The Shortest War in History

The British Empire launched a naval attack on Zanzibar Sultanate in 1896 and the Sultan's army surrendered only after 38 minutes of bombardment. This surrender of Sultan Khalid bin Barghash makes this conflict the shortest war in the recorded history. The conflict between the British Empire and Zanzibar sultanate erupted after the death of pro-British Sultan Hamad bin Thuwaini. According to a treaty of 1886 British government forced Zanzibar's sultan family to select their new Sultan with the permission from a British consul general. However, after Hamad's death, Khalid declared himself Sultan without taking any consent from the British Consul General. The British government considered this move as a violation of the treaty and gave an ultimatum to Khalid to evacuate the palace. Instead Khalid prepared for the war with his palace guards who were also commanded by a British naval officer named Lloyd Matthews whose post was made irremovable by the Sultan according to that treaty. As the ultimatum expired, British battleships started to bomb Sultan's palace but Sultan's army did not fire a single bullet to the invaders. Consequently, the Sultan's army surrendered without any resistance and the Sultan took refuge in German East Africa that marks the end of the Anglo Zanzibar War, the shortest war in recorded history.