Saudi–Yemeni War

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Saudi-Yemeni War
place=
date=1934
casus=status of the Asir and the Najran oasis.
result=Saudi Arabian victory and occupation of 'Asir, Najran, and Jizran
combatant1=
combatant2=
commander1=Ibn Sa'ud
commander2=Yahya Muhammad Hamid ed-Din
strength1=
strength2=
casualties1=
casualties2=|

The Saudi-Yemeni War was a war between Saudi Arabia and Yemen fought in 1934, in which Saudi Arabia won control of the provinces of Asir and Najran.

Ibn Saud, the founder of Saudi Arabia, had been named King of the Nejd when the British partitioned the Arabian peninsula following the breakup of the Ottoman Empire. Saud, by war and alliance, won control of much more, and in 1932 proclaimed the merger of the Nejd and Hejaz Kingdoms as the nation of Saudi Arabia. Most of the boundaries remained unmapped, unmarked, and undemarcated by treaty.

The war was sparked when the Idrissi of Asir recanted his previous allegiance to ibn Saud and fled to Yemen to join King Yahya. A peace delegation sent by ibn Saud was jailed by Yahya, who then sent the Idrissi back to his lands with an army. When the Saudis sent in their own army, equipped with modern rifles and vehicles, they quickly won control and advanced as far as Hodeida.

The war officially ended on 20 May 1934 with the signing of the Treaty of Taif between ibn Saud and Yahya, which asserted Saudi Arabia's sovereignty over territories "(formerly) in the possession of the Idrisis or the Al-Aidh, or in Najran, or in the Yam country". [http://www.al-bab.com/yemen/pol/int1.htm]

The episode spurred Western powers to send warships to Hodeida to evacuate their nationals.

External links

* [http://onwar.com/aced/data/yankee/yemensaudi1934.htm (Saudi Arabia North Yemen War 1934)]
* [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,754087,00.html The Fall of Yemen] , TIME magazine, 1934
* [http://www.al-bab.com/yemen/pol/int1.htm Text of the Treaty of Taif, 1934]