The shortest war in recorded history lasted between 38 and 45 minutes — and it was all over a sultan who forgot to ask permission.
The Anglo-Zanzibar War, fought on August 27, 1896, is the shortest recorded war in history, lasting between 38 and 45 minutes from the first British shot to the moment Zanzibar's flag was shot down. It began at 9:02 a.m. and was entirely over before 9:46 a.m. — shorter than most people's morning commute.
The trigger was a succession dispute. When the pro-British Sultan Hamad bin Thuwaini died suddenly on August 25, his nephew Khalid bin Barghash seized power without obtaining British permission — a requirement under the 1890 protectorate agreement. The British considered this an act of defiance, issued an ultimatum demanding he stand down, and when he refused, opened fire the moment the deadline expired at 9:00 a.m.
Khalid's resistance was real but hopelessly outmatched. He barricaded himself in the palace with around 2,800 men — a mix of palace guards, servants, and hastily recruited civilians — plus several artillery pieces and machine guns. The British had assembled two cruisers, three gunboats, 150 marines, and 900 pro-British Zanzibari troops in the harbor. The outcome was never in doubt.
The British bombardment was devastating and swift. Within minutes, the palace was on fire, the defending artillery had been silenced, and the Zanzibari royal yacht had been sunk. Khalid's forces suffered roughly 500 casualties. On the British side, one sailor was wounded — the war's entire Allied casualty list.
Khalid himself escaped the destruction, fleeing to the German consulate next door and claiming diplomatic asylum. He lived in exile for years before eventually being captured by the British in German East Africa during World War I. He was brought back to Zanzibar in 1916, where he was quietly pensioned off and lived until 1927.
Britain installed their preferred candidate, Sultan Hamoud, immediately after the war ended, placing Zanzibar under what was effectively a puppet government. The brief conflict marked the end of any meaningful Zanzibari sovereignty. The war is today mostly remembered as a trivia answer — though for the 500 Zanzibaris who died in under an hour, it was anything but trivial.