The shortest war lasted all about half an hour: so much time was required to the British colonists for suppression of a revolt of the African inhabitants in Zanzibar. The longest war consider Centenary: it continued more century between England and France.
The shortest war
The British colonists at the end of the 19th century began to occupy the African lands inhabited by black natives who differed in very low level of development. But locals were not going to give up – in 1896 when agents of the British southern African company tried to annex territories of modern Zimbabwe, natives decided to resist to opponents. So First Chimurenga began – by this term designate all collisions between races in this territory (all them there were three).
First Chimurenga – the shortest war in the history of mankind, at least, from known. Despite the active resistance and an aggressive spirit of the African inhabitants, war quickly ended with an unambiguous and slashing victory of the British. The military power of one of the most powerful powers in the world and the poor backward African tribe cannot even be compared: as a result war lasted 38 minutes. The English army avoided losses, and among Zanzibar risen there were 570 killed. This fact was written down in the Guinness Book of Records later.
The longest war
The well-known Centenary war is considered the longest in the history. It lasted not hundred years, and it is more – from 1337 to 1453, but with breaks. If to speak more precisely, then it is a chain of several conflicts between which the lasting peace was not established therefore they dragged on in long war. Centenary war was waged between England and France: and with that, and on the other hand the countries were helped by allies. The first conflict arose in 1337 and is known as Edvardiansky war: the English king Edward III, the grandson of the French governor Philip Krasivy, decided to apply for the French throne. Opposition lasted till 1360, and in nine years the new war – Carlovingian broke out. At the beginning of the 15th century the Centenary war continued the Lancaster conflict and the fourth, final stage which ended in 1453. The exhausting opposition led to the fact that from the population of France to the middle of XV there was one third. And England lost the possession on the European continent – it had only Calais. In the English Royal Court, civil strifes which led to anarchy began. From treasury almost nothing remained: all money left on war maintenance. But war had a great influence on military science: in one century many new types of weapon were invented, there were standing armies, the firearms began to develop.