|
The Anglo-Zanzibar War was fought between the United Kingdom and the Zanzibar Sultanate on 27 August 1896. The conflict lasted around 38 minutes, marking it as the shortest war in history.〔.〕 The immediate cause of the war was the death of the pro-British Sultan Hamad bin Thuwaini on 25 August 1896 and the subsequent succession of Sultan Khalid bin Barghash. The British authorities preferred Hamud bin Muhammed, who was more favourable to British interests, as sultan. In accordance with a treaty signed in 1886, a condition for accession to the sultanate was that the candidate obtain the permission of the British consul, and Khalid had not fulfilled this requirement. The British considered this a ''casus belli'' and sent an ultimatum to Khalid demanding that he order his forces to stand down and leave the palace. In response, Khalid called up his palace guard and barricaded himself inside the palace. The ultimatum expired at 09:00 East Africa Time (EAT) on 27 August, by which time the British had gathered three cruisers, two gunboats, 150 marines and sailors, and 900 Zanzibaris in the harbour area. The Royal Navy contingent were under the command of Rear-Admiral Harry Rawson while their Zanzibaris were commanded by Brigadier-General Lloyd Mathews of the Zanzibar army (who was also the First Minister of Zanzibar). Around 2,800 Zanzibaris defended the palace; most were recruited from the civilian population, but they also included the sultan's palace guard and several hundred of his servants and slaves. The defenders had several artillery pieces and machine guns, which were set in front of the palace sighted at the British ships. A bombardment opened at 09:02 set the palace on fire and disabled the defending artillery. A small naval action took place with the British sinking the Zanzibari royal yacht HHS ''Glasgow'' and two smaller vessels, and some shots were fired ineffectually at the pro-British Zanzibari troops as they approached the palace. The flag at the palace was shot down and fire ceased at 09:40. The sultan's forces sustained roughly 500 casualties, while only one British sailor was injured. Sultan Khalid received asylum in the German consulate before escaping to German East Africa (in the mainland part of present Tanzania). The British quickly placed Sultan Hamud in power at the head of a puppet government. The war marked the end of the Zanzibar Sultanate as a sovereign state and the start of a period of heavy British influence. == Background == Zanzibar was an island country in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of Tanganyika; today it forms part of Tanzania. The main island, Unguja (or Zanzibar Island), had been under the nominal control of the Sultans of Oman since 1698 when they expelled the Portuguese settlers who had claimed it in 1499.〔.〕 Sultan Majid bin Said declared the island independent of Oman in 1858, which was recognised by Great Britain, and split the sultanate from that of Oman.〔 The subsequent sultans established their capital and seat of government at Zanzibar Town where a palace complex was built on the sea front. By 1896, this consisted of the palace itself; the Beit al-Hukm, an attached harem; and the Beit al-Ajaib or "House of Wonders"—a ceremonial palace said to be the first building in East Africa to be provided with electricity.〔.〕 The complex was mostly constructed of local timber and was not designed as a defensive structure.〔.〕 All three main buildings were adjacent to one another in a line, and linked by wooden covered bridges above street height.〔.〕 Britain had recognised Zanzibar's sovereignty and its sultanate in 1886, after a long period of friendly interaction, and generally maintained good relations with the country and its sultans.〔〔〔.〕〔.〕 However, Germany was also interested in East Africa and the two powers vied for control of trade rights and territory in the area throughout the late 19th century.〔.〕 Sultan Khalifah had granted rights to the land of Kenya to Britain and that of Tanganyika to Germany, a process resulting in the prohibition of slavery in those lands.〔 Many of the Arab ruling classes were upset by this interruption of a valuable trade, which resulted in some unrest.〔 In addition, the German authorities in Tanganyika refused to fly the flag of the Zanzibar Sultanate, which led to armed clashes between German troops and the local population.〔.〕 One such conflict in Tanga claimed the lives of 20 Arabs.〔 Sultan Khalifah sent Zanzibari troops led by Brigadier-General Lloyd Mathews, a former Lieutenant of the Royal Navy, to restore order in Tanganyika.〔.〕 The operation was largely successful, but anti-German feeling among the Zanzibari people remained strong.〔 Further conflicts erupted at Bagamoyo where 150 natives were killed by German military forces and at Ketwa where German officials and their servants were murdered.〔 Khalifah then granted extensive trade rights to the Imperial British East Africa Company (IBEAC) who, with German assistance, ran a naval blockade to halt the continuing domestic slave trade.〔 Upon Khalifah's death in 1890 Ali bin Said ascended to the sultanate.〔.〕 Sultan Ali banned the domestic slave trade (but not slave ownership), declared Zanzibar a British protectorate and appointed Lloyd Mathews as First Minister to lead his cabinet. The British were also guaranteed a veto over the future appointment of sultans.〔.〕 The year of Ali's ascension also saw the signing of the Heligoland-Zanzibar Treaty between Britain and Germany. This treaty officially demarcated the spheres of interest in East Africa and ceded Germany's rights in Zanzibar to the United Kingdom. This granted the British government more influence in Zanzibar, which they intended to use to eradicate slavery there, an objective they had held as early as 1804. Sultan Ali's successor was Hamad bin Thuwaini, who became sultan in 1893. Hamad maintained a close relationship with the British but there was dissent among his subjects over the increasing British control over the country, the British-led army and the abolition of the valuable slave trade.〔 In order to control this dissent, the British authorities authorised the sultan to raise a Zanzibari palace bodyguard of 1,000 men, but these troops were soon involved in clashes with the British-led police.〔.〕〔.〕 Complaints about the bodyguards' activities were also received from the European residents in Zanzibar Town.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Anglo-Zanzibar War」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|