Yemenite War of 1972

First Yemenite War
	Part of the Cold War, the Sino-Soviet split, and the Arab Cold War
	; North & South Yemen
Date	26 September – 19 October 1972; (3 weeks and 2 days)
Location	North Yemen–South Yemen border
Result	Cairo Agreement No territorial changes; Two Yemens pledge ambition to unify;
Belligerents
North Yemen; Supported By: Saudi Arabia; United States; United Kingdom; Jordan; Iran; Egypt; China;	South Yemen; Cuba; Supported By: Soviet Union; Libya; Iraq; East Germany; Czechoslovakia; North Korea;
Commanders and leaders
Abdul Rahman al-Eryani; Ali Abdullah Saleh	Abdul Fattah Ismail

The First Yemenite War was a short military conflict between the Yemen Arab Republic (YAR; North Yemen) and the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (PDRY; South Yemen).^[2]

Background[]

South Arabian League (SAL) rebels attacked positions in eastern South Yemen, arriving from Saudi Arabia on February 20, 1972.^[3] The rebels were defeated by South Yemen government troops on February 24, 1972, with some 175 rebels killed during the military hostilities.^[3] Prime Minister Ali Nasir Muhammad survived an assassination attempt by SAL rebels on May 22, 1972.^[3] Six persons were sentenced to death for plotting to overthrow the government on July 9, 1972.^[3] Saudi Arabia continued to oppose South Yemen and supported the Northern Yemeni troops in the upcoming struggle.

Conflict[]

The war, initiated by North Yemen,^[4] started on 26 September 1972,^[4]^[5] the tenth anniversary of the start of the North Yemen Civil War;^[4] the fighting mostly consisted of border clashes.^[6] During the conflict, the north was supplied by Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, Iran, the United Kingdom and the United States and the south by the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia, Iraq, Libya and Cuba.^[2]

Aftermath[]

Cairo Agreement of 1972[]

The fighting was short-lived; the war ended 23 days later, on 19 October,^[4] by a ceasefire.^[4] This was followed by the Cairo Agreement of 28 October,^[4] which put forward a plan to unify the two countries in a "republican, national and democratic" state, based on "free and direct" elections.^[4]^[2]

Hostilities in late 1970s[]

South Yemen instigated and funded a broad-based opposition movement in the north, the National Democratic Front (NDF), during the mid-1970s.^[7]

References[]

^ "Foreign Intervention by Cuba" (PDF).
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c Gause, Gregory, Saudi-Yemeni relations: domestic structures and foreign influence, Columbia University Press, 1990, page 98
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c ^d [1]
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Couland, Jacques (1993). Genèse et étapes de l'unité yéménite (facsimile). Revue des mondes musulmans et de la Méditerranée (in French). pp. 79–93. doi:10.3406/remmm.1993.1589. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
^ Lagadec, Jean (April 1974). La fin du conflit yéménite. Revue française de science politique (in French). 24. pp. 344–355. doi:10.3406/rfsp.1974.418679.
^ "Yemen profile (timeline)". BBC. 6 November 2019. Retrieved 18 December 2019. 1972 – Border clashes between two Yemens; ceasefire brokered by Arab League.
^ [2]

[CIA-1] "Foreign Intervention by Cuba" (PDF).

[Gause_(1990)-2] Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c Gause, Gregory, Saudi-Yemeni relations: domestic structures and foreign influence, Columbia University Press, 1990, page 98

[uca-3] Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c ^d [1]

[Couland_(1993)-4] Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Couland, Jacques (1993). Genèse et étapes de l'unité yéménite (facsimile). Revue des mondes musulmans et de la Méditerranée (in French). pp. 79–93. doi:10.3406/remmm.1993.1589. Retrieved 18 December 2019.

[5] Lagadec, Jean (April 1974). La fin du conflit yéménite. Revue française de science politique (in French). 24. pp. 344–355. doi:10.3406/rfsp.1974.418679.

[BBC_Timeline-6] "Yemen profile (timeline)". BBC. 6 November 2019. Retrieved 18 December 2019. 1972 – Border clashes between two Yemens; ceasefire brokered by Arab League.

[britannica-7] [2]

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

show v t List of modern conflicts in the Middle East
1910s	World War I Middle Eastern theatre Arab Revolt Armenian genocide Assyrian genocide Mount Lebanon starvation Unification of Saudi Arabia Simko Shikak revolt Egyptian Revolution of 1919 Turkish War of Independence Greco-Turkish War Turkish–Armenian War Franco-Turkish War Revolts Mahmud Barzanji revolts
1920s	Franco-Syrian War Iraqi revolt of 1920 Intercommunal conflict in Mandatory Palestine Adwan Rebellion Arab separatism in Khuzestan Great Syrian Revolt Sheikh Said rebellion
1930s	Ararat rebellion Ahmed Barzani revolt Simele massacre Saudi–Yemeni War (1934) Goharshad Mosque rebellion 1935–1936 Iraqi Shia revolts 1935 Yazidi revolt Dersim rebellion
1940s	World War II Italian bombing of Palestine Anglo-Iraqi War Syria–Lebanon campaign Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran 1943 Barzani revolt Alwaziri coup Al-Wathbah uprising Kurdish separatism in Iran Iran crisis of 1946 Arab–Israeli conflict 1947–1949 Palestine war
1950s	Egyptian revolution of 1952 1953 Iranian coup d'état Jebel Akhdar War Cyprus Emergency Suez Crisis Yemeni–Adenese clan violence 1958 Lebanon crisis 1958 Iraqi revolution 1959 Mosul uprising
1960s	Cyprus crisis of 1963–1964 Iraqi–Kurdish conflict First Iraqi–Kurdish War Dhofar Rebellion North Yemen Civil War Feb. 1963 Iraqi coup Mar. 1963 Syrian coup Nov. 1963 Iraqi coup Aden Emergency 1964 Hama riot Israeli–Palestinian conflict 1966 Syrian coup d'état
1970s	Black September in Jordan Yemenite War of 1972 Turkish invasion of Cyprus Shatt al-Arab clashes Lebanese Civil War Political violence in Turkey Islamist uprising in Syria 1977 Shia uprising in Iraq NDF Rebellion Yemenite War of 1979 Iranian Revolution Consolidation of the Iranian Revolution 1979 Qatif Uprising Grand Mosque seizure 1979–1980 Shia uprising in Iraq
1980s	Iran–Iraq War 1980 Turkish coup d'état Kurdish separatism in Turkey Turkey–PKK conflict South Yemen Civil War 1986 Egyptian conscripts riot 1986 Damascus bombings Mecca massacre Abu Nidal's executions
1990s	Gulf War (1990–1991) 1991 uprisings in Iraq Terror campaign in Egypt (1990s) Yemeni Civil War (1994) Iraqi Kurdish Civil War Islamic insurgency in Saudi Arabia (2000–present) Operation Desert Fox al-Qaeda insurgency in Yemen 1999 Shia uprising in Iraq
2000s	Iraq War Balochi insurgency in Iran 2004 Qamishli riots Houthi insurgency in Yemen Iran–Israel proxy conflict 2006 Lebanon War Fatah–Hamas conflict South Yemen insurgency
2010s	Bahraini uprising of 2011 Egyptian Crisis Sinai insurgency Insurgency in Egypt (2013–present) Syrian civil war Turkish involvement in Syria Syrian War spillover in Lebanon Iraqi insurgency (2011–2013) War in Iraq (2013–2017) ISIL insurgency in Iraq (2017–present) Yemeni Crisis Yemeni Civil War (2014–present) 2019–2021 Persian Gulf crisis
This list includes World War I and later conflicts (after 1914) of at least 100 fatalities each Prolonged conflicts are listed in the decade when initiated; ongoing conflicts are marked italic, and conflicts with +100,000 killed with bold.