The shortest war in history lasted 38 minutes
When the sultan of Zanzibar (which was protected by the U.K.) died and a new sultan took over without British approval in 1896, the Brits were not happy.
When the Sultan Khalid bin Barghash refused to step down the throne, the tension between those two escalated, and the British warships bombarded the palace for 40 minutes before Khalid fled, ending the Anglo-Zanzibar War which remained in the history as the Shortest War.
