A war fought between the Great Britain and the Zanzibar Sultanate on 27 August 1896, which lasted between 38 and 45 minutes, making it the shortest recorded war in history.
The cause of the war was the death of the pro-British Sultan Hamad bin Thuwaini on 25 August 1896 and the subsequent succession of Sultan Khalid bin Barghash.
The British authorities preferred Hamud bin Muhammed, who was more favourable to British interests as sultan. In accordance with a treaty signed in 1886, a condition for accession to the sultanate was that the candidate obtain the permission of the British consul, and Khalid had not fulfilled this requirement.
The British considered this a casus belli and sent an ultimatum to Khalid demanding that he order his forces to stand down and leave the palace. In response, Khalid called up his palace guard and barricaded himself inside the palace.
The ultimatum expired at 09:00 East Africa Time (EAT) on 27 August, by which time the British had gathered three cruisers, two gunboats, 150 marines and sailors, and 900 Zanzibari askaris.
Around 2,800 Zanzibaris defended the palace; most were recruited from the civilian population, but they also included the sultan's palace guard and several hundred of his servants and slaves.
The defenders had several artillery pieces and machine guns, which were set in front of the palace sighted at the British ships. The bombardment which started at 09:02 am, set the palace on fire and disabled the defending artillery.
A small naval action took place, with the British sinking the Zanzibari royal yacht HHS Glasgow 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 British ships and crews fired around 500 shells, 4,100 machine gun rounds and 1,000 rifle rounds during the engagement.
Approximately 500 Zanzibari men and women were killed or wounded during the bombardment, most of the dead a result of the fire that engulfed the palace, while only one British sailor was injured but later recovered.
Sultan Khalid received asylum in the German consulate before escaping to German East Africa (in the mainland part of present Tanzania).
The British quickly placed Sultan Hamud in power at the head of a puppet government and The supporters of the anti-British Sultan Khalid bin Barghash were forced to pay the cost of the war.
The war marked the end of the Zanzibar Sultanate as a sovereign state and the start of a period of heavy British influence.
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