FLASH NEWS
It lasted only 38 minutes! Here is the shortest war in history
2025-04-08 19:31:54 / MISTERE&KURIOZITETE
The shortest war in recorded history began at 9 a.m. on August 27, 1896. It ended in less than three-quarters of an hour, with a shocking toll of 501 soldiers killed or wounded. This is the little-known story of the Anglo - Zanzibar War.
The story began in 1890 with the signing of the Heligoland -Zanzibar Treaty between Britain and Germany. Germany was given control of Tanganyika (present-day Tanzania), while Zanzibar was ceded to British influence.
One of Britain's main plans for Zanzibar was to abolish slavery. But this move angered wealthy merchants and the ruling class. Even the Sultan of Zanzibar, Said Ali ibn Said , resisted these orders until his death in 1893.
The British took the opportunity to install Sultan Hamad bin Tuwaini , who would be more submissive to imperial rule. On 25 August 1896, Hamad died suddenly in his palace. It is suspected that he may have been poisoned on the orders of his cousin, Prince Khalid bin Barghash , who took his place as Sultan and moved into the royal palace. Khalid became a symbol of resistance against European intervention in the region.
About 3,000 soldiers and supporters joined him at the royal palace. The British ordered him to abdicate the throne to his cousin Hamud bin Muhammad. Then, to prove their power, they gathered a force of 900 troops and stationed 5 Royal Navy ships in the harbor near the palace.
Rear Admiral Harry Rawson sent the sultan an ultimatum, ordering him and his troops to either leave the palace and surrender their weapons by 9 a.m. the next day, or face a declaration of war. Khalid believed this to be an empty threat , so he rejected the ultimatum.
At 9 a.m. on August 27, 1896, Rawson ordered the ships toThey opened fire on the palace, which quickly went up in flames. The battle was over within 38 minutes, and the British had destroyed the defensive guns , and killed or wounded 500 of the sultan's men.
In that very short fight, one British soldier was also wounded. That same afternoon, the British installed their chosen ruler, Hamud bin Muhammad , on the throne . As for Khalid bin Barghash , he fled the royal palace and sought political asylum at the German consulate.
The Germans helped him flee the country , and he was only captured by the British in 1916, during World War I. After renouncing his claims to the throne, Khalid was allowed to live in Mombasa . He died there in 1927. Slavery in Zanzibar was abolished in 1897./ Bota.al
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