Coup Atlas Research Database
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67804021955AttemptedMilitary coup

Yemen Arab Republic, 1955 — military coup attempt

Yemen Arab Republic (YAR)Western Asia, AsiaApril 2, 1955

Event Summary

In late March to April 1955 Colonel Ahmad Yahya al-Thulaya, an Iraq trained officer, led a failed coup against Imam Ahmad bin Yahya, absolute monarch of the Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen, exploiting an army mutiny in the then capital Taiz. The plot, hatched amid a succession dispute after Ahmad named his son al-Badr crown prince, aimed to place the Imam's brother Prince Abdullah bin Yahya on the throne. After al-Thulaya's soldiers surrounded the royal palace at Al Urdi Square, Ahmad appeared to agree to abdicate in favor of Abdullah, but secretly bribed the besieging soldiers, reducing their numbers over five days, then burst out wielding a scimitar and led his palace guard in a counterattack.

Twenty three rebels were killed and the rising collapsed. Al Thulaya fled toward British Aden, was captured by loyal tribesmen, and was publicly beheaded in Taiz along with fellow plotters; Prince Abdullah was also executed.

Researched Details

Researched

Independent research, added record by record. Hover any label for what it means.

Target identified in Coup Atlas research: Imam Ahmad bin Yahya survived the coup unharmed and ruled until his death in 1962
RESEARCHED NAME
Key figures
Imam Ahmad bin Yahya (monarch of Yemen, target)
Ahmad Yahya al-Thulaya (colonel, coup leader, executed)
Prince Abdullah bin Yahya (the Imam's brother, would be replacement, executed)

Sources

The 1955 Yemeni coup attempt was a failed coup in which soldiers led by Colonel Ahmad Yahya al-Thulaya attempted to overthrow Imam Ahmad bin Yahya, who had ruled since 1948.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia, 1955 Yemeni coup attempt open source ↗
On 30 March 1955 a fight in the village of Al Hawban prompted the Taiz garrison to mutiny, and al-Thulaya joined the soldiers and convinced them to surround the Imam's palace at Al Urdi Square, seeking to place the Imam's brother Abdullah on the throne.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia, 1955 Yemeni coup attempt open source ↗
Imam Ahmad agreed to abdicate but secretly bought off the rebellious soldiers, reducing their numbers from 600 to 40 over five days, then attacked with his guards, killing 23 rebels, after which al-Thulaya was captured fleeing toward Aden and beheaded in Taiz and Abdullah was executed.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia, 1955 Yemeni coup attempt open source ↗
Several imprisoned participants in the 1955 coup attempt later played key roles in the successful 1962 revolution, and in the coup's wake Yemen's military schools were shuttered.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia, 1955 Yemeni coup attempt open source ↗

Editorial Note

Dataset date 2 April 1955 falls within the coup span, which began with the 30 March Taiz mutiny and ended with the coup leader's execution on 13 April 1955; treated as the same event, date discrepancy noted. Links to the 1948 Al Waziri coup enriched in batch 56 and the successful 1962 revolution in the dataset.

Cross-Reference

Datasets agree. At least two of the three reference datasets we check against carry this event, and none of them disagrees about its date or its result.

Identifiers for finding this same event in the other datasets:

Cline Center id
67804021955
Albrecht/Koehler/Schutz (CAM) id
CAM-678-1955-04-02

How the match is made is described in crossref-report.md.

Outcome and Target

Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: Imam Ahmad bin Yahya survived the coup unharmed and ruled until his death in 1962.

Baseline coding: Coup attempt failed to remove the incumbent. Recorded leader fate: remained in office; not physically harmed. The baseline file does not name individual targets; researched names are kept in a separate layer.

Baseline Dataset Citation
Cline Center Coup d’État Project Dataset, v2.2.2
Peyton, Buddy, Joseph Bajjalieh, Michael Martin, and Andrea Gerald. 2026. Cline Center Coup d’État Project Dataset. Cline Center for Advanced Social Research. V.2.2.2. February 17. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. doi: 10.13012/B2IDB-9651987_V10
Open dataset DOI ↗
⚑ This citation establishes the coded baseline record; use the claim-level sources above for the researched narrative.

Baseline Source-Document Entries

CSP

Named in the baseline source document; no article citation was recorded.

Powell and Thyne

Named in the baseline source document; no article citation was recorded.

Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmad_bin_Yahya

This is the citation trail carried by the baseline dataset, grouped by outlet and rejoined from the line-wrapped original. Coup Atlas has not independently re-checked every document; read the original before citing a specific claim. URLs the import damaged beyond safe repair are shown as plain text and listed in citations-report.md. How this list is built →

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Related Records

Yemen Arab Republic — Military coup, 19781978-10-15AttemptedWestern AsiaYemen Arab Republic — Military coup, 19621962-09-27SuccessfulWestern AsiaYemen Arab Republic — Military coup, 19671967-11-05SuccessfulWestern Asia