Saudi-Yemeni War 1934

Yemen, under the leadership of Iman Yehya, claimed various tribal territories along the vaguely defined border with Saudi Arabia and Yemeni troops supported tribal opposition to Saudi rule. Ibn Saud, in effect, issued an ultimatum in 1934 which outlined a resolution, acceptable to Saudi Arabia, to the various boundary issues along the frontier. Yehya ignored the letter. On March 20, 1934, Saudi Arabia made a formal declaration of war.

Although Yemen had made efforts to reorganize its armed forces with the assistance of Turkish officers and the purchase of modern military equipment and arms, the seven weeks of war proved the preparations to have been inadequate for the task of resisting the invading Saudi army under the command of Feisal Saud, the son of the king of Saudi Arabia. Saudi forces quickly occupied both the disputed highlands and the coastal plain of Yemen; the port of Hodeida was occupied on April 28th. The better trained and equipped Saudis decisively defeated the Yemeni, ending the conflict on May 13, 1934.

On May 20, 1934, representatives of Saudi Arabia and Yemen signed the Treaty of Taif which demarcated the border of the two countries; the border established did not reflect the interests of the tribes occupying the disputed lands. Saudi Arabia retained control of the tribal borderlands it nominally controlled before the war (that were also considered part of Greater Yemen by the Yemeni) but the Saudis made no demands on the lands historically considered part of Yemen. Considering the military result, the treaty was deemed generous to the defeated Yemeni. However, the treaty also became a source of future conflict by including a prescribed time limit of 20 lunar years (Article 22) after which it potentially required the states to renew their commitment to the peace or, theoretically revert to a state of war.

References

Al-Enazy, 10-12; Clodfelter, 631; COW125; Kohn, 101-2; EB - Treaty of Taif.

Askar Al-Enazy. Long Road from Taif to Jeddah. Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research. 2005.

Hans Kohn. The Unification of Arabia. Foreign Affairs, 13(1). 1934.

Category

Inter-State War

Region

Western Asia

Belligerents

Saudi Arabia, Yemen

Dispute

Territory

Initiation Date

March 20, 1934

Termination Date

May 13, 1934

Duration

1 month, 24 days
(55 days)

Outcome

Negotiated Settlement
(Saudi victory)

Fatalities

Total: 2,100
Saudi Arabia: 100
Yemen: 2,000

Magnitude

3.3