South Yemen was unique in its status as the only Marxist state in the Arab world or the Middle East. Marxism was a popular political strand in the Middle East at the time, but most of the governments of Arab states were either monarchies or republics led by Arab nationalist leaders such as Egypt’s Gamal Abdel Nasser. But after Nasserism took hold in North Yemen (with the support of 70,000 Egyptian troops), the Marxists in South Yemen arose in opposition to local Nasserist movements, primarily in Aden, as South Yemenis agitated for independence from British rule. After independence the state’s Marxist orientation invited support from the Soviet Union.
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