Shortest War in World History
Shortest War in World History
How long could the world’s shortest war have lasted? 10 days, 5 days, 1 day, 12 hours, 3 hours… the answer is none of these.
The Anglo-Zanzibar War was a military conflict fought between the United Kingdom and the Zanzibar Sultanate on 27 August 1896.
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Content
0.21 -> Hello everyone, I'm Eren Eser.
3.21 -> How long could the world's shortest war have
lasted?
5.92 -> 10 days, 5 days, 1 day, 12 hours, 3 hours...
10.48 -> the answer is none of these.
12.03 -> If you want to support my channel, you can
like the video below and subscribe to my channel.
18.169 -> Don't forget to turn on notifications to be
notified of upcoming videos.
23.359 -> The Anglo-Zanzibar War was a military conflict
fought between the United Kingdom and the
28.369 -> Zanzibar Sultanate on 27 August 1896.
32.39 -> The conflict lasted between 38 and 45 minutes,
marking it as the shortest recorded war in
37.85 -> history.
39.32 -> The immediate cause of the war was the death
of the pro-British Sultan Hamad bin Thuwaini
43.629 -> on 25 August 1896 and the subsequent succession
of Sultan Khalid bin Barghash.
50.3 -> The British authorities preferred Hamoud bin
Mohammed, who was more favorable to British
55.109 -> interests, as sultan.
57.079 -> In the agreement of 14 June 1890 instituting
a British protectorate over Zanzibar, a candidate
63.05 -> for accession to the sultanate should obtain
the permission of the British consul, and
67 -> Khalid had not fulfilled this requirement.
70.08 -> The British considered this a spy belli and
sent an ultimatum to Khalid demanding that
74.42 -> he order his forces to stand down and leave
the palace.
77.479 -> In response, Khalid called up his palace guard
and barricaded himself inside the palace.
84.17 -> The ultimatum expired at 09:00 East Africa
Time (EAT) on 27 August, by which time the
90.03 -> British had gathered three cruisers, two gunboats,
150 marines and sailors, and 900 Zanzibaris
95.87 -> in the harbor area.
97.17 -> The Royal Navy contingent were under the command
of Rear-Admiral Harry Rawson and the pro-Anglo
102.54 -> Zanzibaris were commanded by Brigadier-General
Lloyd Mathews of the Zanzibar army (who was
107.509 -> also the First Minister of Zanzibar).
110.649 -> Around 2,800 Zanzibaris defended the palace;
most were recruited from the civilian population,
116.729 -> but they also included the sultan's palace
guard and several hundred of his servants
120.7 -> and slaves.
122.439 -> The defenders had several artillery pieces
and machine guns, which were set in front
126.659 -> of the palace sighted at the British ships.
129.24 -> A bombardment, opened at 09:02, set the palace
on fire and disabled the defending artillery.
136.52 -> A small naval action took place, with the
British sinking the Zanzibari royal yacht
140.61 -> HHS Glasgow and two smaller vessels.
144.33 -> Some shots were also fired ineffectually at
the pro-British Zanzibari troops as they approached
149.15 -> the palace.
150.65 -> The flag at the palace was shot down and fire
ceased at 09:46.
155.53 -> The sultan's forces sustained roughly 500
casualties, while only one British sailor
160.44 -> was injured.
162.41 -> Sultan Khalid received asylum in the German
consulate before escaping to German East Africa
167.02 -> (in the mainland part of present Tanzania).
169.23 -> The British quickly placed Sultan Hamoud in
power at the head of a puppet government.
174.61 -> The war marked the end of the Zanzibar Sultanate
as a sovereign state and the start of a period
180.27 -> of heavy British influence.
183.31 -> Zanzibar was an island country in the Indian
Ocean, off the coast of Tanganyika; today
187.73 -> it forms part of Tanzania.
190.37 -> The main island, Unguja (or Zanzibar Island),
had been under the nominal control of the
194.98 -> Sultans of Oman since 1698 when they expelled
the Portuguese settlers who had claimed it
199.87 -> in 1499.
202.45 -> Sultan Majid bin Said declared the island
independent of Oman in 1858, which was recognised
207.81 -> by the United Kingdom, and split the sultanate
from that of Oman.
211.73 -> Barghash bin Said, the second sultan and Khalid's
father, had been forced by British ultimatum
217.04 -> and a threat of blockade to abolish the slave
trade in June 1873, though it was later discovered
222.53 -> that instructions from London would have prohibited
aggressive action being taken immediately
227.13 -> if that ultimatum had been rejected.
230.1 -> The subsequent sultans established their capital
and seat of government at Zanzibar Town where
234.81 -> a palace complex was built on the sea front.
238.23 -> By 1896, this consisted of the palace itself;
the Beit al-Hukm, an attached harem; and the
243.93 -> Beit al-Ajaib or "House of Wonders"—a ceremonial
palace said to be the first building in East
248.45 -> Africa to be provided with electricity.
251.79 -> The complex was mostly constructed of local
timber and was not designed as a defensive
256.51 -> structure.
258.109 -> All three main buildings were adjacent to
one another in a line and linked by wooden
261.989 -> covered bridges above street height.
264.96 -> Britain had recognised Zanzibar's sovereignty
and its sultanate in 1886, after a long period
270.37 -> of friendly interaction, and generally maintained
good relations with the country and its sultans.
276.21 -> However, Germany was also interested in East
Africa, and the two powers vied for control
281.12 -> of trade rights and territory in the area
throughout the late 19th century.
286.419 -> Sultan Khalifah had granted rights to the
land of Kenya to Britain and that of Tanganyika
290.71 -> to Germany, a process resulting in the prohibition
of slavery in those lands.
295.86 -> Many of the Arab ruling classes were upset
by this interruption of a valuable trade,
300.68 -> which resulted in some unrest.
303.32 -> In addition, the German authorities in Tanganyika
refused to fly the flag of the Zanzibar Sultanate,
308.759 -> which led to armed clashes between German
troops and the local population.
313.62 -> One such conflict in Tanga claimed the lives
of 20 Arabs.
318.21 -> Sultan Khalifah sent Zanzibari troops led
by Brigadier-General Lloyd Mathews, a former
322.77 -> lieutenant of the Royal Navy, to restore order
in Tanganyika.
327.449 -> The operation was largely successful, but
anti-German feeling among the Zanzibari people
332.22 -> remained strong.
334.259 -> Further conflicts erupted at Bagamoyo, where
150 natives were killed by German military
339.86 -> forces, and at Ketwa, where German officials
and their servants were murdered.
344.81 -> Khalifah then granted extensive trade rights
to the Imperial British East Africa Company
348.94 -> (IBEAC) who, with German assistance, ran a
naval blockade to halt the continuing domestic
354.27 -> slave trade.
356.09 -> Upon Khalifah's death in 1890 Ali bin Said
ascended to the sultanate.
361.569 -> Sultan Ali banned the domestic slave trade
(but not slave ownership), declared Zanzibar
366.029 -> a British protectorate and appointed Lloyd
Mathews as First Minister to lead his cabinet.
371.52 -> The British were also guaranteed a veto over
the future appointment of sultans.
376.49 -> The year of Ali's ascension also saw the signing
of the Heligoland–Zanzibar Treaty between
381.33 -> Britain and Germany.
383.599 -> This treaty officially demarcated the spheres
of interest in East Africa and ceded Germany's
388.199 -> rights in Zanzibar to the United Kingdom.
391.74 -> This granted the British government more influence
in Zanzibar, which they intended to use to
396.2 -> eradicate slavery there, an objective they
had held as early as 1804.
402.08 -> Sultan Ali's successor was Hamad bin Thuwaini,
who became sultan in 1893.
407.849 -> Hamad maintained a close relationship with
the British, but there was dissent among his
411.71 -> subjects over the increasing British control
over the country, the British-led army and
416.129 -> the abolition of the valuable slave trade.
419.379 -> In order to control this dissent, the British
authorities authorised the sultan to raise
423.689 -> a Zanzibari palace bodyguard of 1,000 men,
but these troops were soon involved in clashes
428.93 -> with the British-led police.
431.569 -> Complaints about the bodyguards' activities
were also received from the European residents
436.029 -> in Zanzibar Town.
438.249 -> The war, lasting less than three-quarters
of an hour, is sometimes considered the shortest
442.759 -> in recorded history.
445.24 -> Several durations are given by sources, including
38, and 45 minutes, but the 38-minute duration
451.229 -> is the most often quoted.
453.61 -> The variation is due to confusion over what
actually constitutes the start and end of
457.939 -> a war.
459.629 -> Some sources take the start of the war as
the order to open fire at 09:00 and some with
463.819 -> the start of actual firing at 09:02.
467.02 -> The end of the war is usually put at 09:37,
when the last shots were fired and the palace
472.04 -> flag struck, but some sources place it at
09:45.
475.93 -> The logbooks of the British ships also suffer
from this uncertainty with St George indicating
480.31 -> that cease-fire was called and Khalid entered
the German consulate at 09:35, Thrush at 09:40,
485.939 -> Racoon at 09:41, and Philomel and Sparrow
at 09:45.
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJbhb61-w2o