an of Zanzibar and furthered the archipelago's progress toward abolishing slavery.
British protectorateControl of Zanzibar eventually came into the hands of the British Empire; part of the political impetus for this was the 19th century movement for the abolition of the slave trade.
The relationship between Britain and the German Empire, at that time the nearest relevant colonial power, was formalized by the 1890 Heligoland-Zanzibar Treaty, in which Germany agreed to "recognize the British protectorate over ... the islands of Zanzibar and Pemba". That year, Zanzibar became aprotectorate (not a colony) of Britain.
From 1890 to 1913, traditional viziers were appointed to govern as puppets, switching to a system of British residents (effectively governors) from 1913 to 1963. The death of the pro-British Sultan Hamad bin Thuwaini on 25 August 1896 and the succession of Sultan Khalid bin Barghash, who the British did not approve, led to the Anglo-Zanzibar War. On the morning of 27 August 1896, ships of the Royal Navy destroyed the Beit al Hukum Palace. A cease fire was declared 38 minutes later, and to this day the bombardment stands as the shortest war in history.
Independence and subsequent merger with TanganyikaThe islands gained independence from Great Britain on 10 December 1963 as a constitutional monarchy.
A month later, the bloody Zanzibar Revolution, in which hundreds to thousands of Arabs and Indians were killed in a genocide and thousands more expelled, led to the establishment of the People's Republic of Zanzibar and Pemba.
In April 1964, the republic merged with mainland Tanganyika. This United Republic of Tanganyika and Zanzibar was soon renamed (as a portmanteau) the United Republic of Tanzania, of which Zanzibar remains a semi-autonomous region.
