- A war doesn’t need to be long to be bloody.
The Thirty Years’ War, the Hundred Years’ War, the 335 Years’ War… Some conflicts are famous because they dragged on and on for decades.
Not all wars are like that, though. Sometimes, the wars we fight are over in days — or hours.
You may not have heard of all these wars, precisely because they’re so short. After all, a fight that lasted for a day is rarely that significant in the grand scheme of things.
Yet, not every short war has been lost to history. Here’s a collection of bizarrely short conflicts, including the shortest known war in human history.
7. Norman Conquest of England (17 Days)
The Norman conquest of England is one of the most significant events in British history. It severed England from its Anglo-Saxon roots, brought it closer to France, and had a tremendous role in shaping the English language.
It was also a short affair. William the Conqueror became the King of England in only 17 days.
Without going into the power politics of medieval England, William landed in Pevensey on September 28, 1066. On October 14, he met the English King Harold II at the Battle of Hastings.
Bada-bing, bada-boom, William won and was crowned the King of England. Sure, he had to put down rebellions for several years, but what medieval king didn’t?
6. The War of the Stray Dog (10 Days)
The War of the Stray Dog was as short as it was weird. The 1925 conflict between Greece and Bulgaria started, as its name implies, with a runaway dog.
On October 18, a Greek soldier crossed the border to the Bulgarian side to get back his escaped dog. The Bulgarian border guards, stressed by years of strained relations between the two countries, shot the trespassing Greek.
The war began the next day, despite an official Bulgarian apology. The fighting lasted until October 29, when Greece withdrew after being pressured by the League of Nations, the precursor to the United Nations.
In total, 180 soldiers (125 of them Greek) died in the war. All because a dog ran away.
5. The Six-Day War (6 Days)
Guess how long the Six-Day War lasted? You probably got it right.
All jokes aside, this war is a sad reminder that a war’s length doesn’t necessarily limit the number of casualties. In 1967, Egypt moved its troops to the Israeli border due to false reports that the latter was about to invade.
Seeing the advancing columns, Israel decided to invade for real. For the next six days, Israeli forces hammered the Egyptians and their allied Jordanian, Iraqi, and Syrian forces.
By the time the United Nations brokered a peace deal, nearly 20,000 Egyptian, Iraqi, Jordanian, and Syrian soldiers were dead, as opposed to around 1,000 Israeli casualties.
4. The Football War (100 Hours)
The Football War is also called the 100 Hours War because it lasted for, well, 100 hours. But it’s known as the Football War because it started with a soccer match.
On June 8, 1969, El Salvador beat Honduras 3-2 in the qualifying games for the 1970 FIFA World Cup. The ensuing rioting caused the already simmering tensions between the two countries to boil over.
On July 14, the Salvadoran Air Force began bombing Honduran targets while its ground forces marched across the border. They made quick progress, but the Salvadorans’ fortunes turned on July 16 as the Hondurans forced them to a standstill.
On July 18, a ceasefire brokered by the Organization of American States was signed, although it only took full effect on July 20. Salvadoran troops withdrew on August 2, leaving a combined 3,000 people dead and no change to the borders between the two countries.
3. The Invasion of Anjouan (1 Day)
You may not have ever heard of the Invasion of Anjouan. This brief war happened on March 25, 2008, on the island of Anjouan off the West African coast.
On that day, forces from the island country of Comoros, backed by African Union troops, landed on Anjouan. Their goal was to remove Colonel Mohamed Bacar from power after a disputed and most likely fraudulent election.
Well, that’s what they did. The conflict was so one-sided that it’s questionable if it even counts as a war.
Bacar fled the island and the invasion was complete within 24 hours. The invaders reportedly suffered no casualties, while 3 Anjouans died and 21 soldiers and civilians were injured.
2. German Invasion of Denmark (6 Hours)
In late March 1940, Adolf Hitler grew concerned that the Allied forces of WWII could use the neutral Norway against him. Typically for Hitler, he reasoned that nobody else could brutally conquer a country if he did it first.
To get to Norway, though, the Nazi armies would have to go through Denmark. And that’s what they did on April 9.
At 4:15 a.m., German troops marched into Danish territory. Four and a half hours later, the Government of Denmark surrendered.
It took roughly two more hours to get all Danish soldiers to stop shooting at the Germans. In only six hours, independent Denmark became part of the Third Reich.
1. The Anglo-Zanzibari War (40 Minutes)
On August 25, 1896, the Sultan of Zanzibar died. As the archipelago was at the time under British colonial influence, the British reminded the Zanzibari that they needed to approve the Sultan’s successor.
The dead Sultan’s cousin, Khalid bin Bargash, told the British to piss off and declared himself the new Sultan.
Incensed, the British told bin Bargash that he had two days to step off the throne. Otherwise, war would begin at 9 a.m. on August 27.
Bin Bargash didn’t, and war began as announced by the British opening artillery fire on the Sultan’s palace. The war ended about 40-45 minutes later with the palace a wreck and 500 Zanzibari either dead or injured.
A new pro-British Sultan was installed on the throne and the shortest known war in human history was over.