Yemen PDR, 1968 — dissident coup attempt
Event Summary
The dataset records an event coded as an attempted dissident coup in South Yemen on 20 March 1968, during the factional struggle within the ruling National Liberation Front that followed independence from Britain in November 1967. On 20 March 1968 the right-wing faction around President Qahtan al-Shaabi moved to purge the Marxist Leninist left, dismissing all leftist leaders from the government and party membership. This provoked a leftist rebellion within the army in May, which the Qahtan faction put down, followed by further leftist risings through the year.
The March purge and the confrontations it triggered were part of the power struggle that culminated in June 1969 in the so-called Corrective Move, when the Marxist Leninist wing led by Abdel Fattah Ismail and Salim Rubai Ali finally overthrew Qahtan al-Shaabi and set South Yemen on its path to becoming the only Marxist state in the Arab world.
Researched Details
Researched
Independent research, added record by record. Hover any label for what it means.
Sources
Editorial Note
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
68003201968- Albrecht/Koehler/Schutz (CAM) id
CAM-680-1968-03-20
How the match is made is described in crossref-report.md.
Outcome and Target
Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: President Qahtan al-Shaabi's faction carried out the March 1968 purge and survived the resulting leftist rebellion until his 1969 overthrow.
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
Baseline Source-Document Entries
Powell and Thyne
The Guardian
Jerusalem Post
South China Morning Post
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 →