The shortest war in history

Author

Luke Ball
August 26, 2022

Hi, this is Our Bloody History, where we summarise Wikipedia even more for you.

Today's quick story:

The shortest recorded war in history, a brief encounter that happened this week, 126 years ago, on 27 August 1896, when the British Empire bombed the Sultanate of Zanzibar.

Let's get greedy first.

Cutting cake

It all starts with the 1884–1885 Berlin Conference. Representatives of fourteen countries (mostly European powers) met in Berlin to cut some cake. They sat around a long table and looked at a massive map of Africa on the wall.

Then they cut it – the country, not the map.

Berlin Conference

The conference of Berlin, as illustrated in "Illustrierte Zeitung"

The new "on paper" borders gave zero regard to traditional ethnic and tribal boundaries. Oh, we might be splitting up a people? Don't care. We want this river and that mountain. The new borders were superimposed on over 1,000 indigenous cultures and regions of Africa, causing so much of the conflict we see today.

The Berlin Conference was Africa’s undoing in more ways than one. The colonial powers superimposed their domains on the African continent. By the time Africa regained its independence in the 1960s, the realm had acquired a legacy of political fragmentation that could neither be eliminated nor made to operate satisfactorily. The African politico-geographical map is thus a permanent liability that resulted from the three months of ignorant, greedy acquisitiveness during a period when Europe’s search for minerals and markets had become insatiable.”

Harm J. de Bli, "Geography: Realms, Regions, and Concepts:"

It's pretty bad. The Scramble for Africa, as it's so called, has done irreparable damage to the continent. And set within this context, we find the shortest war to ever have been recorded.

It's the late 1800s and both Germany and Britain are vying for control of trade and territory in East Africa. In this mix is the Sultanate of Zanzibar, which at it's peak spans all of present-day Kenya and the Zanzibar Archipelago off the Swahili Coast. Today, the Island of Zanzibar forms part of modern-day Tanzania.

At this point in time, the relationship between Zanzibar and Britain is generally favourable with the British recognising the Sultanate's sovereignty since 1886. But, and there's always a but, on 25 August 1896, the pro-British Sultan of Zanzibar, Hamad bin Thuwaini, suddenly dies. Assassination by poison. His 29-year-old nephew Khalid bin Bargash is the chief suspect behind the plot.

Khalid, the keen nephew, immediately occupies the palace with his soldiers. The local British consul sends various warning messages to Khalid: think carefully about what you're doing, don't be foolish, turn around and go home. Khalid ignores all suggestions and announces that he will proclaim himself Sultan at 3pm that same day. The British are like hell no! we don't like you. They prefer another dude as Sultan, someone more favourable to tea and crumpets and her Majesty's agenda.

The consul tells Khalid that if he becomes Sultan it will constitute an act of rebellion and that his new sultanate will not be recognised by the British government. But at exactly 3pm, as promised, a royal salute from the palace guns informs the world of Khalid's succession. The cheeky guy does it anyway.

The consul then sends the following message back home:

"Are we authorised in the event of all attempts at a peaceful solution proving useless, to fire on the Palace from the men-of-war?"

The reply:

"You are authorised to adopt whatever measures you may consider necessary, and will be supported in your action by Her Majesty's Government. Do not, however, attempt to take any action which you are not certain of being able to accomplish successfully."

On 26 August, the British flex with a few warships in the harbour. The consul tries to negotiate, but that failing, offers Khalid the following ultimatum: haul down your flag and leave the palace by 9am on 27 August or we will open fire.

The next day, on 27 August 1896, our day in history this week, Khalid requests parley at 8am. The British are like nope. Salvation only comes if you accept the ultimatum. Khalid calls their bluff and is like I don't you believe you guys will actually fire on us. The British say we don't want to, but we will. At 8:55am, with no further word from Khalid, the 'prepare for action' signal is hoisted from one of the British ships.

At exactly 9am, General Lloyd Mathews orders the British ships to commence the bombardment. At 9:02 the British ships Racoon, Thrush and Sparrow open fire at the palace simultaneously.

The newly minted Sultan flees the palace at the first shot. Whoops.

The bombardment continues until around 9:40am. By this point, the palace and attached harem are on fire, the Sultan's artillery silenced and his flag cut down. Approximately 500 Zanzibari men and women are killed or wounded during the attack. Most are killed from the resulting palace fire.

Palace

The palace complex following the bombardment

And so ends the Anglo-Zanzibar War, the shortest recorded war in history. Just 38 minutes of action, but still too many lives needlessly lost.

3 quick facts:

  • Although several durations are given for the war, including 38, 40 and 45 minutes, the 38-minute duration is the most often quoted. The variation is due to confusion over what actually constitutes the start and end of a war. For example, some sources take the start of the war as the order to open fire at 09:00 and some with the start of actual firing at 09:02.

  • Sultan Khalid initially seeks refuge in the German consulate, but is captured by British forces in 1916, during the East African Campaign of World War I, and exiled to Seychelles and Saint Helena before being allowed to return to East Africa, where he dies at Mombasa in 1927.

  • After the 38-minute war, a new Sultan is installed, one loyal to Britain, and there are no further rebellions against British influence during the remaining 67 years of the protectorate

Other conflicts that happened this week:

A historical quote about historical things:

“Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's needs, but not every man's greed.”

Mahatma Gandhi

See ya next week!

DisclaimerYou are reading my abstractions based on the abstractions of others. History is not always an accurate map of what really happened. The map is not the territory. Reality can be very different. We are like blind people groping an elephant, describing what we feel. It always pays to do your own research and ask questions.