SUMMARY
In the 19th century, the southern part of Yemen became a British colony whereas the northern part of the country came under the rule of the Ottoman Empire. South Yemen remained under British administration until it was granted independence in 1967. The British passed on their governing authority to the National Liberation Front (NLF), a left-wing liberation group, which ruled as Government of South Yemen until the country formally united with North Yemen in 1990.
Internal tensions and factions within the NLF led to outbreaks of violence and several changes in the leadership of the Government of South Yemen between 1967 and 1990 (for more information, see Government of South Yemen - Yemenite Socialist Party - Abdul Fattah Ismail faction). Moderate leftist, Qahtan Muhammad al-Shaabi, was the first president of South Yemen; formally, the People’s Republic of South Yemen. However, a radical Marxist faction of the NFL overthrew him in 1969. Following this, the Government of Yemen implemented a strict Marxist regime with the economy restructured accordingly and the country formally renamed the People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen in 1970. The governing NFL party merged with other left-wing parties to form the Yemeni Socialist Party in 1978, when a one-party political system was established.
In the meantime, relations between the Government of North Yemen and South Yemen deteriorated in the 1970s and a short border conflict erupted in late February 1979 (see Government of South Yemen - Government of Yemen (North Yemen)). A peace agreement was signed one month later, following substantial mediation efforts by, among others, the Arab League. The agreement stipulated a unification of the countries. However, it was not until 1988 that this process gained real speed.
The unification process was peacefully completed on 22 May 1990 when the Arab Republic of Yemen (North Yemen) merged with the People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen (South Yemen) to form the Republic of Yemen. The parliaments of North and South Yemen elected the former North Yemeni leader, Ali Abdullah Saleh, as President and the former South Yemeni leader, Ali Salim al-Bid, as Vice-President. Sanaa, the former capital of North Yemen, became capital of the Republic of Yemen whilst Aden, the former capital of South Yemen, became the economic center.
Although the unification itself was peaceful, resentment of the unification remained strong in the southern parts of Yemen. This resulted in later outbreaks of violence (for more information, see Yemen (North Yemen):South Yemen). The Soviet Union was a close supporter of the Government of South Yemen and during its conflict with North Yemen, the Soviet Union continued to supply the government with weapons. South Yemen received 3500 troops to support it from the Government of Ethiopia and there were unconfirmed reports about support from Cuba and East Germany in terms of military advisers. By 1986, Government of South Yemen had its own force of 34 000 troops.
