Hard to believe
The Anglo-Zanzibar War, the shortest war in history
11 min
In 1896 a dispute over succession led to a conflict between Britain and Zanzibar that was over in roughly 38 minutes — the shortest recorded war ever fought, and the story of how it came to that.
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Show notes
The eighteen ninety Heligoland-Zanzibar Treaty gave Britain the power to veto any new Sultan's appointment.
Khalid bin Barghash seized the palace with three thousand men and Maxim guns after a suspected poisoning.
The Sultanate's entire navy consisted of a single wooden yacht gifted by Queen Victoria.
British naval artillery destroyed the palace and sank the royal yacht in only thirty-eight minutes.
Over five hundred Zanzibari defenders died while only one British petty officer was injured.
Khalid escaped arrest by using a diplomatic loophole to flee through the German Consulate garden.
In this episode
- 1Intro1 min
- 2The Protectorate and the Puppet2 min
- 3The Ultimatum and the Stand-off2 min
- 4Thirty-Eight Minutes of Fire3 min
- 5The Aftermath and the German Consulate2 min
- 6Outro1 min
Sources
- Anglo-Zanzibar War | Summary, Facts, & Duration - Britannica
- Anglo-Zanzibar War
- How Long Was The 1896 Anglo-Zanzibar War? | HistoryExtra
- The World's Shortest War Lasted Just 38 Minutes | HowStuffWorks
- The Shortest War In History 5 British Warships Pounded the Palace in Unison | War History Online
- The Shortest War in History - The Anglo Zanzibar War
- Hasty Hostilities • Damn Interesting
- The 38 Minute War - YouTube
- The World’s Shortest War – Now I Know
- 42: History's Shortest War | Ill-Equipped History
- Heligoland–Zanzibar Treaty
- Anglo-Zanzibar War - Scholars | Britannica Kids | Encyclopedia
- 38 Minutes of Empire: The Anglo‑Zanzibar War and the Logic of Gunboat Diplomacy > Wars - British Empire Era
- The Anglo-Zanzibar War: A Historian‘s Perspective on the Shortest War in History - History Tools
- (PDF) The 1896 War against Zanzibar. New reflections about imperial military power
- Khalid bin Barghash of Zanzibar
- Anglo-Zanzibar War - Wikipedia
- BOMBARDED BY THE BRITISH; THE ZANZIBAR PALACE DESTROYED BY SHELLS. Said Khalid, the Usurping Sultan, Said to Have Escaped -- His Refusal to Surrender the Cause of the Bombardment -- English Residents Taken Care Of on the British Ships -- Said Hamond Proclaimed Sultan. - The New York Times
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