August · This Day in Africa
August 27
1896 — The 38-Minute War
On August 27, 1896, Royal Navy warships opened fire on the palace of Zanzibar after Sultan Khalid bin Barghash refused a British ultimatum. The bombardment lasted about thirty-eight minutes, reducing the palace to rubble and sinking the royal yacht — the shortest war in recorded history, decided almost as soon as it began.
Some five hundred Zanzibaris were killed or wounded against a single injured British sailor, and Khalid fled to the German consulate. The lopsided toll revealed what the brief clock concealed: this was not a contest between equals, but imperial force imposed in minutes, with Zanzibar paying nearly all the cost.
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