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Top 10 Shortest Wars in History

Top 10 Shortest Wars in history- The shortest war in history is the Anglo-Zanzibar war which lasted between 38 to 45 minutes. See full list.

Published

2 years ago

November 19, 2022

Praise Shogbade

The world has witnessed some of the most dreadful wars in history and the resultant effects and casualties of some of them are felt to date. These wars often have adverse effects on political, economic, and social structures in the countries involved.

Although there are wars that typically lasted up to 10 years, there are equally some wars that lasted ten days and some, less than a day- Yes, less than a day as we’ll see in this article. Here are the top 10 shortest wars in history.

10. Falklands War- 10 Weeks

The Falklands war is equally known as Malvinas War, or South Atlantic War. It was a very brief and undeclared war fought between Argentina and the United Kingdom in the year 1982; it began on April 2.

The war was fought over two British dependent territories in the South Atlantic; these territories were the Falkland Islands and South Georgia & South Sandwich Islands. The Argentine had invaded the Falkland Islands and South Georgia when the war began and the British Government responded with a naval task force to engage them.

Following several assaults on Argentina, the country was forced to surrender on the June 14 the same year and the territories were back under the control of the British. The war typically lasted 74 days.

9. Indo-Pakistani War- 1 Month, 2 Weeks, and 4 Days

The Indo-Pakistani War was fought in 1965 and is equally referred to as the Second Kashmir War. It was fought between Pakistan and India.

The war was reported to have been a result of a fight between small groups which took place from April to September the same year. The Pakistani launched an “Operation Gibraltar” which infiltrated the Jammu and Kashmir, bringing about an insurgency against the rule of the Indians at the time. Despite being one of the shortest wars in history, the massacre recorded was quite a number and some days were typically blood baths.

The Indo-Pakistani war is recorded to be the second war with the highest engagement of armored tanks and heavy power vehicles since the Second World War. It came to an end after a ceasefire agreement brokered by the United States and the Soviet Union via diplomatic intervention. It lasted for 7 weeks.

8. Second Balkan War- 1 month, 1 week and 5 days

The first Balkan war took place in early 1913 between Greece and Serbia. After the first war, the Bulgarians were not satisfied with their share of the plunder, hence, their decision to begin the Second Balkan War.

The second war involved the Greece, Serbia, and Romanian troops. All three parties launched an offensive counter-attack on Bulgaria including Ottoman.

Bulgaria was however defeated by all three troops in the same year. The war lasted 1 month, 1 week, and 5 days.

7. Sino-Vietnamese War- 3 Weeks and 6 Days

The Sino-Vietnamese war was a border fight between China and Vietnam in the early 1979. In response to the actions of Vietna against the Khmer Rouge in 1978, China launched an offensive attack in 1979.

The result of the attack was and of the Khmer Rouge rule initially backed by the Chinese Government. After the war however, both countries were victorious and the war marked the third and last of the Indochina wars.

6. Georgian-Armenian War- 24 Days

The Georgian-Armenian War or the Armeno-Georgian war was fought between Armenia and Georgia in the year 1918. It was equally a result of a border dispute between both parties.

Georgia, at the time, newly gained independence and they had a dispute with the First Republic of Armenia over the districts of Tiflis Governorate which is in Borchaly (Lori) and Akhalkalaki majorly. The war ensued shortly after the first world war when both countries claimed their independence from Russia.

The border dispute was first without open military involvement when it began until later when the military had to openly intervene when it escalated. It began officially on the 7th of December 1918 and ended on the 31st of December the same year after a ceasefire agreement was brokered by allied representative cities. The war ended with Armenian forced making gains. It lasted 24 days.

5. Serbo-Bulgarian War- 14 Days

The Serbo-Bulgarian war is also known as the Serbian-Bulgarian War. It was a war that ensued between the Kingdom of Serbia and Bulgaria from November 14 to November 28, 1885.

The war began with the Serbs launching an attack on the Bulgarian faction but they were defeated decisively. This is why the Serbian-Bulgarian war will always be spectacular among the shortest wars in history to date. Despite being a vassal State of the Ottoman Empire, the Turks did not intervene to lend a hand to the Bulgarians.

The final peace treaty was signed on March 3 1886 in Bucharest. One of the results of the war is the acknowledgement of the act of Unification of Bulgaria which took place on September 18 1885.

4. Slovenian Independence War- 10 Days

As we gradually round-off the list of the shortest wars in history, let’s examine this 10-day war that shook the parties involved. Also known as the Slovenian War of Independence, the war was an armed conflict between the Yugoslav People’s Army and the Slovenian Territorial Defence.

The conflict was a result of the declaration of the Separatist Slovenian Territory’s independence from Yugoslavia on June 25, 1991. Two days after the declaration, the war began and lasted till July 7, 1991. It however ended after the parties signed the Brioni Peace Accord.

3. Six-Day War- 6 Days

As the name suggests, the Six-day war between Israel and Arab States lasted for six days. The war lasted from the 5th to 10th of June 1967. The coalition of Arab States included countries like Jordan, Syria, and Egypt.

The Six-day war broke out as a result of the passage rights and trade disputes in water ways along Titan. The Israeli considered Egypt’s act of closing the Straits of Titan to their shipping vessels as an act of war and they responded accordingly.

Israel took Egypt’s military by surprise and nearly cleared their airforce, recording only a few casualties. On June 8, Egypt and Jordan agreed to ceasefire and end the war while Syria joined the agreement on the 9th of June. The total casualty recorded was over 20 thousand Arabian troops massacred. Although it was one of the shortest wars in history, it was a sorry sight to behold.

2. Football War- 100 Hours

The Football War is also referred to as the Hundred Hours’ War. It was one of the brief military conflicts between El Salvador and Honduras in 1969 and it stemmed from the 1970 FIFA World Cup qualifier between both country.

FOOTBALL WAR, 1969: Duration – 100 hours. The Football War which is also referred in history as the Hundred Hours’ War was one of the very brief military conflicts it was fought between El Salvador and Honduras in 1969 and had stemmed from the 1970 FIFA World Cup qualifier rioting between the two Countries.

The Armed forces of El-Salvador launched an attack on the Honduras on July 14, 1969, marking the beginning of the war. A ceasefire agreement however brokered between both parties by the Organization of American States on July 18, 1969 and troops were withdrawn in August.

1. Anglo-Zanzibar War- 38 Minutes

The Anglo-Zanzibar war is the shortest war in history, having lasted between 38 and 45 minutes. It broke out between the Zanzibar Sultanate and the United Kingdom over enthronement. The war was caused by the death of the pro-British Sultan Hamad bin Thuwaini on August 25, 1896 and the succession of Sultan Khalid bin Barghash.

The British Empire however kicked against Sultan Khalid bin Barghash’s reign as he was considered to not serve their interest. As a result of this, they launched a threatened attack on him. He however surrendered the throne before any casualties were recorded.