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Transcript

The 38 Minutes of War

How the war started

When the news first came of an unofficial new sultan in Zanzibar, the UK sailed over. They informed him that he had made himself sultan without their approval. British forces gave Khalid 1 hour (until 9:00 AM) to stand down and remove himself as sultan.

British navy forces started firing at the palace at 9:02 and immediately fired a high-explosives shell at the palace. The palace at the time had been housing a combined total of 3,000 defenders, servants, and slaves when the shell fired which most likely accounts for most of the casualties. Since, the palace was mainly made of wood and was surrounded by hay and wooden barricades, it had quickly caught fire.

The 38 Minutes of War Cont.

While the bombardment was going on, Khalid's yacht had engaged a British gunship but was quickly sunk due to it being outdated compared to the British gunship it had decided to fire on. On land, troops had captured a shore artillery placement and were decimating enemy soldiers.

The Response

British troops posing at a captured artillery site

The result of the HHS Glassgow not knowing how to pick its fights

Ha wimps

aw man that cost me a fortune

Aftermath

Zanzibar sustained considerable losses, 500 soldiers wounded or killed, royal yacht sunk, 1 shore artillery piece destroyed, and an uncounted number of civilian deaths. One town even experienced chaos and

raiding.

There is a lot of confusion over what signified the official 'start' and 'end' to the war, for example many records signify the start of the war as the order to fire (9 AM), while others list it as the first shot fired (9:02 AM).

Even the end of the war is blurred because the logbooks of each ship list different times for the wars end, the earliest states it ended at 9:35, others at 9:40, 9:41, and 9:45. The most common time frame is 9:02 AM - 9:40 AM.

Actual Length of the War

Through the entire ordeal, the British managed a huge list of casualties, 500 cannon shells, 4,100 machine gun rounds, and 1,000 rifle rounds. Oh, and as for human casualties only 1 soldier had managed to get injured but later recovered. Good job guy, they almost had a perfect record.

British Aftermath

Instead of standing down, Khalid

had decided to use that hour to get 2,800 soldiers, 4 land artillery pieces, 1 coastal artillery piece, and his royal yacht into place to defend his palace.

The HSS Glassgow was a Zanzibar royal yacht belonging to whoever was the current Sultan. It was more designed for battle than for luxury

"Anglo-Zanzibar War." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 9 Sept. 2012. Web. 20 May 2014.

"The Shortest War in History." - The Anglo Zanzibar War. Ed. Ben Johnson. Historic UK. Web. 20 May 2014.

Hickman, Kennedy. "Shortest Conflict in History." About.com Military History. Ask.com. Web. 20 May 2014.

Sources

British Response

When Khalid's window of opportunity to stand down had closed, British forces anchored near Zanzibar were ordered at 9 AM to begin the bombardment of the sultan's palace. Those forces included 1,050 troops deployed the night before to protect the ships, 3 military cruisers, and 2 gunships.

Royal Yacht

Gunships

Cruisers

The

Anglo-Zanzibar War

Aug 27, 1896 - Aug 27, 1896

During and before the war, Zanzibar was a protectorate of the UK. Meaning that the UK protected it, either politically or militarily, from other countries. It was a small territory splitting off from the UK's main East Africa claim, meaning British forces could easily arrive there.

The current pro-British sultan (ruler) of Zanzibar was planned to be kept in power for a long time. However, his sudden death and the quick rise of the new sultan (Khalid bin Barghash) resulted in quick action from the British. They immediately requested him to step down and for a new sultan to be assigned in accordance to a treaty signed in 1886.

Background Knowledge

The Anglo-Zanzibar war was a war between the United Kingdom and Zanzibar Sultanate (a small East African territory protected by the UK).

What was the Anglo-Zanzibar War?

9:40 AM

9:02 AM

(UK Time)

by

Ushuaya Castillo

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