Thread by @redstreamnet

Did you know that Yemen's National Liberation Front, which defeated British colonialism on November 30, 1967, was heavily influenced by Maoist philosophy, despite being nominally Nasserist at the time? 🧵

The NLF's left-wing took control in a bloodless coup in 1969, renamed the country the "People's Democratic Republic of Yemen," embraced Marxism-Leninism as its governing philosophy, and aligned with the Soviet Bloc.

Despite officially identifying with the Soviet Bloc after 1969, the left-wing of the NLF remained heavily inspired by China and Maoist political philosophy.

In 1968, the NLF sent an official delegation on a working visit to China. There, they were accompanied by leading Communist Party officials, including Vice Premier and Foreign Minister Chen Yi.

The NLF, still nominally Nasserist in 1968, expressed its intentions to adopt Marxism-Leninism as its guiding ideology with the Chinese officials. In turn, the Chinese spoke about their own experiences.

Although the NLF's Nasserist faction was deposed in 1969, Salim Rubai Ali, the first president of Marxist Yemen, remained devoted to drawing inspiration from Maoist theory.

Salim organized the “Seven Glorious Days” in 1972, inspired by the Chinese Cultural Revolution, in which hundreds of thousands of workers and peasants were brought to the capital to protest party bureaucracy.

He organized the People’s Militia inspired by the Chinese Red Guards in the 70s, opposed the creation of the Yemeni Socialist Party as unnecessary bureaucracy, and introduced a progressive Family Law in 1974.

He introduced a school system inspired by the Chinese model in both rural & metropolitan areas. A system devoid of class differences and hierarchies, built on a foundation nurtured by criticism and self-criticism.

Salim Rubai Ali was shot dead in an internal coup on the 26th of July 1978, and replaced by moderate NLF leader Ali Nassir Muhammad, bringing Yemen’s brief Maoist period to an end.