South Yemen

South Yemen, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (PDRY), abbreviated to Democratic Yemen, was a country in South Arabia that existed in what is now southeast Yemen from 1967 until its unification with the Yemen Arab Republic in 1990. The sole communist state in the Middle East and the Arab world, it comprised the southern and eastern governorates of the present-day Republic of Yemen, including the islands of Perim, Kamaran, and the Socotra Archipelago. It bordered the Yemen Arab Republic to the northwest, Saudi Arabia to the north, Oman to the east, the Arabian Sea to the southeast, and the Gulf of Aden to the south. Its capital and largest city was Aden.

South Yemen's origins can be traced to 1874 with the creation of the British Colony of Aden and 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 establishments of the Protectorate and Federation of South Arabia amidst rising Pan-Arab and anti-colonial sentiment, an armed rebellion began in 1963 that was led by the National Liberation Front (NLF) and the Front for the Liberation of Occupied South Yemen (FLOSY) against British colonial rule. The Federation and 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 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, and was able to establish strong relations with Cuba, East Germany, North Korea, China, and 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.

The first political intercourse between Yemen and the British took place in 1799 during the French invasion of Egypt and Syria, when a naval force was sent from Britain, with a detachment of troops from India, to occupy the island of Perim and prevent all communication of the French in Egypt with the Indian Ocean, by way of the Red Sea. Due to the lack of water supply, the barren and inhospitable island of Perim was found unsuitable for troops, and the Sultan of Lahej, Ahmed bin Abdul Karim, received the detachment for some time at Aden. He proposed to enter into an alliance and to grant Aden as a permanent station, but the offer was declined. A treaty was, however, concluded with the Sultan in 1802 by Admiral Home Popham, who was instructed to enter into political and commercial alliances with the Chiefs of the Arabian coast of the Red Sea. By the early 1800s, the British were looking for a coaling station where they could fuel their steamships through their journey from the Suez Canal to the British Raj. The British tried to negotiate with the Mahra Sultanate to buy the island of Socotra, located in the Arabian Sea, but the Sultan of Mahra refused, telling the British naval officer tasked with the mission that the island was "the gift of the Almighty to the Mahris". In 1835, a year after the British had given up on Socotra, they had attempted to purchase the port city of Aden and its inlet from the Sultan of Lahej, Muhsin Bin Fadl, but they failed. In 1837, the Duria Dawla, an Indian ship flying the Union Jack, crashed near the east coast of Aden and was looted by local tribesmen. A year after the incident, in 1838, British officials arrived in Lahej and demanded 12,000 Maria Theresa thalers (MTT) as compensation for the losses. The sultan, unable to pay that sum of money, was forced to cede Aden to the British for a sum of 8,700 MTT a year. On 19 January 1839, the British East India Company landed Royal Marines at Aden to retain full control of Aden and stop attacks by pirates against British shipping to India.

Following the landing in Aden, the British established informal treaties of protection with nine sheikhdoms and sultanates in the surrounding region. This was more a precautionary measure to prevent the Imams of Yemen from storming Aden, which was something the sheikhdoms did not want to happen. These agreements allowed the British to maintain control, using the existing tribal structures to assert their influence. Since the region was plagued by frequent tribal conflicts and no single ruler held enough sway to unify the tribes, there was little threat to British dominance. This fragmentation not only prevented any strong opposition but also delayed the formation of a broader national identity. The British, in turn, benefited from a system that was both efficient and inexpensive, spending only around $5,435 a year in subsidies to secure the loyalty of twenty-five sultans. By avoiding direct administration and relying on a policy of strategic dependence, the British were able to expand their influence. By 1914, they had treaties with nearly every sultan in the region.

In 1914, following the Anglo-Ottoman Convention of 1913, the British and the Ottomans divided Arabia into two parts: the northwest under Ottoman control and influence, and the southeast under British control and influence. Although a further agreement, which came to be later known as the Violet Line, was negotiated, the Ottomans planned an invasion of the Aden Protectorate in cooperation with local tribes. They had gathered significant strength at Cheikh Saïd. On 5 November 1914, during the First World War, the British declared war on the Ottomans, who responded with their declaration a few days later, on 11 November. Although the Ottomans managed to capture the Sultanate of Lahej and reach the city of Aden, they were later expelled by the British. Around the same time, the British-sponsored Arab Revolt in the Hejaz broke out, diverting Ottoman attention from Aden and effectively ending their campaign. The Armistice of Mudros, signed in 1918, officially concluded the war and forced the Ottomans out of Arabia, leading to the establishment of the Kingdom of Yemen.

During the period between the two World Wars, Aden grew significantly in strategic value to the British. Positioned near the entrance to the Persian Gulf, it played a crucial role in safeguarding maritime routes through the Suez Canal and was close to the newly discovered oil reserves in the Arabian Peninsula. Recognising its increased importance, Britain formally designated Aden as a Crown Colony in 1937 and implemented a full colonial administrative system. This move further diminished the authority of local rulers, as Britain took full control over governance and policy decisions. The centralisation of power in British hands sparked several small-scale uprisings. In response, Yemeni leaders, often supported by British forces, resorted to harsh and repressive tactics to suppress dissent and maintain order among the tribes.

In 1952, Arab nationalism began to sweep across the Arab world, starting in Egypt, accompanied by anti-colonial sentiments. Nationalist pressures prompted the rulers of the Aden Protectorate states to renew efforts at forming a federation. On 11 February 1959, six of these states signed an accord to form the Federation of the Emirates of South Arabia. Over the next three years, nine additional sheikhdoms joined, and on 18 January 1963, Aden Colony was merged with the federation, creating the new Federation of South Arabia (FSA), although all but four sheikhdoms out of twenty-one had joined the union. Meanwhile, the Qu'aiti and Kathiri sultanates of Hadhramaut, along with Mahra, and Upper Yafa refused to join either of the federations and became the Protectorate of South Arabia, marking the end of the Aden Protectorate. The FSA did not succeed for several reasons, the first of which was the British insistence that the State of 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 that Aden's wealth would be taken away by the neighbouring sheikhdoms. On the other hand, the leaders of the sheikhdoms had little experience with federal rule and had no desire for cooperation. In addition to all that, there were differences between the sheikhdoms over who should head the federation's new government.