Can you imagine going into first period hearing that war had been declared between two countries was about to begin, and then heading to second period hearing that the war was over? That’s right, an actual war taking place in a little over a half hour!
On August 25, 1896, the pro-British sultan of Zanzibar, Hamad bin Thuwaini, died. The very next day, he was succeeded by a not-so-pro-British sultan, Khalid bin Barghash, who refused to wait for approval by the British consulate as required by Zanzibar’s current law of succession. This was, in British opinion, grounds for war.
An ultimatum was sent to Sultan Khalid which was set to expire on August 27, at 9:00 a.m. By that time, three cruisers, two gunships, 150 marines, and between 900 to 1,000 British-loyal Zanzibaris were on standby (probably staring at there watches). At 9:02, the British vessels opened fire on the sultan’s palace. The palace immediately caught fire, disabling the sultan’s defense and sending the nearly 3,000 civilian recruits into a panic.
After the removal of the sultan’s flag from the palace, all fire stopped by 9:40. All in all, the Anglo-Zanzibar War lasted a whopping 38 minutes, earning the title as the shortest war ever.
- Here is an article on the war from MilitaryHistory.org.
- Here is an article on the war from BBC.
Posted on July 23, 2010
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