Imam Ahmad retakes Sana’a

Imam Yahya introduced a hostage system that required tribal subgroups to send representatives to Sana’a as guarantees of obedience. The practice reveals the coercive side of state consolidation and...

War broke out between the Kingdom of Yemen and the expanding Saudi state over borderlands including Asir, Najran and Jizan. The conflict followed the Ottoman withdrawal and competing claims to...

Yemen and Saudi Arabia signed the Treaty of Taif, ending the 1934 war. The agreement recognized Saudi control over Asir, Najran and Jizan for a defined period and established a relationship shaped...

The Treaty of Taif entered into force after the exchange of ratifications. Its terms paused open warfare but left questions of border sovereignty and renewal, illustrating how diplomacy formalized...

Imam Yahya was assassinated during a constitutionalist revolt led by Yemeni military and political figures. The revolt sought to replace absolute imamate rule with a constitutional order, but the...

A military coup attempt led by Colonel Ahmad al-Thulaya against Imam Ahmad failed. The episode reflected opposition within the army and political elite, and the monarchy’s use of force and patronage...

North Yemen joined the United Arab States, a political union with the United Arab Republic of Egypt and Syria. The move reflected regional anti-colonial politics and the Yemeni leadership’s search for...

North Yemen withdrew from the United Arab States after the union weakened. Regional rivalries and domestic political tensions continued, setting the stage for the 1962 revolution and internationalized...

A group of Yemeni army officers deposed Imam Muhammad al-Badr and proclaimed the Yemen Arab Republic. The revolution grew from domestic opposition to hereditary rule and wider republican currents....

Imam al-Badr survived the attack on his palace and began organizing royalist resistance. The survival of the imam enabled a rival political coalition to mobilize, preventing the new republican...