The shortest war on record was fought between the United Kingdom and Zanzibar on August 27, 1896.



The shortest war on record was fought between the United Kingdom and Zanzibar on August 27, 1896.

It lasted around forty minutes, with Britain whipping the Zanzibaris with a massive bombardment that disabled Zanzibar’s defenses.

So, what caused the war?

After the death of the Pro-British Sultan Hamad bin Thuwaini on 25 August 1896. Another man, Khalid bin Barghash, took his place as the Sultan without the approval of the British government. This was in violation of the agreement Zanzibar had with the British.


Khalid bin Barghash(pictured above) was given an ultimatum to vacate his palace but he refused. He had about 28000 people defend the palace, these were mostly civilians that he recruited. 

Once the ultimatum expired, British bombardment   set the palace on fire and disabled the defending artillery.

The sultan's forces sustained roughly 500 casualties, while only one British sailor was injured.

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