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However, later, the negative traits of Di Xin as both a ruler and a man became increasingly apparent. His arrogance, ferocity, womanizing, and tendency toward drunkenness became more pronounced. The emperor's conceit grew to such an extent that he officially proclaimed himself the Heavenly Ruler and ordered the construction of the "Deer Tower" on a mountain in his capital, Chao Ge, which tens of thousands of slaves working tirelessly for 7 years raised above the clouds. In the gardens near the giant palaces decorated with jade and built for his own amusement, Di Xin ordered forests of meat and lakes of wine to be created, into which he drove his servants and watched as they became drunk and drowned. To satisfy the emperor's monstrous debauchery, his servants prowled across the country, searching for and kidnapping beautiful women for his harem. Di Xin also became famous as a skilled inventor of the most cruel tortures and executions—one of these was a slippery bronze pole heavily greased with oil, hanging over a red-hot furnace, which the condemned were forced to walk along. Watching with his concubines as the unfortunate fell onto the glowing coals and burned alive, the emperor laughed merrily.
Di Xin did not stop even at the executions of powerful princes and high officials if they attempted to criticize him for his insane behavior. Thus, the vassal princes Jiu-hou and Ao-hou were executed, while the Zhou prince Wen-wang miraculously escaped death, imprisoned in the underground dungeon of Yuli. Only thanks to a huge ransom collected by his dignitaries was the prince able to save himself.
The despot emperor was eventually overthrown by Wen-wang's son, Prince Wu-wang, the founder of the state and dynasty of Zhou. Raising a rebellion against the Yin dynasty, he gathered detachments from all 800 feudal princes of China (with the exception of the principality of Guchzhu) in his army and marched against Di Xin. In the Battle of Muye, which took place in 1046 or 1027 BC (the dating of this era is insufficiently developed) near the empire's capital Chao Ge, Di Xin's army was crushed; a significant part of his troops had either refused to fight for the tyrant before the battle began—demonstratively holding their spears with tips pointing down—or had switched sides to his enemies entirely. After the total defeat of his forces, Di Xin fled to the capital, climbed the "Deer Tower," put on imperial clothing adorned with precious stones, lit a fire in the tower and threw himself into it. When the army of the victors entered the city, the warriors found Di Xin's body, and the new emperor Wu-wang ordered the head to be cut from the despot's corpse and put on public display. The death of Zhou-xin, the last ruler of Yin, marked the end of the so-called Shang-Yin era and the beginning of the Zhou era.
*Abolished money. Entirely. Upon entering Phnom Penh, the "Khmer Rouge" blew up the national bank and placed a fertilizer warehouse in its vaults.
*Decided that if all doctors in the country were shot, people would stop getting sick. Logical as hell.
*Recruited absolute infants for his "bloody secret police"—from seven years old. For exposing one "enemy of the people," each child agent was entitled to a bonus—one cartridge.
*Collectivized all women. Who should copulate with whom was determined by the party leadership.
*Radically solved the national question in the country by physically abolishing all other nationalities except Khmers and Chinese. However, the Chinese who didn't manage to get out were also wiped out.
*To the delight of schoolkids, he wiped out all schools along with the teachers and burned all books he could reach. Except for Karl Marx, whom the grateful populace studied on their only day off.
*Abolished religion along with the clergy. Slew a fuck-ton of monks, Buddha statues, and other cult objects. Almost completely destroyed the country's Muslims and Christians.
*Ordered the disposal of all benefits of modern "white" civilization—from cars to electric shavers. Cars were smashed with sledgehammers; household appliances were buried in the ground.
*Automatically classified all bespectacled people as dangerous non-plebeians, and therefore shot people with poor vision without a word.
*In place of everything abolished, he created communes of 10 thousand people each, where enthusiasts began building communism for a cup of rice a day in the lap of nature.
*Renamed Cambodia to Kampuchea.
One of the most striking elements of this armor is the me-no-shita ho mask of the oiebo type (the calm dignity of a high-ranking person). There are several traditional types of warrior masks; young warriors often ordered masks of old men or terrifying demons, while seasoned warriors hid their faces under a mask replicating a youthful or even maidenly face.
According to legend, the mask for this armor was made by special order of Oda Nobunaga, who wished it to resemble his own facial features. The name Oda Nobunaga struck terror even into fearless warriors, so the great samurai believed there was no point in hiding his face from the enemy.
When in 1781 the Berlin almanac "Guide for Merry People" published sixteen anecdotes about the adventures of Baron Munchausen, the "king of lies" was very indignant... although he himself was involved in this event.
In the more than two hundred years since the legendary baron's death, a huge number of books, plays, films, musical comedies and radio plays dedicated to him have appeared. Some tried to make him a fervent revolutionary, some—an Aryan superman. Fortunately, for most of us, he remained an enthusiastic hunter with a passion for adventure, and even more so—for inventing tall tales.
For example, the baron could recount how, while serving in Russia, he rode in a sleigh... with the Russian Empress! Moreover, the sleigh was so large that it contained both a ballroom and separate cabinets intended for other pleasant amusements... Naturally, it was impossible to verify these stories, as at that time Russia remained an absolute mystery to Europeans.
Even at the end of his life, the 74-year-old baron did not settle down and managed to marry a seventeen-year-old beauty. Alas, she was interested only in the estate of the childless Munchausen. When it turned out that the child born of the marriage was not the baron's, he drove his unfaithful wife from the house and lived out his days with his servant...
Despite everything, Munchausen remained an inventor until the last days of his life. Shortly before his passing, the nurse noticed that two toes were missing from the baron's foot (which he had suffered frostbite on in Russia). And then, true to himself, Munchausen found the strength to joke one last time: "A polar bear bit them off during a hunt!"
Background
The war began after Sultan Hamad ibn Thuwaini, who actively cooperated with the British colonial administration, died on August 25, 1896. Following this, his cousin Khalid ibn Barghash, who enjoyed German support, seized power in a coup. As this went against the plans of the English, who supported the candidacy of Hamud bin Mohammed, they demanded that Khalid ibn Barghash renounce his claims to the sultan's throne. Khalid ibn Barghash refused to comply with the demands and managed to quickly assemble an army of approximately 2800 men, which began preparing the defense of the sultan's palace.
Combat Operations
On August 26, 1896, the British side issued an ultimatum expiring on August 27 at 9:00 AM, according to which the Zanzibaris were to lay down their arms and lower the flag. A British squadron consisting of the 1st-class armored cruiser "St. George", the 3rd-class armored cruiser "Philomel", gunboats "Thrush" and "Sparrow", and the torpedo gunboat "Racoon" lined up on the roadstead, surrounding the only "war" ship of the Zanzibari fleet—the sultan's yacht "Glasgow", built in Great Britain and armed with a Gatling gun and small-caliber 9-pounder guns. In response, the Zanzibaris aimed all their shore batteries at the British ships (a 17th-century bronze cannon, several Maxim machine guns, and two 12-pounder guns).
On August 27 at 8:00, the sultan's messenger requested a meeting with Basil Cave, the British representative in Zanzibar. Cave replied that a meeting could only be arranged if the Zanzibaris agreed to the proposed conditions. In response, at 8:30, Khalid ibn Barghash sent a notification via another messenger stating that he did not intend to yield and did not believe the British would allow themselves to open fire. Cave replied: "we do not want to open fire, but if you do not fulfill our conditions, we will."
Exactly at the time specified by the ultimatum, 9:00, the light British ships opened fire on the sultan's palace. The very first shot from the gunboat "Thrush" hit a Zanzibari 12-pounder gun, knocking it off its carriage. The Zanzibari troops on shore (over 3000 people, including palace servants and slaves) were concentrated in wooden structures, and the British explosive shells produced a terrible destructive effect.
After 5 minutes, at 9:05, the only Zanzibari ship "Glasgow" responded by firing its small-caliber guns at the British cruiser "St. George". The British cruiser immediately opened fire almost at point-blank range with its heavy guns, instantly sinking its opponent. The Zanzibari sailors immediately lowered the flag and were soon rescued by British sailors in boats.
Some time after the bombing began, the palace complex was a blazing ruin and had been abandoned by both the troops and the sultan himself (who was among the first to flee). However, the Zanzibari flag continued to fly on the palace flagpole simply because there was no one left to take it down. Interpreting this as an intention to continue resistance, the British fleet resumed firing. Soon, one of the shells hit the palace flagpole and knocked down the flag. The commander of the British flotilla, Admiral Rawlings, interpreted this as a sign of surrender and ordered the fire to cease and the landing of troops to begin, who occupied the ruins of the palace with practically no resistance. In total, the English fired about 500 shells, 4100 machine-gun rounds, and 1000 rifle cartridges during this short campaign.
The shelling lasted 38 minutes; a total of about 570 people died on the Zanzibari side, while one junior officer on the "Thrush" was lightly wounded on the British side. This conflict entered history as the shortest war.
Aftermath
Sultan Khalid ibn Barghash, having fled the palace, took refuge in the German embassy. Since the new government of Zanzibar, immediately formed by the British, promptly approved his arrest, a Royal Marine detachment kept continuous watch at the embassy fence to arrest the former sultan the moment he stepped outside the embassy territory.
To evacuate the former sultan, the German side had to resort to trickery. On October 2, 1896, the German cruiser "Seeadler" arrived in port. A boat from the cruiser was brought to shore, then carried on the shoulders of German sailors to the doors of the embassy, where Khalid ibn Barghash entered it. After this, the boat was carried back to the sea in the same manner and delivered to the cruiser. Legally, according to the legal norms in effect at the time, a boat was considered part of the ship to which it belonged and was extraterritorial regardless of its location. Thus, the former sultan, while in the boat, formally remained on German territory.
After the war, the former sultan lived in Dar es Salaam until 1916, when he was captured by the English. He died in 1927 in Mombasa.
In English historiography, this war is described in an ironic key due to its brevity. However, from an African perspective, this colonial war, in which more than 500 people on the Zanzibari side died and only one English officer was wounded, has a tragic significance.
Sesame
