Revolution and reaction: South Arabia in the aftermath of the Yemeni revolution

Smith, Simon C.

Abstract

‘It seems to me unthinkable’, remarked the Governor of Aden, Sir William Luce, in 1960, ‘that we should make use of this area for our own purposes and then eventually abandon it to chaos and leave its people at the mercy of the Yemen, Saudi Arabia and the U[nited] A[rab] R[epublic], to say nothing of the Communist bloc.’ 1 In spite of this admonition, Britain’s departure from Aden Colony and Protectorate seven years later has been described as ‘certainly the worst shambles in the End of Empire’. 2 In the course of Britain’s fighting withdrawal, the British-sponsored federation of Protectorate states collapsed in the face of relentless pressure from the main nationalist organization, the National Liberation Front (NLF). Britain’s loss of the initiative in South Arabia can be traced in part to the 1962 Yemeni revolution. The establishment of an Egyptian-backed republican regime in Yemen with irredentist ambitions towards its southern neighbour not only brought disruptive elements to the very borders of the Aden Protectorate, but also denied Britain the time to put the Federation on a firm footing. The Yemeni revolution also exposed Anglo-American differences, which prevented the formulation of a co-ordinated policy.

Citation

Smith, S. C. (2000). Revolution and reaction: South Arabia in the aftermath of the Yemeni revolution. In K. Fedorowich, & M. Thomas (Eds.), International Diplomacy and Colonial Retreat (193-208). Frank Cass. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315038469-11

• Online Publication Date: Oct 23, 2013
• Publication Date: Oct 30, 2000
• Deposit Date: Apr 27, 2022
• Publisher: Frank Cass
• Pages: 193-208
• Book Title: International Diplomacy and Colonial Retreat
• Chapter Number: 10
• ISBN: 9780714650630 ; 9781138973015
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315038469-11
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/3628155