10 Disturbing History Facts They Don't Teach You In School

We often hear about long, drawn out wars lasting years at a time. But what about shorter wars, such as one lasting a staggering 38 minutes?

Well, let me introduce you to the Anglo-Zanzibar War of 27 August 1896, which occurred between Great Britain and the nation of Zanzibar.

In 1890, it was decided, with very little input from Zanzibar itself, that the country would be under British rule. In 1893, Britain installed a puppet Sultan, Hamad bin Thuwaini, to rule the country and things went swimmingly for three years, until his sudden and untimely death.

This now led to the question: who would become the new ruler?

This was quickly answered as Khalid bin Barghash moved into the palace, under heavy suspicion he had poisoned his predecessor. Unfortunately for Britain, Khalid supported many anti-British sentiments. After several warnings of imminent war if he did not relinquish his position, which Khalid ignored, British diplomats decided a massive show of force and power would change things.

Using armaments and ships given to them by Britain, Khalid secured his palace with 3000 men. However, this was no match for the HMS Philomel and the HMS Rush, already stationed nearby. A day later, two more warships came.

The orders finally came down for an attack to begin around 9am on the morning of 27 August. Almost all of the Khalid-loyal forces had been destroyed within the opening two minutes, with the palace being reduced to rubble. Shelling continued for another 36 minutes, despite Khalid leaving as soon as it started, leaving the loyalists to fight unsupported, resulting in 500 casualties their side. British forces suffered only one serious injury.

The Sultan’s flag was eventually pulled down and the shelling ceased.

Britain retook the country, but Khalid, who had fled to German territory, was not captured until 1916 during WWI, when he was tried and exiled to St. Helena. Eventually he was allowed back into East Africa, where he died in 1927.