Aden Protectorate ( []) was a
BritishThe British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom, that had originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height it was...
protectorateA protectorate, in international law, is an autonomous territory that is protected diplomatically or militarily against third parties by a stronger state or entity. In exchange for this, the protectorate usually accepts specified obligations, which may vary greatly, depending on the real nature of...
in southern Arabia in the early and middle 20th century. Together with the Colony of Aden, it subsequently became known as
South ArabiaSouth Arabia as a general term refers to several regions as currently recognized, in chief the Republic of Yemen; yet it has historically also included Najran, Jizan, and 'Asir which are presently in Saudi Arabia, and Dhofar presently in Oman...
and later
South Yemen. Today the territory forms part of the
Republic of YemenYemen , officially the Republic of Yemen is a country located on the Arabian Peninsula in Southwest Asia...
.
Informal beginnings
What became known as the Aden Protectorate was initially informal arrangements of protection with nine
tribeA tribe, viewed historically or developmentally, consists of a social group existing before the development of, or outside of, states.Many anthropologists use the term to refer to societies organized largely on the basis of kinship, especially corporate descent groups .Some theorists hold that...
s in the immediate
hinterlandThe hinterland is the land or district behind the borders of a coast or river. Specifically, by the doctrine of the hinterland, the word is applied to the inland region lying behind a port, claimed by the state that owns the coast...
of the
port||-||-||-||-||-||-||-||-|}A port is a facility for receiving ships and/or transferring cargo. It is usually found at the edge of an ocean, sea, river, or lake. The best ports have deep water in channels or berths, and protection from the wind and waves...
city of
AdenAden is a city in Yemen, 170 kilometres east of Bab-el-Mandeb.Aden's ancient, natural harbour lies in the crater of an extinct volcano which now forms a peninsula, joined to the mainland by a low isthmus. This harbour, Front Bay, was first used by the ancient Kingdom of Awsan between the 5th and...
:
- Lahej (Abdali)
- Alawi
Alawi , or the Alawi Sheikhdom , was one of the original "Nine Cantons" that signed protection argreements with Great Britain in the late 19th century and became part of the British Aden Protectorate. It was later in the Federation of Arab Emirates of the South, and its successor, the Federation of...
- Dhala
Dhala , Amiri , or the Emirate of Dhala was a state in the British Aden Protectorate, the Federation of Arab Emirates of the South, and its successor, the Federation of South Arabia...
(Amiri)
- Aqrabi
Aqrabi , or the Aqrabi Sheikhdom , was a state in the British Aden Protectorate, the Federation of Arab Emirates of the South, and its successor, the Federation of South Arabia. Its capital was Bir Ahmad.-History:...
- Aulaqi
Lower Aulaqi , or the Lower Aulaqi Sultanate , was a state in the Aden Protectorate, the Federation of Arab Emirates of the South, and its successor, the Federation of South Arabia. Its capital was Ahwar.-History:...
- Fadhli
Fadhli , or the Fadhli Sultanate , was one of the original "Nine Sultanates" that signed protection argreements with Great Britain in the early 20th century and became part of the British Aden Protectorate. It was a founding member of the Federation of Arab Emirates of the South in 1959 and its...
- Haushabi
- Subeihi
- Yafa
Lower Yafa, Lower Yafa'i , or the Sultanate of Lower Yafa , was a state in the British Aden Protectorate. Within its area were the sheikhdoms of Yaher, Kalad, Thi Nakheb, Al Saadi,al khulaqi and Yazidi...
British expansion into the area was designed to secure the important port that was, at the time, governed from
British IndiaThe British Raj was the British colonial rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; it can also refer to the period of dominion, and even the region under the rule...
. From 1874, these protection arrangements existed with the tacit acceptance of the
Ottoman EmpireThe Ottoman Empire or Ottoman State , also known by its contemporaries as the Turkish Empire or Turkey , was an empire that lasted from 1299 to November 1, 1922 The Ottoman Empire or Ottoman State (Ottoman Turkish: دَوْلَتِ عَلِیَّهِ عُثْمَانِیَّه Dawlet-il ʿAliyyat-il ʿOs̠māniyye, Modern Turkish:...
that maintained
suzeraintySuzerainty is a situation in which a region or people is a tributary to a more powerful entity which controls its foreign affairs while allowing the tributary some limited domestic autonomy. The superior entity in the suzerainty relationship, or the more powerful entity itself, is called a suzerain...
over
YemenNorth Yemen is a term currently used to designate the Yemen Arab Republic , its predecessor, the Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen , and their predecessors that exercised sovereignty over the territory that is now the north-western part of the state of Yemen in southern Arabia.Neither state was ever...
to the north and the
politiesPolity is a form of government Aristotle developed in his search for a government that could be most easily incorporated and used by the largest amount of people groups, or states...
became known collectively as the "Nine Tribes" or the "Nine Cantons."
Formal treaties of protection
Beginning with a formal
treatyA treaty is an agreement under international law entered into by actors in international law, namely sovereign states and international organizations. A treaty may also be known as: agreement, protocol, covenant, convention, exchange of letters, etc...
of protection with the
HadhramiHadhramaut, Hadhramout, or Hadramawt is a historical region of the south Arabian Peninsula along the Gulf of Aden in the Arabian Sea, extending eastwards from Yemen to the borders of the Dhofar region of Oman. The name of the region is currently retained in the smaller Hadhramaut Governorate of...
Mahra Sultanate of Qishn and SocotraThe Mahra Sultanate of Qishn and Socotra or sometimes the Mahra Sultanate of Ghayda and Socotra was a sultanate that included both the historical region of Mahra and the Indian Ocean island of Socotra in what is now eastern Yemen...
in 1886, Britain embarked on a slow formalization of protection arrangements that included over 30 major treaties of protection with the last signed only in 1954. These treaties, together with a number of other minor agreements, created the Aden Protectorate that extended well east of Aden to
HadhramautHadhramaut, Hadhramout, or Hadramawt is a historical region of the south Arabian Peninsula along the Gulf of Aden in the Arabian Sea, extending eastwards from Yemen to the borders of the Dhofar region of Oman. The name of the region is currently retained in the smaller Hadhramaut Governorate of...
and included all of the territory that would become South Yemen except for the immediate environs and port of the British colonial capital, Aden city, which together with several offshore islands was known as the Colony of Aden, the only part where no Arab ruler retained jurisdiction. In exchange for British protection, the rulers of the constituent territories agreed not to enter into agreement with or cede territory to any other foreign power.
In 1917, control of Aden Protectorate was transferred from the
Government of IndiaThe British Raj was the British colonial rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; it can also refer to the period of dominion, and even the region under the rule...
, which had inherited the
British East India CompanyThe East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...
's interests in various
princely stateThere were as many as 568 states in India before independence. A Princely State was a nominally sovereign entity of British rule in India that was not directly administered by the British, but rather by an Indian ruler under a form of indirect rule such as suzerainty or paramountcy.-The British...
s on the strategically important naval route from
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
to
IndiaIndia, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal...
, to the
BritishThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
Foreign OfficeThe Foreign and Commonwealth Office, commonly called the Foreign Office or the FCO, is the British government department responsible for promoting the interests of the United Kingdom overseas, created in 1968 by merging the Foreign Office and the Commonwealth Office.The head of the FCO is the...
. For administrative purposes, the protectorate was informally divided into the
Eastern Protectorate (with its own Political Officer, a British advisor, stationed at Mukalla in
Qu'aitiQu'aiti , officially the Qu'aiti State in Hadhramaut Qu'aiti ( []), officially the Qu'aiti State in Hadhramaut Qu'aiti ( []), officially the Qu'aiti State in Hadhramaut (Arabic: (الدولة القعيطية الحضرمية) or the Qu'aiti Sultanate of Shihr and Mukalla (Arabic:سلطنة الشحر والمكلاا []), was a...
from 1937 to ca. 1967) and the
Western Protectorate (with its own Political Officer, stationed at Lahej from 1 April 1937 to 1967), for some separation of administration.
In 1928, the British established Aden Command, under
Royal Air ForceThe Royal Air Force is the United Kingdom's air force, the oldest independent air force in the world. Formed on 1 April 1918, the RAF has taken a significant role in British military history ever since, playing a large part in World War II and in more recent conflicts.The RAF operates almost 1,109...
leadership, to preserve the security of the Protectorate. It was renamed
British Forces AdenBritish Forces Aden was the name given to the British Armed Forces stationed in the Aden Protectorate during part of the 20th century. Their purpose was to preserve the security of the Protectorate from both internal threats and external aggression....
in 1936 and was later known as British Forces Arabian Peninsula and then Middle East Command (Aden).
The Eastern Protectorate (ca. 230,000 km²) came to include the following entities (mostly in
HadhramautHadhramaut, Hadhramout, or Hadramawt is a historical region of the south Arabian Peninsula along the Gulf of Aden in the Arabian Sea, extending eastwards from Yemen to the borders of the Dhofar region of Oman. The name of the region is currently retained in the smaller Hadhramaut Governorate of...
):
- Kathiri
Kathiri Kathiri Kathiri ( al-Kathīrī, officially the Kathiri State of Seiyun in Hadhramaut (Arabic: السلطنة الكثيرية - سيؤن - حضرموت ) was a sultanate in the Hadhramaut region of the southern Arabian Peninsula, in what is now officially considered part of Yemen and the Dhofar region of Oman.The...
- Mahra
The Mahra Sultanate of Qishn and Socotra or sometimes the Mahra Sultanate of Ghayda and Socotra was a sultanate that included both the historical region of Mahra and the Indian Ocean island of Socotra in what is now eastern Yemen...
- Qu'aiti
Qu'aiti , officially the Qu'aiti State in Hadhramaut Qu'aiti ( []), officially the Qu'aiti State in Hadhramaut Qu'aiti ( []), officially the Qu'aiti State in Hadhramaut (Arabic: (الدولة القعيطية الحضرمية) or the Qu'aiti Sultanate of Shihr and Mukalla (Arabic:سلطنة الشحر والمكلاا []), was a...
- Wahidi Balhaf
Wahidi Balhaf , or the Wahidi Sultanate of Balhaf , was one of several Wahidi states in the British Aden Protectorate. It was also part of the Federation of Arab Emirates of the South, and its successor, the Federation of South Arabia when it was known simply as Wahidi...
- Wahidi Bir Ali
Wahidi Bir Ali , or the Wahidi Wilayah of Bir Ali , was one of several Wahidi states in the British Aden Protectorate and the Protectorate of South Arabia. Its capital was Bir Ali on the Gulf of Aden coast...
- Wahidi Haban
Wahidi Haban , or the Wahidi Sultanate of Haban , was one of several Wahidi states in the British Aden Protectorate. Its capital was Habban...
The Western Protectorate (ca. 55,000 km²) included:
- Alawi
Alawi , or the Alawi Sheikhdom , was one of the original "Nine Cantons" that signed protection argreements with Great Britain in the late 19th century and became part of the British Aden Protectorate. It was later in the Federation of Arab Emirates of the South, and its successor, the Federation of...
- Aqrabi
Aqrabi , or the Aqrabi Sheikhdom , was a state in the British Aden Protectorate, the Federation of Arab Emirates of the South, and its successor, the Federation of South Arabia. Its capital was Bir Ahmad.-History:...
- Audhali
Audhali , or the Audhali Sultanate , was a state in the British Aden Protectorate. It was a founding member of the Federation of Arab Emirates of the South in 1959 and its successor, the Federation of South Arabia, in 1963. Its capital was Zarah...
- Beihan
Beihan or Bayhan , officially the Emirate of Beihan , was a state in the British Aden Protectorate and the Federation of South Arabia. Its capital was Suq Abdulla, now called Beihan.-History:...
- Dathina
Dathina , the Dathina Sheikhdom , or sometimes the Dathina Confederation, was a state in the British Aden Protectorate, the Federation of Arab Emirates of the South, and its successor, the Federation of South Arabia. It was abolished in 1967 upon the founding of the People's Republic of South Yemen...
- Dhala
Dhala , Amiri , or the Emirate of Dhala was a state in the British Aden Protectorate, the Federation of Arab Emirates of the South, and its successor, the Federation of South Arabia...
- Fadhli
Fadhli , or the Fadhli Sultanate , was one of the original "Nine Sultanates" that signed protection argreements with Great Britain in the early 20th century and became part of the British Aden Protectorate. It was a founding member of the Federation of Arab Emirates of the South in 1959 and its...
- Haushabi
- Lahej
- Lower Aulaqi
Lower Aulaqi , or the Lower Aulaqi Sultanate , was a state in the Aden Protectorate, the Federation of Arab Emirates of the South, and its successor, the Federation of South Arabia. Its capital was Ahwar.-History:...
- Lower Yafa
Lower Yafa, Lower Yafa'i , or the Sultanate of Lower Yafa , was a state in the British Aden Protectorate. Within its area were the sheikhdoms of Yaher, Kalad, Thi Nakheb, Al Saadi,al khulaqi and Yazidi...
- Qutaibi
Qutaibi or the Qutaibi Sheikhdom was a polity in the western Aden Protectorate. It was a dependency of the Emirate of Dhala and is now part of the Republic of Yemen...
Dependence of Dhala
- Shaib
Shaib , or the Sheikhdom of Shaib , was a state in the British Aden Protectorate, the Federation of Arab Emirates of the South, and its successor, the Federation of South Arabia...
- Upper Aulaqi Sheikhdom
The Upper Aulaqi Sheikhdom was a state in the British Aden Protectorate, the Federation of Arab Emirates of the South, and its successor, the Federation of South Arabia...
- Upper Aulaqi Sultanate
The Upper Aulaqi Sultanate was a state in the British Aden Protectorate and the Federation of South Arabia. Its capital was Nisab.-History:...
- The five Upper Yafa
Upper Yafa, Upper Yafa'i , or the Sultanate of Upper Yafa , was a state in the British Aden Protectorate and the Protectorate of South Arabia. It was ruled by the Harharah dynasty and its capital was Mahjaba...
sheikhdoms of:
- Busi
- Dhubi
- Hadrami
- Maflahi
Muflihi , or the Muflihi Sheikhdom , was a state in the British Aden Protectorate. It was originally one of the five sheikhdoms of Upper Yafa but joined the Federation of South Arabia and its successor, the Federation of South Arabia, as a separate state...
- Mausatta
- Upper Yafa Sultanate
Upper Yafa, Upper Yafa'i , or the Sultanate of Upper Yafa , was a state in the British Aden Protectorate and the Protectorate of South Arabia. It was ruled by the Harharah dynasty and its capital was Mahjaba...
The boundaries between these polities and even their number fluctuated over time. Some such as the Mahra Sultanate barely had any functioning administration. Not included in the protectorate were Aden Colony or the insular areas of
PerimPerim is a volcanic island strategically located in the Strait of Mandeb at the southern entrance into the Red Sea, off the southwestern coast of Yemen, at . It has a surface area of 13 square kilometers and rises to an altitude of 65 meters. The island has a natural harbor on its southwestern...
,
KamaranKamaran Island is the largest Yemen-controlled island in the Red Sea. The 108-km² island is 18 km long and 7 km wide and is strategically located at the southern end of the Red Sea...
, and
Khuriya MuriyaThe Khuriya Muriya Islands or Kuria Muria Islands The Khuriya Muriya Islands or Kuria Muria Islands The Khuriya Muriya Islands or Kuria Muria Islands ;...
that accrued to it.
Advisory treaties
In 1938, Britain signed an advisory treaty with the
Qu'aitiQu'aiti , officially the Qu'aiti State in Hadhramaut Qu'aiti ( []), officially the Qu'aiti State in Hadhramaut Qu'aiti ( []), officially the Qu'aiti State in Hadhramaut (Arabic: (الدولة القعيطية الحضرمية) or the Qu'aiti Sultanate of Shihr and Mukalla (Arabic:سلطنة الشحر والمكلاا []), was a...
sultan and, throughout the 1940s and 1950s, signed similar treaties with twelve other protectorate states. The following were the states with advisory treaties:
Eastern Protectorate States
- Kathiri
- Mahra
- Qu'aiti
- Wahidi Balhaf
Western Protectorate States
- Audhali
- Beihan
- Dhala
- Haushabi
- Fadhli
- Lahej
- Lower Aulaqi
- Lower Yafa
- Upper Aulaqi Sheikhdom
These agreements allowed for the stationing of a Resident Advisor in the signatory states which gave the British a greater degree of control over their domestic affairs. This
rationalizedIn philosophy, rationality and reason are the key methods used to analyze the data gathered through systematically gathered observations. In economics, sociology, and political science, a decision or situation is often called rational if it is in some sense optimal, and individuals or organizations...
and stabilized the rulers’ status and
laws of successionAn order of succession is a formula or algorithm that determines who inherits an office upon the death, resignation, or removal of its current occupant.-Monarchies and nobility:...
but had the effect of ossifying the leadership and encouraging official corruption. Aerial
bombardmentA bombardment is an attack by artillery fire directed against fortifications, troops or towns and buildings. In its strict sense the term is only applied to the bombardment of defenceless or undefended objects, houses, public buildings, etc., by an assailant with the object of disheartening his...
and
collective punishmentCollective punishment is the punishment of a group of people as a result of the behaviour of one or more other individuals or groups. The punished group may often have no direct association with the other individuals or groups, or direct control over their actions...
were sometimes used against wayward tribes to enforce the rule of Britain’s clients. British protection came to be seen as an impediment to progress, a view reinforced by the arrival of news of
Arab nationalismArab nationalism is a nationalist ideology which rose to prominence amongst Arabs from the early 20th century onwards. Its central premise is that the peoples and countries of the Arab World, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Arabian Sea, constitute one nation and are bound together by their common...
from the outside world on newly available
transistor radioA transistor radio is a small transistor-based radio receiver.-History:Bell Laboratories demonstrated the first transistor on December 23, 1947. After obtaining patent protection, the company held a news conference on June 30, 1948, at which a prototype transistor radio was demonstrated...
s.
Challenges to the status quo
British control was also challenged by King
Ahmad bin YahyaAhmad bin Yahya Hamidaddin was the penultimate king of the Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen from 1948 to 1962. His full name and title was H.M. al-Nasir-li-din Allah Ahmad bin al-Mutawakkil 'Ala Allah Yahya, Imam and Commander of the Faithful, and King of the Mutawakkilite Kingdom of the Yemen...
of
YemenThe 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...
to the north who did not recognize British suzerainty in South Arabia and had ambitions of creating a unified
Greater YemenGreater Yemen is a geographic term denoting the present territory of the Republic of Yemen as well as the Saudi regions of 'Asir, Najran Province, Jizan Province, Al Bahah, the adjacent islands in the Red Sea and the adjacent parts of Tihamah and sometimes the Omani province of Dhofar.Greater...
. In the late 1940s and the early 1950s, Yemen was involved in a series of border skirmishes along the disputed Violet Line, a 1914 Anglo-
OttomanThe Ottoman Empire or Ottoman State , also known by its contemporaries as the Turkish Empire or Turkey , was an empire that lasted from 1299 to November 1, 1922 The Ottoman Empire or Ottoman State (Ottoman Turkish: دَوْلَتِ عَلِیَّهِ عُثْمَانِیَّه Dawlet-il ʿAliyyat-il ʿOs̠māniyye, Modern Turkish:...
demarcation that served to separate Yemen from the Aden Protectorate.
In 1950, Kennedy Trevaskis, the Advisor for the Western Protectorate drew up a plan for the protectorate states to form two
federationA federation , also known as a federal state, is a type of sovereign state characterized by a union of partially self-governing states or regions united by a central government...
s, corresponding to the two halves of the protectorate. Although little progress was made in bringing the plan to fruition, it was considered a provocation by Ahmad bin Yahya. In addition to his role as king, he also served as the
imamAn imam is an Islamic leadership position, often the leader of a mosque and the community. Similar to spiritual leaders, the imam is the one who leads the prayer during Islamic gatherings. More often, the community turns to the mosque imam if they have an Islamic question...
of the ruling Zaidi branch of
Shi'a IslamShia Islam , is the second largest denomination of Islam, after Sunni Islam. The followers of Shia Islam are called Shi'as or Shi'ites....
. He feared that a successful federation in the Shafi'i Sunnite protectorates would serve as a beacon for discontented Shafi'ites who inhabited the coastal regions of Yemen. To counter the threat, Ahmad stepped up Yemeni efforts to undermine British control and, in the mid-1950s, Yemen supported a number of revolts by disgruntled tribes against protectorate states. The appeal of Yemen was limited initially in the protectorate but a growing intimacy between Yemen and the popular Arab nationalist president of
EgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia...
Gamal Abdel NasserGamal Abdel Nasser was the second President of Egypt from 1956 until his death in 1970. He led the Egyptian Revolution of 1952, which removed King Farouk I and heralded a new period of industrialization in Egypt, together with a profound advancement of Arab nationalism, including a short-lived...
and the formation of
United Arab StatesThe United Arab States was a short-lived confederation of Egypt, Syria and North Yemen between 1958 and 1961.The United Arab Republic was a sovereign state formed by a union between Egypt and Syria in 1958...
increased its attraction.
Federation and the end of the Protectorate
Aden had been of interest to Britain as a link to British India and then, after the loss of most of Britain's colonies from 1945 and the disastrous
Suez CrisisThe Suez Crisis, also referred to as the Tripartite Aggression, was a military attack on Egypt by Britain, France, and Israel beginning on 29 October 1956....
in 1956, as a valuable
port||-||-||-||-||-||-||-||-|}A port is a facility for receiving ships and/or transferring cargo. It is usually found at the edge of an ocean, sea, river, or lake. The best ports have deep water in channels or berths, and protection from the wind and waves...
for accessing crucial Middle Eastern oil. It had also been chosen as the new location for
Middle East CommandThe Middle East Command was a British Army Command established prior to the Second World War in Egypt. Its primary role was to command British land forces and co-ordinate with the relevant naval and air commands to defend British interests in the Middle East and eastern Mediterranean region.The...
.
Nationalist pressure prodded the threatened rulers of the Aden Protectorate states to revive efforts at forming a federation and, on 11 February 1959, six of them signed an accord forming the
Federation of Arab Emirates of the SouthThe Federation of Arab Emirates of the South was an organization of states within the British Aden Protectorate in what would become South Yemen. The Federation of six states was inaugurated in the British Colony of Aden on 11 February 1959. It subsequently added nine states and, on 4 April...
. In the next three years, they were joined by nine others and, on 18 January 1963, Aden Colony was merged with the federation creating the new
Federation of South ArabiaThe 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...
. At the same time, the (mostly eastern) states that had not joined the federation became the
Protectorate of South ArabiaThe Protectorate of South Arabia was a grouping of states under treaties of protection with Britain in what would become South Yemen. The Protectorate was designated on 18 January 1963 as consisting of those areas of the Aden Protectorate that did not join the Federation of South Arabia.It included...
, thus ending the existence of the Aden Protectorate.
Aden Emergency
On December 10 1963 when a
state of emergencyA state of emergency is a governmental declaration that may suspend certain normal functions of government, alert citizens to alter their normal behaviors, or order government agencies to implement emergency preparedness plans. It can also be used as a rationale for suspending civil liberties...
was declared in the Aden Protectorate.
The Emergency was precipitated in large part by a wave of
Arab nationalismArab nationalism is a nationalist ideology which rose to prominence amongst Arabs from the early 20th century onwards. Its central premise is that the peoples and countries of the Arab World, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Arabian Sea, constitute one nation and are bound together by their common...
spreading to the Arabian Peninsula and stemming largely from the Socialist and pan-Arabist doctrines of the
EgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia...
ian leader Gamel Abdel Nasser. The
BritishThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
,
FrenchFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
and
IsraelIsrael officially the State of Israel , is a developed state in Western Asia located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan in the east, and Egypt on the southwest, and contains geographically diverse features within its...
i invasion forces that
had invaded EgyptMilitary history records several plans called Operation Musketeer:*Musketeer was a four-phased plan during World War II to liberate the Philippine Islands developed by General Douglas MacArthur’s staff as part of the larger Reno V plan...
following Nasser's nationalisation of the
Suez CanalThe Suez Canal is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. Opened on November 1869, it allows water transportation between Europe and Asia without navigating around Africa...
in 1956 had been forced to withdraw following intervention from both the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and the
Soviet UnionThe Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. The name is a translation of the , tr. Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated СССР, SSSR. The common short name is Soviet Union, from , Sovetskiy Soyuz...
.
Nevertheless, Nasser had then enjoyed limited success in spreading his pan-Arabist doctrines through the Arab world, with his 1958 attempt to unify Egypt and
SyriaSyria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south and Israel to the southwest....
as the
United Arab RepublicThe United Arab Republic , often abbreviated as the U.A.R., was a union between Egypt, and Syria. The union began in 1958 and existed until 1961 when Syria seceded from the union...
collapsing in a humiliating failure only 3 years later. A perceived anti-colonial uprising in Aden in 1963 provided another potential opportunity for his doctrines, though it is not clear to what extent Nasser directly incited the revolt among the Arabs in Aden, as opposed to the Yemeni guerrilla groups drawing inspiration from Nasser's pan-Arabist ideas but acting independently themselves.
By 1963 and in the ensuing years, anti-British guerrilla groups with varying political objectives began to coalesce into two larger, rival organizations: first the Egyptian-supported
National Liberation FrontNational Liberation Front can refer to several groups:* National Liberation Front for South Vietnam -- political wing of the Vietcong* National Liberation Front...
(NLF) and then the Front for the Liberation of Occupied South Yemen (FLOSY), who attacked each other as well as the British.
By 1965, the
RAF stationA Royal Air Force station is a permanent Royal Air Force operations location. Many RAF stations are aerodromes, or airbases, being the home to one or more flying squadrons. Other RAF stations are training units, administrative units, headquarters , or carry out ground-based operational tasks...
(
RAF KhormaksarRAF Khormaksar is a former Royal Air Force station in Aden, during the 1960s it was the busiest station in the RAF with nine squadrons based. It later became Aden International Airport.Station motto: Into the Remote Places.-History:...
) was operating 9 Squadrons. These included transport units with helicopters and a number of
Hawker HunterThe Hawker Hunter was a UK jet fighter aircraft of the 1950s and 1960s. The Hunter served for many years with the Royal Air Force and was widely exported, serving with 19 air forces. A total of 1,972 Hunters were produced by Hawker Siddeley and under licence....
ground attack aircraft. These were called in by the army for strikes against positions when they would use "60 lb" high explosive rockets and their 30 mm Aden cannon.
Notable events include the Battle of Crater which brought Lt-Col
Colin Campbell MitchellColin 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...
(AKA. "Mad Mitch") to prominence. On June 20 1967 there was a mutiny in the South Arabian Federation 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 HighlandersThe Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders was an infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Scottish Division. In 2004, as part of the restructuring of the infantry, it was announced that the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders would be amalgamated with the other Scottish infantry regiments into...
, under the command of Lt-Col Mitchell.
Nevertheless, deadly guerrilla attacks particularly by the NLF soon resumed against British forces once again, with the British leaving Aden by the end of November 1967, earlier than had been planned by British Prime Minister
Harold WilsonJames Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, KG, OBE, FRS, PC was a British Labour Party politician; one of the most prominent British politicians of the latter half of the 20th century, he served two terms as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, firstly from 1964 to 1970, and again from 1974...
and without an agreement on the succeeding governance. Their enemies, the NLF, managed to seize power.
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