Yemen And The Great Revolution Of Our Time

This is an illustration of what we saw in "The Great Revolution Of Our Time", January 2017.

In the 1960s there was conflict in Yemen, as there is today. But the conflict is fundamentally different and the difference illustrates the effect of what I have termed "The Great Revolution Of Our Time". That revolution was the Iranian Revolution of 1979, and I see how it has really changed the world. Both the past and present conflicts in Yemen reflect the patterns set in great global revolutions. But the conflict today is affected by the Iranian Revolution, which was still in the future during the conflict of the 1960s. 

The conflict in Yemen in the 1960s was about a king who had been overthrown and replaced by a military officer. This was the pattern set by the French Revolution that has been replicated across the world. Louis XVI and his queen, Marie Antoinette, were overthrown and guillotined by the revolutionaries. The ultimate result of the French Revolution was the rise of Napoleon, who set the prototype of the modern dictator wearing a military uniform. Although this certainly was not the original intention of the revolutionaries and Napoleon himself had nothing to do with starting the revolution. 

There have been two major reenactments of the French Revolution, which began in 1789, as well as many minor ones. The two major reenactments each contributed elements that have been reenacted later in other reenactments. 

The first of these major reenactments was the October Revolution of 1917. This was the beginning of Communism as a global force. It had a very close similarity to the French Revolution. Like the French Revolution it overthrew an unpopular monarch, namely Tsar Nicholas. It's signature event was the storming of the Winter Palace, just as it had been the Storming of the Bastille in the French Revolution. 

Like the French Revolution the disposed monarch was first replaced by an unsatisfactory Provisional Government before the great leader that would follow the revolution emerged. In the French Revolution that leader was Napoleon and in the October Revolution it was Vladimir Lenin.

The two revolutions were not exactly identical. For one thing Lenin did initiate the October Revolution while Napoleon had nothing to do with initiating the French Revolution. But these two great revolutions were otherwise very similar. When Napoleon launched his ultimately unsuccessful invasion of Russia could he have imagined that, just over a century later, a revolution would overthrow the tsar that would be a reenactment of the French Revolution, the ideals of which he really believed in and was trying to spread? 

What the October Revolution added to the revolutionary reenactment series is that, while the two revolutions were against both monarchy and organized religion, the Communism that emerged from the October Revolution was officially atheist. Also, while it would often be a dictator from the military that would replace a deposed monarch, it could also be a civilian leader. Lenin hadn't been from the military. The reason for this is that the idea of civilian leaders who weren't king's, such as presidents and prime ministers, was in it's infancy when the French Revolution took place. 

The second great reenactment of the French Revolution, and the one that I call "The Great Revolution Of Our Time", is the Iranian Revolution of 1979. Like it's two predecessors it overthrew a monarch, the Shah. As the French Revolution had the Storming of the Bastille, and the October Revolution had the Storming of the Winter Palace, the Iranian Revolution had the Storming of the U.S. Embassy as it's signature event. The Iranian Revolution, like the two before it, had a great leader of the new social order replacing the deposed monarch, Ayatollah Khomeini. 

But the nature of Khomeini's leadership differed from the two preceding great revolutions just as Lenin had differed from Napoleon in that he had been a civilian. All three revolutions were intended to spread across the world. The French Revolution had the modern political ideals of "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity". The October Revolution had Communism and the Iranian Revolution had Islam. 

Now let's go back to the conflict in Yemen, today in contrast with the 1960s, and we can see how much the Iranian Revolution has changed the world. The long-term effect of the Iranian Revolution, in contrast to the great revolutions preceding it, has been to turn the global tide back toward religion, whereas the previous revolutions were progressively moving away from religion. This applies not only to Islam but to all religions.

The conflict in Yemen in the 1960s was secular. The monarchy had been overthrown by military officers. This paralleled what had happened in Egypt the decade before, King Farouk overthrown and army officers taking power. Gamal Nasser ultimately became president. 

Outside powers became involved in Yemen's conflict. At the time Yemen was two countries, North and South Yemen, and this was in North Yemen. Neighboring Saudis Arabia was ruled by a monarchy. Egypt was ruled by army officers that had overthrown the monarchy. Both countries supported the corresponding side in Yemen with military assistance. The Saudis supported the deposed monarchy and the Egyptians sent a considerable military force to assist the officers that had overthrown the monarchy.

You can see that, as with so many other revolutions, this overthrow in Yemen was a reenactment of the French Revolution, where the king and queen were overthrown and guillotined and which ultimately resulted in the emergence of Napoleon. The Houthis in Yemen today are related to the former monarchy and are an enemy of Israel. 

In one of the greatest of ironies it was the predecessors of the Houthis in the 1960s that greatly helped Israel in the 1967 Six Day War , in which Israel regained the Old City of Jerusalem in an event which has great significance to Bible prophecy, by tying down a significant portion of the Egyptian military while Egypt was leading the campaign against Israel.

The conflict in Yemen today involved many of the same parties as in the 1960s, yet it is very different. The conflict today is more about religion than the secular government matters of the 1960s. This time the Saudis are against the Houthis, and conducted an aerial bombing campaign for several years. The Houthis are allies with Iran, which has since undergone it's great Revolution. The fact that the Houthis and Iranians are fellow Shiites is what counts today. The emphasis is on religion, rather on the monarchy and republicanism. It is still a reenactment of the French Revolution but it reflects the Iranian Revolution turning the tide back toward religion.

Again we saw the long term importance of the Iranian Revolution in the posting "The Great Revolution Of Our Time", January 2017.