income and improve
924-503: A range of essential goods such as plastics, batteries, cigarettes, matches, tomato paste, dairy products, and fish canning. Within the industrial sector, the state implemented welfarist labor laws that were widely enforced. These laws included regulations aimed at safeguarding women in the workforce by prohibiting night shifts and hazardous occupations. Additionally, the legislation ensured that workers received salaries that enabled them to maintain reasonable living standards. Trade unions in
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#17327758176601008-655: A result of the revolution. The NLF and the Front for the Liberation of Occupied South Yemen (FLOSY) appeared in the 1960s, supporters of the NLF were from the countryside of Radfan , Yafa , and Ad-Dali , while the supporters of the FLOSY were mainly from Aden; This is because tribal affiliations played a major role in attracting supporters. The leaders of the NLF came from within the protected sheikhdoms and were not supported by
1092-737: A result, following the British withdrawal, there here was little to no industrial output or mineral wealth exploitation in the country until the mid-1980s, when significant petroleum reserves in the central regions near Shibam and Mukalla were discovered. Foreign aid was minimal, as the British government did not fulfill promises of aid and the Soviet Union offered only US$ 152 million from 1969 to 1980. The main sources of income were agriculture, mostly fruit, cereal crops , cattle and sheep, and fishing. The government guaranteed full employment in agriculture for rural citizens, and established
1176-411: A small number of university-educated leaders, and all of them, without exception, had no experience in government. The front was divided into two right-wing and left-wing sections. The right-wingers and their popular leader, Qahtan, did not want to make major changes in the prevailing social and economic structure and took a conservative stance toward "liberating all Arab lands from colonialism, supporting
1260-459: A social and economic transformation that would serve the broad segment of the working people instead of the wealthy minority," as they put it. on 20 March 1968, Qahtan dismissed all leftist leaders from the government and party membership and was able to put down a rebellion led by leftist factions in the army in May of the same year. On another level, in the months of July, August and December of 1968,
1344-704: A war on two fronts, trying to thwart the Republic in the north and the anti-English factions in the south. By 1965, most of the western protectorates had fallen to the National Liberation Front. As for Hadhramaut, it seemed calm until 1966 because the English presence there was less than its counterpart in the western protectorates. Ali Salem al-Baidh and Haidar Abu Bakr al-Attas joined the National Liberation Front in Hadhramaut and prevented
1428-403: Is of ancient origin. It was built by the legendary Himyarite King Dhamar Ali Yahbir II. Dhamar is the only town in the former North Yemen that is not surrounded by a wall or natural defensive formations; it is just a settlement on the plains. Centrally situated with connections to the nearby governorates, the town has prospered as a Wednesday market and meeting place for tribes living nearby. It
1512-401: Is one of the archeological sites that are found near Dhamar. The city of Dhamar is the capital of the governorate , and is situated on the main road, which connects Sana’a with a number of other governorates. This city was one of the prominent Arabian and Islamic culture and scientific centers in Yemen . Its Great Mosque was built in the period of the caliph Abu Bakr . As Dhamar City had
1596-420: Is situated 100 km (62 miles) to the south of Sana'a , north of Ibb , and west of Al-Bayda' , 2,400–2,500 m (7,900–8,200 ft) above sea level. Its name goes back to the king of Saba' and Dhu-Raydan at 15-35 AD, whose name was Dhamar Ali Yahbir II, who is renowned for restoring the great dam of Ma’rib , and whose statue was found at the city of Al-Nakhla Al-Hamra'a ("The Red Palm"). This city
1680-757: The Aden Protectorate , which consisted of two-thirds of present-day Yemen. Prior to 1937, what was to become the Colony of Aden had been governed as a part of British India, originally as the Aden Settlement subordinate to the Bombay Presidency and then as a Chief Commissioner's province. After the collapse of Aden Protectorate, a state of emergency was declared in 1963, when the National Liberation Front (NLF) and
1764-726: The Corrective Move . This radical wing reorganised the country into the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (PDRY) on 30 November 1970. Subsequently, all political parties were amalgamated into the National Liberation Front, renamed the Yemeni Socialist Party , which became the only legal party. This group took an extreme leftist line and declared its support for the Palestinians and the Dhofar Revolution . West Germany severed its relationship with
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#17327758176601848-664: The Front for the Liberation of Occupied South Yemen (FLOSY) rebelled against the British rule. The Federation of South Arabia and the Protectorate of South Arabia were overthrown to become the People's Republic of Southern Yemen (PRSY) on 30 November 1967. On 22 June 1969, the Marxist–Leninist faction of the NLF led by Abdel Fattah Ismail and Salim Rubai Ali , overthrew the Nasserist President Qahtan al-Shaabi in an internal bloodless coup that
1932-587: The National Liberation Front , which later transformed into the ruling Yemeni Socialist Party . The legislative body, the Supreme People's Council , was elected by the people for a period of five years. The collective head of state, also known as the Presidium of the Supreme People's Council, was elected by the Supreme People's Council for a period of five years as well. The executive body
2016-630: The Soviet Union , the German Democratic Republic , Cuba , and the Palestinian Liberation Organization . East Germany 's constitution of 1968 even served as a kind of blueprint for the PDRY's first constitution. The new government embarked on a programme of nationalisation , introduced central planning , put limits on housing ownership and rent , and implemented land reforms . By 1973,
2100-635: The Soviet Union . Despite its efforts to bring stability into the region, it was involved in a brief civil war in 1986 . The PDRY unified with the Yemen Arab Republic , on 22 May 1990 to form the present-day Republic of Yemen . In 1838, Muhsin Bin Fadl, Sultan of Lahej ceded 194 km (75 sq mi) of Aden to the British . On 19 January 1839, the British East India Company landed Royal Marines at Aden to occupy
2184-780: The Stasi in the country to train the nation's secret police and establish another arms trafficking route to Palestine . The East Germans did not leave until 1990, when the Yemeni government declined to pay their salaries which had been terminated with the dissolution of the Stasi during German reunification . However by the middle 1980s the Soviet Union under Mikhail Gorbachev largely shunned South Yemen. Relations between South Yemen and several nearby states were poor. Saudi Arabia only established diplomatic relations in 1976, initially hosting pro-British exiles and supporting armed clashes in
2268-725: The United Arab Republic , to whom they lost 14–0. On 5 November 1989, South Yemen played its last international match against Guinea , to whom they lost 1–0. The team stopped playing when the North and South united in 1990 to form the modern state of Yemen . In 1988, the South Yemen Olympic team made its debut in the Summer Olympics in Seoul . Sending only eight athletes, the country won no medals. This
2352-653: The Cairo Agreement of 1972. This agreement to unify was particularly the result of pressure from Iraq, Syria, and Kuwait, all of whom advocated for a unified Arab world in order to best respond to the issues arising from the Camp David Accords and the Iranian Revolution . POWs were exchanged within the next two months, and work for a draft constitution for a united Yemen proceeded over the next two years, however, most attempts to implement
2436-478: The Eastern Protectorate in Hadhramaut were annexed to the new country. The lands of South Yemen are rugged and barren, a fact that played a role in the social, cultural and economic development of the south, unlike the northern regions of Yemen. Their population in 1967 did not exceed two million people, while northern Yemen exceeded six million. Most of the population of the south was concentrated in
2520-612: The Egyptians at first, while the Front for the Liberation of Occupied South Yemen ran its operations from Aden and received support from Gamal Abdel Nasser , which made it appear as a follower of the Egyptians promoting Nasser’s agendas inside the country, the operations of these factions against the British were known to them as the Aden Emergency. The British tried to reach a compromise with these groups and found themselves waging
2604-713: The F-5E, and as a result the U.S. and Saudi Arabia arranged to have 80 Taiwanese pilots plus ground crew and Iraqi anti-air defense units sent to North Yemen. A U.S. Navy task force was also sent to the Arabian Sea in response to the escalating violence. The war showed the weakness of the North Yemeni military training and equipment, and soon its allies - led by Egypt , Iraq and Saudi Arabia - started an aggressive re-armament and training programme to enable it to regain strategic balance against PDRY forces. By 1983–84,
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2688-457: The GDP of South Yemen increased by 25 percent. Despite the conservative environment and resistance, women became legally equal to men, polygamy , child marriage and arranged marriage were all banned by law and equal rights in divorce were sanctioned; all of supported and protected by the state General Union of Yemeni Women . The Republic also secularised education and sharia law was replaced by
2772-545: The Geneva Talks to sign the independence agreement with the British. During its occupation of Aden , the British had signed several treaties of protection with the local sheikhdoms and emirates of the Federation of South Arabia; however, these parties were excluded from the talks, and thus the agreement stated [...the handover of the territory of South Arabia to the (Yemeni) NLF...]. Southern Yemen became independent as
2856-583: The Judges' Court and Central Prison, causing mass panic among civilians. North Yemeni Air Defences operating the SA-3 engaged and managed to shoot down one of the Su-7 bombers and one MiG-21, capturing the pilots. Another deep raid on 10 March saw 4 South Yemeni MiG-21s and 3 Su-22s strafe an airbase and the seaport near Hodeidah, sinking a civilian Egyptian cargo ship. With losses escalating, Northern forces appearing on
2940-580: The North had regained its military strength. On 20 March the leaders of North and South Yemen called a bilateral ceasefire met in Kuwait for a reconciliation summit, in part at the strong insistence of Iraq. The talks were mediated by the Arab League . Under the Kuwait Agreement, both parties reaffirmed their commitment to the goal and process of Yemeni unification , as had been spelled out in
3024-541: The PDRY primarily functioned as state entities rather than as negotiating bodies, playing a significant role in upholding labor regulations and standards. A few months after The Events of '86 , the PDRY had discovered oil after more than 6 decades of unsuccessful exploration, the Soviet Union discovered oil in the Shabwah Governorate in late 1986, marking a turning point for the resource-scarce nation. Decades of unsuccessful exploration efforts, hampered by
3108-452: The PDRY to search for oil in a 13,500-square-mile area in Shabwa, and, in 1984, launched a program of exploratory drilling. This Soviet effort yielded only traces of oil over the next two years, a sharp contrast to the discovery and rapid exploitation of oil in the same period by an American company, Hunt Oil , in- the YAR's Marib basin, an area just to the west of Shabwa. Then, in late 1986,
3192-479: The People's Republic of Southern Yemen on 30 November 1967, and the National Liberation Front consolidated its control in the country. On 14 December 1967, the PDRY was admitted into the United Nations as a member state. the British announced that they would withdraw from 1968, which sparked the battles between the National Liberation Front and the Front for the Liberation of Occupied South Yemen to monopolize
3276-489: The Soviets struck very high quality oil in western Shabwa, an occurrence confirmed by authorities in Aden in early 1987. By late March, Initial estimates placed the oil reserves at around 1 billion barrels, sparking plans for pipeline construction and full-scale production of the oil fields. events moved swiftly, and industry sources reported in mid-1987 that the three fields - lyad East , lyad West , and Amal already had
3360-549: The Yemeni reunification. Diplomatic relations with the United States had been broken on 24 October 1969 because of disagreements with US policy in the Middle East. They were not restored until shortly before reunification. The Supreme People's Council was appointed by the General Command of the National Liberation Front in 1971. In Aden, there was a structured judicial system with a supreme court . Despite
3444-402: The border regions of South Yemen. Relations with Oman declined through the 1970s as the South Yemeni government supported the insurgent Marxist Popular Front for the Liberation of Oman (PFLO). Relations with Ba'athist Iraq were also low, as South Yemen offered asylum to a number of Iraqi communists . The United States listed South Yemen as a “state sponsor of terrorism” between 1979 and
Second Yemenite War - Misplaced Pages Continue
3528-412: The border. On 24 February, forces from North and South Yemen began firing at each other across the border. Forces from North Yemen, led by some radical army officers, crossed the border into South Yemen and attacked a number of villages. The PDRY, with support from the Soviet Union, Cuba, and East Germany, responded by invading the north using 3 regular divisions and a Tactical Air Force regiment. The PDRY
3612-512: The city was an early center of horse-breeding in Arabia. The town is still known in Yemen for its numerous historical mosques and schools, which are distinguished by their characteristic architecture in harmony with the colours of its volcanic land. A volcanic field , Harras of Dhamar , extends 80 km (50 miles) to the east of the city. The city of Dhamar, in the center of the Dhamar basin,
3696-662: The combat air patrols in a MiG-21. On the ground and in the air in a couple of Il-38 , Soviet combat controllers directed the fire control and battlespace and operated the Early Warning systems. The war dragged on for nearly a month, with North Yemen being unable to send reinforcement units from Sanaa down to Taiz due to the constant Southern airstrikes and aggressive air patrolling hitting reinforcement convoys on difficult and winding mountain roads as far north as Dhamar . Although Northern forces vastly outnumbered Southern forces overall, they were outnumbered and overwhelmed within
3780-711: The confidence of his sponsors in the USSR . His successor, Ali Nasir Muhammad , took a less interventionist stance toward both North Yemen and neighbouring Oman . On 13 January 1986, a violent struggle began in Aden between Ali Nasir's supporters and supporters of the returned Ismail, who wanted power back. This conflict, known as the South Yemen Civil War , lasted for more than a month and resulted in thousands of casualties, Ali Nasir's ouster , and Ismail's disappearance and presumed death. Some 60,000 people, including
3864-503: The country included courts of appeal and the provincial courts, and the courts of first instance were known as the district courts or magistrate courts. The only political party was the Yemen Socialist Party. The only avowedly Marxist–Leninist nation in the Middle East, South Yemen received significant foreign aid and other assistance from the USSR and East Germany , which stationed several hundred officers of
3948-551: The country's unification in 1990. However, the YSP government did not benefit from oil exports to fund its development initiatives. Over time, economic policies in the PDRY underwent a transformation, shifting from an initial focus on developing the state sector to promoting cooperative and joint private-public enterprises. By the late 1980s, there was a notable presence of industries in Aden and around Al Mukalla in Hadramawt, producing
4032-496: The deposed Ali Nasir, fled to the YAR. Ali Salim al-Beidh , an ally of Ismail who had succeeded in escaping the attack on pro-Ismail members of the Politburo , then became General Secretary of the Yemeni Socialist Party . Against the background of the perestroika in the USSR , the main backer of the PDRY, political reforms were started in the late 1980s. Political prisoners were released, political parties were formed, and
4116-416: The educated Aden elite, which was made up of a large number of non-Arabs and non-Muslims. In addition to all that was the sheikhdoms' differences over the who should be the president of the federation. Following the establishment of the Federation of South Arabia on 1965, four sheikhdoms out of twenty-one had joined the union. The Qu'aiti and Kathiri sultanates of Hadhramaut refused to join either of
4200-432: The empire. In the mid-1950s, the British realized that they would not be able to manage the colonies and needed a stable political unit that would distance Aden from the wave of Arab nationalism that had swept the region and preserve for them influence and the ability to manage Aden from London, so they established the Federation of the Emirates of South Arabia in 1959. The federation did not succeed for several reasons,
4284-427: The federations. Several resistance movements emerged, such as the National Liberation Front (NLF), whom were responsible for the wounding of British High Commissioner Kennedy Trevaskis on 10 December 1963 using a grenade, an event that sparked the 14 October Revolution which was influenced by the 26 September Revolution against the Imams in the North . The British had announced that they would withdraw by 1968 as
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#17327758176604368-410: The first of which was the British insistence that Aden would be part of the entity, which was rejected by the commercial elite of Aden, most of whom were Indians , Persians , and Jews , because they feared for their future from the sheikhdoms. On the other hand, the leaders of the sheikhdoms feared that they would be overthrown later or that their influence would remain limited due to the dominance of
4452-469: The ground assault on a North Yemeni Armoured Division stationed near Taiz city, followed by an Infantry Division covered by an artillery brigade providing fire support with BM-21 Grad rockets and M-46 field howitzers. This was soon followed by the Soviet-trained South Yemeni Air Force further destroying several North Yemeni MiG-17 and MiG-21 fighter jets and helicopters on the ground in airfields and airbases in Dhamar , thus preventing any chance of
4536-477: The harsh desert environment and political instability, had left South Yemen heavily reliant on foreign aid, primarily from the Soviet Union, and remittances from its citizens working abroad, estimated to be around half of government revenue by the mid-1980s. The discovery, made by the Soviet oil company Technoexport, emerged amidst the Cold War, with the Soviet Union playing a crucial role in the exploration and discovery process. In 1980s, Technoexport contracted with
4620-544: The island of Socotra for operations in the Indian Ocean. Unlike the early decades of other partitioned states such as East Germany and West Germany , North Korea and South Korea , or North Vietnam and South Vietnam , all of which faced tense relations or sometimes total wars , the relations between the Yemen Arab Republic (North Yemen) and the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (South Yemen) remained relatively friendly throughout most of their existence, although conflicts did arise. Fighting broke out in 1972 , and
4704-575: The latter withdrew his ties to With the tribes and the army, he was able to ally himself with Muhammad Saleh Al-Awlaki, and they reassembled the leftist forces that had been dispersed by President Qahtan Al-Shaabi. They were able to arrest him and place him under house arrest. On 22 June 1969, a radical Marxist wing of the NLF formed a presidential committee of five people, Salim Rubaya Ali , who became president, Muhammad Saleh Al-Awlaki, Ali Antar, Abdel Fattah Ismail, and Muhammad Ali Haitham, who became prime minister. they gained power in an event known as
4788-490: The lives of South Yemen's roughly 2.4 million citizens. However, the joy of discovery was accompanied by a multitude of challenges. Dhamar, Yemen Dhamar ( Arabic : ذَمَار , romanized : Ḏamār ; Old South Arabian : 𐩹𐩣𐩧 Ḏmr ) is a city in south-western Yemen . It is located at 14°33′0″N 44°24′6″E / 14.55000°N 44.40167°E / 14.55000; 44.40167 , at an elevation of around 2,400 m (7,900 ft). Dhamar
4872-464: The masses and face the great challenges facing the new state, the most important of which was the bankruptcy of the treasury. On 11 December 1967, the lands of "feudal symbols and British agents" were confiscated, and the state was divided into six governorates. The aim of the move was to end tribal aspects in the state and ignore the tribal borders between the defunct sheikhdoms. On 16 June 1969, Qahtan fired Interior Minister Muhammad Ali Haitham , but
4956-407: The near absence of the English presence in al-Mahra. Qahtan Al-Shaabi was the only person the British knew because he was an agricultural engineer in his city of Lahij. When the British tried to negotiate with the National Liberation Front, Qahtan demanded immediate withdrawal and recognition of the legitimacy of his government, and that the British government provide aid double what it proposed to
5040-408: The only communist state in the Middle East and the Arab world . It was made up of the southern and eastern governorates of the present-day Republic of Yemen , including the island of Socotra . It was bordered by North Yemen to the north-west, Saudi Arabia to the north, and Oman to the east. South Yemen's origins can be traced to 1874 with the creation of the British Colony of Aden and
5124-403: The popular Qahtan faced new rebellions from leftist parties because all Arab countries welcomed the front. The National Liberation Front received a cold reception, as regimes like Egypt wanted to merge the National Front with the Front for the Liberation of Occupied South Yemen. The leftist section was more numerous than the supporters of the popular Qahtan, and they wanted a regime that would lead
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#17327758176605208-478: The resistance of the Palestinian people, and supporting socialist regimes around the world to resist imperialism and colonial forces in the Third World." The leftist section of the Liberation Front was also promoting and opposed the establishment of popular forces and proposals to nationalize lands, and they were not preoccupied with the struggle of social classes. Qahtan wanted the continuation of existing institutions and their development. The leftist section "wanted
5292-410: The right to self-determination after the British left. The National Liberation Front had the upper hand at the expense of the Front for the Liberation of Occupied South Yemen, whose members were divided between joining the National Front or leaving for North Yemen. Abdullah Al-Asanj and Muhammad Basindwa left for North Yemen. The last British soldier left Aden on 30 November 1967, and the sheikhdoms of
5376-407: The role of religion in everyday life. It has replaced sharia with secular law in many areas, such as personal status, and has entrusted the interpretation of these laws to secular officials or state-empowered sheikhs . The state also controls religious trusts and channels funds for mosques through a government ministry, which has contributed to the sheikhs' dependence on the state. Additionally,
5460-504: The short-lived conflict was resolved with negotiations, where it was declared unification would eventually occur. However, these plans were put on hold in 1979, as the PDRY funded Red rebels in the YAR , and the war was only prevented 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. In 1980, PDRY president Abdul Fattah Ismail resigned and went into exile in Moscow, having lost
5544-411: The spirit and letter of the agreement were put on hold until 1982, and the end of the rebellion by the South Yemen supported National Democratic Front. South Yemen – in Asia (tan & white) – in Arabia (tan) South Yemen , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen , abbreviated to Democratic Yemen , was a state that existed from 1967 to 1990 as
5628-461: The state due to its recognition of East Germany. The United States also severed its relationship in October 1969. The new powers issued a new constitution, nationalized foreign banks and insurance companies, and changed the name of the state to The People's Democratic Republic of Yemen in line with the Marxist-Leninist approach they followed. A centrally planned economy was established. The People's Democratic Republic of Yemen established close ties with
5712-420: The state has adopted a dual approach to religion, promoting a form of 'official' Islam while suppressing 'popular' Islam. This has included public displays of religious observance by government leaders to deflect accusations of being anti-Islamic, despite the state's ongoing efforts to undermine the influence of Islam in society. South Yemen developed as a Marxist–Leninist , mostly secular society ruled first by
5796-409: The sultans of the Kathiri Sultanate and the Qu'aiti Sultanate from entering the country, but allowed the Sultan of the Mahra Sultanate due to his old age. The commander of the Hadhrami Bedouin Legion was killed by one of his men in the same year, and Ali Salem Al-Beidh and Muhammad Salem Akash played a major role in gathering supporters in favor of the National Liberation Front, taking advantage of
5880-414: The system of justice was reckoned to be more equitable than in the North. 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 demilitarise the border, and to allow Yemenis unrestricted border passage on the basis of only
5964-414: The territory and stop attacks by pirates against British shipping to India making Aden a part of British colonial rule from 1839 until 1937. In the 1920s, the British began expanding and annexing the multiple sheikhdoms surrounding Aden under the claim of protecting them. This was more a precautionary measure to prevent the Yemeni imams from storming Aden than a desire to annex the small sheikhdoms to
6048-615: The theater of operations in and around Taiz and Dhale , since a single Division had to face an attack from three enemy divisions without any reinforcement or close air support due to the Southern air patrolling and airstrikes on Northern roads throughout the month. On 8 March, the South Yemeni Air Force managed to carry out an attack on Sanaa, with 3 Su-22 and 3 Su-7 bombers with 5 MiG-21 fighters flying top cover, dropping 500-pound bombs on an artillery base and strafing
6132-538: The union, and that all the islands associated with the Aden Protectorate be part of the new state. While the British demands were an orderly handover to the authorities, and that the new state not interfere in the affairs of any country in the Arabian Peninsula. The British were surprised by the presence of people they thought were loyal to them alongside the popular Qahtan. The NLF was invited to
6216-579: The verge of exhaustion, Southern forces capturing a wide range of Northern territory and besieging Taiz and Al Bayda , Saudi Arabia and the United States rushed arms to bolster the government of North Yemen by 9-10 March. On 11 March, North Yemeni forces fired 8 Frog-7 missiles on a South Yemeni combined infantry brigade and tank battalion north of Ibb , killing at least 100 South Yemeni soldiers. The introduction of Frog-7 missiles by North Yemen forced South Yemen to cease further advances. On 13 March, South Yemen fired two Scud-B missiles at Sanaa, destroying
6300-515: The western regions of Lahj and its environs, and these alone constituted more than 60% of the population, 10% were nomads. Qahtan al-Shaabi assumed the presidency of a state that had never existed before, with a collapsed economy. Civilian workers and businessmen left, British support stopped, and the closure of the Suez Canal in 1967 reduced the number of ships crossing Aden by 75%. The National Liberation Front had approximately 4,000 members,
6384-509: Was also supported by the NDF, who were in the midst of fighting their own rebellion against the government of North Yemen. Within 3 days of the invasion, the numerically smaller South Yemeni forces had established complete air superiority over the theater, thus forcing the North Yemeni ground forces on the back foot for the rest of the War. The South Yemeni attack carried the advantage of surprise and
6468-643: Was considered the best in the Arabian Peninsula and that the illiteracy rate was 2% of the population. In 1976, the South Yemen national football team participated in the AFC Asian Cup , where the team lost to Iraq 1–0 and to Iran 8–0. They entered their only World Cup qualification campaign in 1986 and were knocked out in the first round by Bahrain . On 2 September 1965, South Yemen played their first international match against
6552-498: Was divided into six governorates (Arabic: muhafazat ), with roughly natural boundaries . From 1967 to 1978, each given a name by numeral . The state changed this practice in the mid-1980s but gave the governorates geographical or historical names and ensured that their borders did not coincide with tribal allegiances. Today, this legacy contributes to misunderstanding and confusion when discussing political issues and allegiances in Yemen. The islands of Kamaran (until 1972, when it
6636-520: Was known as the Council of Ministers, and was formed by the Supreme People's Council. Local representative bodies were the people's councils, and their decisions were taken into account when the members of the Supreme People's Council were governing. Local executive bodies were the executive bureaus of the people's councils. The highest court was the Supreme Court of South Yemen, other courts in
6720-427: Was later called the Corrective Move . The Marxist–Leninist takeover later led to the creation of the Yemeni Socialist Party (YSP), and South Yemen's transformation into a one-party , socialist state . The official name of the state was changed a year after the reforms to the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (PDRY), and was able to establish strong relations with Cuba , East Germany , North Korea , China , and
6804-554: Was prevented by a successful mediation in the form of the Kuwait Agreement of 1979, which resulted in Arab League peacekeeping forces being deployed to patrol the North–South border. An agreement to unite both countries was also signed, although it was not implemented. The Marxist government of South Yemen was alleged to be supplying aid to rebels in the north through the National Democratic Front and crossing
6888-606: Was seized by North Yemen), Perim , Socotra , Abd-el-Kuri , Samha (inhabited), Darsah and others uninhabited from the Socotra archipelago were districts ( mudiriyat ) of the First/Aden Governorate being under the Prime Minister's supervision. During British rule, economic development in South Yemen was restricted to the city of Aden , focused mainly on the port and on the British military bases. As
6972-472: Was spearheaded by an artillery barrage and groups of sappers, who were effectively able to blow up the early warning air defences and radars and thus help the Air Force establish air superiority within days over much of Taiz and Dhale Governorates and parts of Al Bayda Governorate , after a dogfight that downed most of the North Yemeni planes. After the initial Air Force attack, a South Yemeni armoured division composed of T-55 and T-62 Tanks spearheaded
7056-457: Was the only time the country went to the Olympics until unification in 1990. Women's rights under the socialist government were considered the best in the region. Women became legally equal to men and were encouraged to work in public; polygamy, child marriage, and arranged marriage were all banned; and equal rights in divorce received legal sanction. Following independence, South Yemen
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