ABSTRACT
The Republican revolution in Yemen which began at midnight on 26/27 September 1962 was perhaps the most significant event in the twentieth century history of southwest Arabia. The origins of the modern Yemeni state can be traced back directly to the coup instigated by army officers in Sanaa that night. Although the demise of the Imamate was prolonged it was finally dissolved in 1970, just short of its millennium. More immediately, the revolution gave Nasser direct influence in Arabian affairs: from this point the government of the most populous state in the peninsula was committed to a political programme consciously modelled on the Egyptian pattern. British policy-makers reacted to these events with unrelenting hostility. The mutual animosity of the Republican authorities in Sanaa and the High Commission in Aden led to renewed conflict along the frontier between the federation and the nascent Republic. In order to secure the continued influence of the federal rulers after independence, Johnston and Trevaskis launched larger military campaigns against those tribal rebels inside the federation who were willing to accept Republican assistance. They also revamped federal constitutional arrangements to give them the appearance of greater legitimacy. These measures served to radicalise still further anti-British sentiments in Aden. After 1962 the continuation of formal British control in the long term as Lord Lloyd had envisaged six years earlier, was no longer feasible. However, the underlying assumption amongst many policy-makers that Britain could continue to play a substantial role by maintaining close ties to the federal rulers was sustained. The feeling persisted amongst many in Aden and Whitehall that unless they could defeat Nasser any prospect of a continued world role would be lost. There was a widespread desire to retain a very substantial degree of influence in southwest Arabia, even if this could no longer take the form of imperial rule. The fulfilment of this goal required a further effort to defeat the urban radicals of Aden, tribal insurgents in the federation and the Republican government north of the frontier. The policies that issued from this analysis are the subject of this chapter.
