The Anglo-Zanzibar War was fought between the U.K. and Zanzibar on this day in 1896. The whole thing lasted around about 40 minutes and is on record as being the shortest war in history.
The cause of the war? The death of the pro-British SultanHamad bin Thuwaini on 25 August 1896 and the subsequent succession of Sultan Khalid bin Barghash. The British preferred Hamud bin Muhammed, who was more favourable to their interests at the time.
The problem was a treaty had already been signed, that said a condition for accession to the sultanate was that the candidate obtain the permission of the British consult. The new guy hadn't done that, so he was sent an ultimatum: make his forces stand down and leave the palace, or die. Khalid called up his palace guard and barricaded himself inside.
The ultimatum expired at 09:00 East Africa Time (EAT) on 27 August, by which time the British had gathered three cruisers, two gunships, 150 marines and sailors, and 900 Zanzibaris in the harbour area. Around 2,800 Zanzibaris defended the palace; most were civilians, but they also included the sultan's palace guard and several hundred of his servants and slaves.
A bombardment which was opened at 09:02 set the palace on fire and disabled the defending artillery. A small naval action took place with the British sinking a Zanzibari royal yacht and two smaller vessels, and some shots were fired ineffectually at the pro-British Zanzibari troops as they approached the palace. The flag at the palace was shot down and fire ceased at 09:40.
The sultan's army suffered roughly 500 casualites, while the British only had one sailor injured. Sultan Khalid was granted asylum in the German consulate before he escaped to Tanganyika. The British quickly placed Sultan Hamud in power at the head of a puppet government. The war signalled the end of Zanzibar as a sovereign state and the start of a period of heavy British influence.
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