What was the shortest war in history?
An episode of Breaking Bad has a longer run time than the Anglo-Zanzibar War.
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Transcript
An average-length episode, a flight from Paris to London, one half of a soccer game: these are all longer than the shortest war in history.
The Anglo-Zanzibar War took place on August 27, 1896. It lasted less than 40 minutes.
The East African island of Zanzibar had come under the control of the British Empire just a few years before. Britain had two goals for its new protectorate: abolish slavery there and fix the economy.
Britain had agreed to keep the existing sultanate in place, but the sultan’s power was diminished by Zanzibar’s treaty with Britain.
British officials soon found some sultans to be more receptive toward their agenda than others. During the 1890s the British government tried to install a ruler who would support abolition: a tough ask in Zanzibar, where the economy was built on the spice trade and ending slavery meant earning the ire of many of the richest members of the population.
Ḥamad ibn Thuwayn was made sultan in 1893. Ḥamad was seen as a puppet of the British Empire. He ruled peacefully until his death in 1896. Speculation persists that his sudden death may have been murder on the part of his nephew, Prince Khālid ibn Barghash.
After Ḥamad’s untimely demise, Prince Khālid—who had been passed over as sultan twice already—claimed the palace (and its harem). He assembled an army of more than 2,800 men, artillery, and an armed yacht.
The British warned Khālid that they would take military action if he did not vacate the palace by 9:00 AM on August 27th.
Prince Khālid defied the order. British warships opened fire at 9:00 AM as promised. Within two minutes the majority of Khālid’s artillery was destroyed.
The forces of the prince fought on for nearly 40 more minutes: they suffered 500 casualties by the time the onslaught halted. The British forces saw only one man injured.
Ḥamud ibn Moḥammed was installed as sultan, and he agreed to abolish slavery as the British desired.
Prince Khālid sought refuge at the German consulate and lived much of his life in exile.
According to some sources, Prince Khālid escaped the palace through the back door after two minutes of fighting—about the same time it took you to watch this video.