Yemeni officers overthrow the imamate

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...

Imam Ahmad regained Sana’a and the constitutionalist uprising was crushed. Tribal forces were permitted to loot the capital, demonstrating how rival power centers shaped the outcome and how civilian...

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...

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...

Egypt sent troops to support the new republican government after appeals from Yemeni leaders. Egyptian intervention transformed a Yemeni revolution into a wider regional war and brought large-scale...

Saudi Arabia supported the royalist opposition, responding to the republican revolution and Egyptian military presence near its border. Yemeni factions received outside money, weapons and political...

Britain merged Aden Colony with several protectorate sheikhdoms into the Federation of South Arabia. The federation preserved British influence over external affairs and security while presenting...

Armed resistance in Radfan became a major front in the struggle against British rule. Local fighters challenged the federation’s authority and the British military presence; the revolt connected...