It ’s generous to call the Anglo - Zanzibar War a " war . " The full conflict endure less than an hour and the victory was ludicrously one - sided , yet this 1896 repulsion between the British Royal Navy and a stubborn grand Turk is normally cited as the shortest state of war on criminal record .
Today , Zanzibar is a semi - self-reliant island nation off the coast of Tanzania in the Indian Ocean , but in the nineteenth century the Sultanate of Zanzibar was a powerful trading imperium in East Africa . From the ports of Zanzibar , ship departed with bone and spices from the African mainland and render with textiles and guns . But the most lucrative trade in Zanzibar wasenslaved Africans .
An estimated 25,000 to 30,000 enslaved people were sell and shipped out of Zanzibar as late as the 1880s , according toThe Historian magazine . And the Sultan of Zanzibar , who ruled from the royal palace , grow copious from the striver trade , even as the British endeavor to terminate the practice by raid mistrust slave ship in the Indian Ocean .
In 1890 , Britain ratify a treaty with Germany that carve out separate " geographical zone of influence " for the two royal nations in Africa and Zanzibar became a British " associated state " — not quite a dependency , but still under the thumb of the British government and armed services .
‘Gunboat Diplomacy’
After claiming Zanzibar as a associated state ( not that the locals had any say ) , the British want to install a grand Turk to put an destruction to the Zanzibar slave swop and mostly do Britain ’s bidding in the region . Their selection was Hamad bin Thuwaini , apro - British " puppet"who became the fifth Sultan of Zanzibar in 1893 .
Thuwaini ruled for three years but died by chance Aug. 25 , 1896.Rumor has itthat he was poison by his nephew , Khalid bin Barghash , who immediately instal himself in the castle as the next Sultan of Zanzibar .
The British did n’t like Barghash . He was too independent and not uncoerced to roll over to their demands . So , the British government pursue in a pop 19th - century practice called " gunboat diplomacy . " They pointed the canyon of three naval combat ship at the castle and courteously demand the novel sultan to leave alone by 9 a.m. the following day .
Why the War Was Just 38 (or 42) Minutes
Barghash was n’t going anywhere . He rolled out hard artillery guns and posted thousands of defenders ( mostly civilian and slaves ) around the palace walls . At 8 a.m. on August 26 , heinformedBasil Cave , the British consul , " We have no design of hauling down our flag and we do not believe you would open flack on us . "
undermine , ever polite , replied that the British would prefer not to attack , " but unless you do as you are told , we shall certainly do so . "
When the clock struck 9 a.m. , the British made respectable on their promise . The war vessel open fire , unrelentingly shell the castle . It necessitate just 38 minutes ( or 42 or 45by some accounts ) , for the grand Turk ’s defenses to be completely destruct . By that time , Barghash himself was long gone . Two minutes after the start of the barrage , he fly the palace and sought asylum at the German consulate . ( Khalid was later smuggle out by the German navy and consume to what is now Tanzania . )
For such a unforesightful warfare , there were a bombastic , if lopsided , number of casualties . or so 500 Zanzibarian hero lost their lives in the barrage fire , yet just one British sailor was spite .
With Barghash gone , the British installed a new grand Turk who immediately outlawed the slave trade in Zanzibar in 1897 . Apparently , he saw what befall to the last guy wire .
