National Liberation Front (Yemen)
Encyclopedia
The National Liberation Front (Arab: الجبهة القوميّة) or NLF was a military organization operating in the Federation of South Arabia
(now Southern Yemen
) in the 60s. During the North Yemen Civil War
fighting spilled over into South Yemen as the British
tried to exit its Federation of South Arabia colony. When the British left, the NLF attempted to seize power from another military group operating in South Arabia, the Arab nationalist
Front for the Liberation of Occupied South Yemen (FLOSY)
.
president
Gamal Abdel Nasser
's Pan-Arabism
had spread to the region and threatened Britain and the traditional Emirs of the region's control. In response the British were able to convince the feuding Emirs to merge into the Federation of South Arabia
. In the new Federation the Aden Trades Union Congress had a large influence in the new assembly and to prevent it seizing control of the Federation in 1962 the Colony of Aden joined the Federation so that Aden's pro-British assembly members could counter the ATUC's influence. The day after Aden joined the Federation the Muhammad al-Badr
of the Yemenese monarchy
was overthrown and civil war ensued between forces backed by Nassar like the National Liberation Front (NLF) and monarchist forces backed by the Saudis
and British. This conflict spread throughout the region becoming what the British would term as the Aden Emergency
which officially began when a state of emergency
was declared in the British Crown Colony
of Aden.
after they won the United Kingdom general election
. They attempted to grant independence to the Federation of South Arabia by giving Abdullah al Asnag's FLOSY control of the country. This proposal was nixed by the American President Johnson
who didn't want Britain to withdraw while the Americans were escalating the Vietnam War
.
In 1965 the British suspended the Federation of South Arabian government and imposed direct colonial rule. Realizing that the British weren't going to give him control Asnag fled the country and joined the NLF. However elements of the NLF become more radical Marxist and they split from the Egyptians. Asnag formed his own military organization, FLOSY, in order to counter the NLF. The NLF quickly denounced Asnag and FLOSY as Imperialist forces under control of Nasser and in addition to attacking the British also engaged FLOSY in combat. By February 1967 the British could no longer control or protect its bases in Aden and announced it was leaving the country, against American wishes.
In January 1967, there were mass riots by NLF and FLOSY supporters in the old Arab quarter of Aden town, which continued until mid February, despite the intervention of British troops. During the period there were many attacks on the troops, and an Aden Airlines Douglas DC-3
plane was destroyed in the air with no survivors. At the same time, the members of FLOSY and the NLF were also killing each other in large numbers. On 20 June 1967, there was a mutiny in the Federation of South Arabia Army, which also spread to the police. Order was restored by the British, mainly due to the efforts of the 1st Battalion Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders
, under the command of Lt-Col. Colin Campbell Mitchell
.
Nevertheless, deadly guerrilla attacks particularly by the NLF soon resumed against British forces. Nasser threw its weight behind FLOSY and arrested the head of the NLF who was living at the time in Egypt. Officially FLOSY and the NLF refused to talk to the leaving British forces as they didn't want to be seen as agents of British Imperialism. However unofficial secret talks were held between the British and the NLF who conspired to defeat FLOSY so that the much hated Nasser supported FLOSY would be defeated. With the British being defeated and driven from Aden by the end of November 1967, earlier than had been planned by British Prime Minister Harold Wilson
and without an agreement on the succeeding governance. When the last governor of Aden, Sir Humphrey Trevelyan, left the country he had no one to give the keys to but as a point of respect had the government house repainted for whomever emerged victorious. The Royal Marines
, who had been the first British troops to occupy Aden in 1839, were the last to leave.
and had to pull its troops out of Yemen. FLOSY, now without any military support from its Egyptian allies, still battled it out with the NLF. However, FLOSY's fate was sealed when the NLF was able to convince the Yemen's Federal army to join its battle and wipe out FLOSY. On November 7, 1967 FLOSY tried to attack a federal army base but the army with help from the NLF stuck heavy losses against FLOSY and they were defeated. With the defeat the military forces of FLOSY ceased to exist although some cadres and leaders remained outside the country. Most of the opposing leaders reconciled by 1968, in the aftermath of a final royalist siege of San'a'.
group from within his own NLF seized control. Salim Rubai Ali (Salmin) replaced al-Shaabi. After the civil war in 1970, Saudi Arabia recognized the Yemen Arab Republic
and a ceasefire against remaining belligerents was put in place. The NLF changed the name of South Yemen on 1 December 1970 to the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen
(PDRY). The NLF changed its name to the Yemeni Socialist Party
(YSP) in 1978. All other political parties were amalgamated into the Yemeni Socialist Party
(YSP), which became the only legal party.
Federation of South Arabia
The Federation of South Arabia was an organization of states under British protection in what would become South Yemen. It was formed on 4 April 1962 from the 15 protected states of the Federation of Arab Emirates of the South. On 18 January 1963 it was merged with the crown colony of Aden...
(now Southern Yemen
Yemen
The Republic of Yemen , commonly known as Yemen , is a country located in the Middle East, occupying the southwestern to southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north, the Red Sea to the west, and Oman to the east....
) in the 60s. During the North Yemen Civil War
North Yemen Civil War
The North Yemen Civil War was fought in North Yemen between royalists of the Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen and factions of the Yemen Arab Republic from 1962 to 1970. The war began with a coup d'état carried out by the republican leader, Abdullah as-Sallal, which dethroned the newly crowned Imam...
fighting spilled over into South Yemen as the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
tried to exit its Federation of South Arabia colony. When the British left, the NLF attempted to seize power from another military group operating in South Arabia, the Arab nationalist
Pan-Arabism
Pan-Arabism is an ideology espousing the unification--or, sometimes, close cooperation and solidarity against perceived enemies of the Arabs--of the countries of the Arab world, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Arabian Sea. It is closely connected to Arab nationalism, which asserts that the Arabs...
Front for the Liberation of Occupied South Yemen (FLOSY)
Front for the Liberation of Occupied South Yemen
The Front for the Liberation of Occupied South Yemen or was a military organization operating in the Federation of South Arabia in the 60s. As the British tried to exit its Federation of South Arabia colony Abdullah al Asnag created FLOSY...
.
Background
In the late 50s EgyptianEgyptians
Egyptians are nation an ethnic group made up of Mediterranean North Africans, the indigenous people of Egypt.Egyptian identity is closely tied to geography. The population of Egypt is concentrated in the lower Nile Valley, the small strip of cultivable land stretching from the First Cataract to...
president
President of Egypt
The President of the Arab Republic of Egypt is the head of state of Egypt.Under the Constitution of Egypt, the president is also the supreme commander of the armed forces and head of the executive branch of the Egyptian government....
Gamal Abdel Nasser
Gamal Abdel Nasser
Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein was the second President of Egypt from 1956 until his death. A colonel in the Egyptian army, Nasser led the Egyptian Revolution of 1952 along with Muhammad Naguib, the first president, which overthrew the monarchy of Egypt and Sudan, and heralded a new period of...
's Pan-Arabism
Pan-Arabism
Pan-Arabism is an ideology espousing the unification--or, sometimes, close cooperation and solidarity against perceived enemies of the Arabs--of the countries of the Arab world, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Arabian Sea. It is closely connected to Arab nationalism, which asserts that the Arabs...
had spread to the region and threatened Britain and the traditional Emirs of the region's control. In response the British were able to convince the feuding Emirs to merge into the Federation of South Arabia
Federation of South Arabia
The Federation of South Arabia was an organization of states under British protection in what would become South Yemen. It was formed on 4 April 1962 from the 15 protected states of the Federation of Arab Emirates of the South. On 18 January 1963 it was merged with the crown colony of Aden...
. In the new Federation the Aden Trades Union Congress had a large influence in the new assembly and to prevent it seizing control of the Federation in 1962 the Colony of Aden joined the Federation so that Aden's pro-British assembly members could counter the ATUC's influence. The day after Aden joined the Federation the Muhammad al-Badr
Muhammad al-Badr
H.M. Muhammad Al-Badr was the last king of the Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen and leader of the monarchist regions during the North Yemen Civil War...
of the Yemenese monarchy
Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen
The Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen , sometimes spelled Mutawakelite Kingdom of Yemen, also known as the Kingdom of Yemen or as North Yemen, was a country from 1918 to 1962 in the northern part of what is now Yemen...
was overthrown and civil war ensued between forces backed by Nassar like the National Liberation Front (NLF) and monarchist forces backed by the Saudis
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
and British. This conflict spread throughout the region becoming what the British would term as the Aden Emergency
Aden Emergency
The Aden Emergency was an insurgency against the British crown forces in the British controlled territories of South Arabia which now form part of the Yemen. Partly inspired by Nasser's pan Arab nationalism, it began on 10 December 1963 with the throwing of a grenade at a gathering of British...
which officially began when a state of emergency
State of emergency
A state of emergency is a governmental declaration that may suspend some normal functions of the executive, legislative and judicial powers, alert citizens to change their normal behaviours, or order government agencies to implement emergency preparedness plans. It can also be used as a rationale...
was declared in the British Crown Colony
Crown colony
A Crown colony, also known in the 17th century as royal colony, was a type of colonial administration of the English and later British Empire....
of Aden.
Creation
The anti-Royalist campaign for power spread to the Federation of South Arabia in 1964 when the NLF announced the start of their revolution. In 1964 there was a new British government headed by the Labour PartyLabour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
after they won the United Kingdom general election
United Kingdom general election, 1964
The United Kingdom general election of 1964 was held on 15 October 1964, more than five years after the preceding election, and thirteen years after the Conservative Party had retaken power...
. They attempted to grant independence to the Federation of South Arabia by giving Abdullah al Asnag's FLOSY control of the country. This proposal was nixed by the American President Johnson
Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson , often referred to as LBJ, was the 36th President of the United States after his service as the 37th Vice President of the United States...
who didn't want Britain to withdraw while the Americans were escalating the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
.
In 1965 the British suspended the Federation of South Arabian government and imposed direct colonial rule. Realizing that the British weren't going to give him control Asnag fled the country and joined the NLF. However elements of the NLF become more radical Marxist and they split from the Egyptians. Asnag formed his own military organization, FLOSY, in order to counter the NLF. The NLF quickly denounced Asnag and FLOSY as Imperialist forces under control of Nasser and in addition to attacking the British also engaged FLOSY in combat. By February 1967 the British could no longer control or protect its bases in Aden and announced it was leaving the country, against American wishes.
In January 1967, there were mass riots by NLF and FLOSY supporters in the old Arab quarter of Aden town, which continued until mid February, despite the intervention of British troops. During the period there were many attacks on the troops, and an Aden Airlines Douglas DC-3
Douglas DC-3
The Douglas DC-3 is an American fixed-wing propeller-driven aircraft whose speed and range revolutionized air transport in the 1930s and 1940s. Its lasting impact on the airline industry and World War II makes it one of the most significant transport aircraft ever made...
plane was destroyed in the air with no survivors. At the same time, the members of FLOSY and the NLF were also killing each other in large numbers. On 20 June 1967, there was a mutiny in the Federation of South Arabia Army, which also spread to the police. Order was restored by the British, mainly due to the efforts of the 1st Battalion Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders
Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders
The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, 5th Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland is an infantry battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland....
, under the command of Lt-Col. Colin Campbell Mitchell
Colin Campbell Mitchell
Colin Campbell Mitchell was a British Army lieutenant-colonel and politician. He became famous in July 1967 when he led the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders in the British reoccupation of the Crater district of Aden. At that time, Aden was a British colony and the Crater district had briefly been...
.
Nevertheless, deadly guerrilla attacks particularly by the NLF soon resumed against British forces. Nasser threw its weight behind FLOSY and arrested the head of the NLF who was living at the time in Egypt. Officially FLOSY and the NLF refused to talk to the leaving British forces as they didn't want to be seen as agents of British Imperialism. However unofficial secret talks were held between the British and the NLF who conspired to defeat FLOSY so that the much hated Nasser supported FLOSY would be defeated. With the British being defeated and driven from Aden by the end of November 1967, earlier than had been planned by British Prime Minister Harold Wilson
Harold Wilson
James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, KG, OBE, FRS, FSS, PC was a British Labour Member of Parliament, Leader of the Labour Party. He was twice Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the 1960s and 1970s, winning four general elections, including a minority government after the...
and without an agreement on the succeeding governance. When the last governor of Aden, Sir Humphrey Trevelyan, left the country he had no one to give the keys to but as a point of respect had the government house repainted for whomever emerged victorious. The Royal Marines
Royal Marines
The Corps of Her Majesty's Royal Marines, commonly just referred to as the Royal Marines , are the marine corps and amphibious infantry of the United Kingdom and, along with the Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary, form the Naval Service...
, who had been the first British troops to occupy Aden in 1839, were the last to leave.
Victory
On November 30, 1967 Federation of South Arabia ceased to exist when the People's Republic of South Yemen was declared. In 1967 Nasser was defeated in the Six-Day WarSix-Day War
The Six-Day War , also known as the June War, 1967 Arab-Israeli War, or Third Arab-Israeli War, was fought between June 5 and 10, 1967, by Israel and the neighboring states of Egypt , Jordan, and Syria...
and had to pull its troops out of Yemen. FLOSY, now without any military support from its Egyptian allies, still battled it out with the NLF. However, FLOSY's fate was sealed when the NLF was able to convince the Yemen's Federal army to join its battle and wipe out FLOSY. On November 7, 1967 FLOSY tried to attack a federal army base but the army with help from the NLF stuck heavy losses against FLOSY and they were defeated. With the defeat the military forces of FLOSY ceased to exist although some cadres and leaders remained outside the country. Most of the opposing leaders reconciled by 1968, in the aftermath of a final royalist siege of San'a'.
Post civil war
Qahtan Muhammad al-Shaabi held the presidency until 22 June 1969, when a hard-line MarxistMarxism
Marxism is an economic and sociopolitical worldview and method of socioeconomic inquiry that centers upon a materialist interpretation of history, a dialectical view of social change, and an analysis and critique of the development of capitalism. Marxism was pioneered in the early to mid 19th...
group from within his own NLF seized control. Salim Rubai Ali (Salmin) replaced al-Shaabi. After the civil war in 1970, Saudi Arabia recognized the Yemen Arab Republic
Yemen Arab Republic
The Yemen Arab Republic , also known as North Yemen or Yemen , was a country from 1962 to 1990 in the western part of what is now Yemen...
and a ceasefire against remaining belligerents was put in place. The NLF changed the name of South Yemen on 1 December 1970 to the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen
People's Democratic Republic of Yemen
The People's Democratic Republic of Yemen — also referred to as South Yemen, Democratic Yemen or Yemen — was a socialist republic in the present-day southern and eastern Provinces of Yemen...
(PDRY). The NLF changed its name to the Yemeni Socialist Party
Yemeni Socialist Party
The Yemeni Socialist Party is a political party in Yemen.It was the ruling party in South Yemen, the only Marxist Arab state, before unification in 1990...
(YSP) in 1978. All other political parties were amalgamated into the Yemeni Socialist Party
Yemeni Socialist Party
The Yemeni Socialist Party is a political party in Yemen.It was the ruling party in South Yemen, the only Marxist Arab state, before unification in 1990...
(YSP), which became the only legal party.