The Shortest War in History

Among the myriad of reasons for the first world war, the mounting problems of imperialism rank high on the list.  The Western powers had effectively divided up the developing countries like a pizza at a frat house party, and some of the bigger boys had grabbed more than their share.

This was particularly true of Great Britain and Germany, each of whom was intent on grabbing as much of Africa as possible.  (If you are wondering, France was still recovering from the end of its last period of monarchy—at least so far—with the ouster of Napoleon III.  And yes, I managed to sneak Napoleon into another blog post.  In a few more paragraphs, I’ll do it again.)

In the 1880’s, ministers from both Great Britain and Germany had meetings to divide the remaining “unclaimed” territories.  Maps were redrawn, a few geographical locations swapped, and treaties were signed.  It is noteworthy that no Africans were invited to attend these meetings, and none would have been admitted had they shown the temerity to show up.  As a result, as World War I began, the only independent country on the African continent was Liberia, the country the United States had founded with repatriated former slaves.  Naturally, these divisions brought on numerous wars, not only between colonizers and the colonized, but between the European powers themselves.  All of Africa would have been far more peaceful if the various heads of Europe had just played a couple of hands of poker using the various African territories as poker chips.

One of those private treaties signed far from Africa and almost as far from any Africans was the Heligoland–Zanzibar Treaty, which gave Germany a few islands in the North Sea and access to the Zambezi River in Africa (not to be confused with the gray-green, greasy Limpopo River, which was already jointly held by the British and the Elephant’s Child).  The British gained territory in Africa including Zanzibar and a ten-mile strip of coastal land in present day Kenya that was referred to as the Zanz.  The new transferal of title was to come as a shock to the Sultan who ruled the area.

The Sultan was not removed, of course:  Britain just established Zanz as a Protectorate, sending advisors from the colonial office, along with enough ships from the British Navy to ensure that the advisors were listened to.  If you are unsure exactly what a Protectorate is, British Prime Minister Salisbury defined it for us:

The condition of a protected dependency is more acceptable to the half civilized races, and more suitable for them than direct dominion. It is cheaper, simpler, less wounding to their self-esteem, gives them more career as public officials, and spares them unnecessary contact with white men.

Exactly who was really in power became transparent when Sultan Hamad bin Thuwaini died on 25 August 1896.  Wisely listening to his viziers who had counted the number of guns on the British warships in the harbor, the sultan had been pro-British, at least publicly.  His successor, Sultan Khalid bin Barghash, hated the British and was absolutely not acceptable to the British Foreign Office.

The British waited two whole days, then ordered Khalid to step down so that a more agreeable Sultan could take the throne.  Khalid refused, gathered together his palace guard, and hastily began erecting barricades at the wooden palace which was unfortunately located way too close to the harbor.  Eventually, the defenders numbered 2,800, including Khalid’s slaves and servants.  These troops were poorly armed with an aging Gatling gun, two Maxim machine guns (a gift from Germany), two 12” field guns, and a 17th century bronze cannon.

The entire Zanzibar Navy was also present:  one aging royal yacht, the wooden hulled sloop, the HHS Glasgow.  She was armed with seven ancient 9-inch cannon and a Gatling gun that ironically had been a present to the previous sultan from Queen Victoria.  This ship had already been retired, but was brought back into service for the looming battle.

Note.  The HHS stood for ‘His Highness’ Ship’.  If the varying prefixes in front of the names of ships are confusing, I suggest you read this.

The British had a force that included three cruisers, two gunboats, 150 Marines and the official Zanzibar Army (a force of 900 locals under the command of a British general).  If you believe, as I do, the old military maxim that God is always on the side of the heaviest artillery, Sultan Khalid was screwed.  

The British gave Sultan Khalid until 9:00 AM on August 27, 1896 to surrender and vacate the palace.  Starting about an hour before the deadline, a series of messages went back and forth between the British and the Sultan, and while I could quote them exactly, the gist of the messages was the Sultan saying, “I don’t think you will really do it” with the British responding with “Yes, we will.”

When no surrender was received, the British fleet began firing at 9:02, with the first volley destroying much of the Zanzibar defending artillery.  Wooden barricades on a wooden building proved to be no match for the high explosive rounds fired by the British warships.

At 9:05, the HHS Glasgow fired on the British cruiser, the HMS St. George.  The cruiser returned fire, immediately holing the Glasgow below the waterline.  The Glasgow immediately raised a Union Jack as a sign of surrender as the old ship settled to the bottom, her jutting masts still visible.  Lifeboats from the five British ships that were literally surrounding the doomed vessel, rescued all of the ship’s crew.  (Part of the ship is still in the harbor, occasionally visited by sport divers.)

The British ships also began firing on the Palace and its defenders, knocking out all of the defending artillery within a few minutes.  The shelling from the British ships continued until 9:40, by which point there was little left to fire on.  The Palace was in ruins—even the Sultan’s flag had been shot away.  Unfortunately, the Sultan’s nearby harem was also destroyed. 

While the Sultan managed to escape out the back door of the palace, over 500 of the defenders had been killed during the bombardment.  On the British side, one sailor was wounded but recovered.  The British ships and crews had fired around 500 shells, 4,100 machine gun rounds and 1,000 rifle rounds during the engagement.  Depending on whether you believe the war started when the deadline ran out or when the ships began their barrage, what became known as the Anglo-Zanzibar War lasted either 38 or 40 minutes, easily the shortest war in history.

The territory of Zanz remained a protectorate until 1963.  And what happened to Khalid, the deposed Sultan?  The British captured him during World War I and for a time kept him prisoner on St. Helena, once the island where the British had kept Napoleon prisoner.  Eventually, Winston Churchill allowed Khalid to return home.