The shortest war in history lasted under 40 minutes
On the morning of 27 August 1896, Britain and the Sultanate of Zanzibar fought a war that was over before most people had finished breakfast.
When the pro-British Sultan of Zanzibar died in August 1896, his nephew Khalid bin Barghash seized the palace without British approval. Britain, which dominated the island, issued an ultimatum: stand down by 09:00 on 27 August 1896, or face the Royal Navy.
Khalid refused. At 09:02, British warships in the harbour opened fire on the palace. The defending artillery was quickly knocked out and the building set ablaze. By 09:40 the Sultan’s flag had been cut down and the shelling stopped.
The whole affair lasted roughly 38 minutes — generally cited as the shortest war in recorded history. It was also lopsided: around 500 of Khalid’s fighters were killed or wounded, against a single seriously injured British sailor who later recovered. Khalid fled to the German consulate and into exile, and Britain installed a sultan of its choosing.
Sources & references
2 referencesWell-established. Corroborated by 2 independent sources.
