Federation of South Arabia

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South Arabia, Federation of

South Arabia, Federation of, federation, 1963–67, S Arabian peninsula, formed by the merger of the British colony of Aden with the Federation of the Emirates of the South, a British protectorate. The Federation of the Emirates of the South was formed (Feb., 1959) by the union of six emirates, sultanates, and sheikhdoms; by the end of 1960 there were 10 members. In Jan., 1963, the Aden colony joined the federation, which was then renamed the Federation of South Arabia. The British-sponsored federation met with considerable opposition from the people of Aden, who feared domination by the conservative tribal states. Two rival nationalist groups emerged in the aftermath of the federation—the National Liberation Front (NLF) and the Front for the Liberation of Occupied South Yemen (FLOSY). By late 1967 the NLF had become the dominant group and forced the collapse of the federal government. British forces were withdrawn in Nov., 1967, and Aden and South Arabia became the independent state of South Yemen (see Yemen). South Yemen and (northern) Yemen united as a single nation in 1990.
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The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

South Arabia, Federation of

 

(FSA), a union, lasting from 1959 to 1967, of states in the southern part of the Arabian Peninsula.

After World War II, an upsurge in the national liberation movement in the British Eastern and Western Aden protectorates and the Crown Colony of Aden forced the British colonialists to seek new ways of preserving their control of the region. Through the use of such means of political pressure as blackmail, threats, bribes, and the removal of uncooperative heads of state, Great Britain managed to establish the Federation of Arab Emirates of the South in February 1959. The federation was initially composed of six states. Eventually eleven others were added, including ten states from the Western Aden Protectorate and, in 1963, the Crown Colony of Aden, over which Britain had retained total control. The Federation of Arab Emirates of the South was renamed the FSA in 1962.

The British colonialists’ plan to enlarge the FSA by the inclusion of states from the Eastern Aden Protectorate met with resistance from the local population. By Oct. 14, 1963, the resistance in both the FSA and the Eastern Aden Protectorate had grown into armed struggle against the colonialists and the local feudal leaders. As a result, the FSA collapsed. Great Britain was forced to recognize the independence of Aden and the Aden protectorates. On Nov. 30, 1967, these territories became the independent People’s Republic of South Yemen. The country was re-named the People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen on Nov. 30, 1970.

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Four years prior to this, the British colony of Aden merged with members of the Federation of the Emirates of the South, forming the Federation of South Arabia.
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