It is usual to see a character changes a World history by himself in spite of enemies and moreover allies too in Hollywood films. Of course it is not realistic; however T.E. Lawrence was the perfect example for this character. He had been ordered by English Government in Middle East however he had made his own decisions and changed the history and the destiny of Middle East.
T.E. Lawrence was born in 16 August 1888 in Wales. He and his friend Cyril Beeson bicycled around Berkshire and explored several old historical churches, collected several prestigious materials, they bicycled to France too. He interested in history and archaeology therefore he was educated in Oxford as an archaeologist. He visited Palestine and Syria as an archaeologist of a UK scholar team. He had a extraversion character traits, it was easy to communicate with people and manipulate them, learn language, adapt to variable social, geographic and strategic situations for him. It is predictable that such an adventurous man had volunteered to be a spy in British army's intelligent service in 1914. His first mission was in Cairo. However it was a desk job and of course it was not suit to Lawrence. Meanwhile Arab revolt had begun in 1916, and he was ordered to investigate further chances to help Arabs in Mecca. Though Mecca was under the control of Arabs, there was a substantial force in Medina. Hijaz Mountains lays between Mecca and Medina and there were Bedu warriors under the control of Faisal, son of Hussein. Because of disaster in Gallipoli it was hard to help Bedu warriors.
16 October 1916 – Lawrence landed to Jeddah.
The very first point attracted Lawrence attention was the leader of Arab Revolt. Husain was reluctant to accept British help and Arab revolt could not make it with him according to Lawrence. Lawrence offered that UK hah had to bypass Hussein and select one of his four sons. The best choice would be Faisal who was leader of Bedu warriors. There were two reasons first of all he was ready to accept British help, the other was his plans consists Syria and Iraq while Hussein and his elder son Abdullah's plans consists only southern region of Arabian Peninsula. Though UK was on the side of France in Syria, Lawrence thought different. Lawrence did not know the secret agreement of Sykes-Picot which spares Syria for France.
I plan to present some milestones in which Lawrence played role, so I give only the time table of his later life with little notes.
January 1917 – With help of Lawrence, Arabs captured red sea port Wajh which would be the perfect base for next Arab aggressive movement.
September 1917 - T.E. Lawrence and Arabs destroyed the support line of Gazza.
31 October 1917 – Gazza was captured. There was Jerusalem on the road of Arabs.
2 November 1917 – Balfour Declaration. The end of Jerusalem Road for Arabs?.
20 November 1917 – Lawrence was captured in Dara, he was tortured and sexually abused by Turkish military officers.
11 December 1917 – UK was in Jerusalem. Ottomans withdrawn.
6 July 1917 – Capture of Aqaba. It opened the way to Palestine, however UK
January 1918 – Battle of Tafileh
July 1918 – The Turks were offering a substantial reward for Lawrence's capture, with one officer writing in his notes: "Though a price of £15,000 has been put on his head by the Turks, no Arab has, as yet, attempted to betray him. The Sharif of Mecca has given him the status of one of his sons, and he is just the finely tempered steel that supports the whole structure of our influence in Arabia. He is a very inspiring gentleman adventurer.
19 September 1918 – Dara which was proposed as the Land of France, was captured by Arabs by Lawrence leadership.
1 October 1918 – Fall of Damascus. T.E Lawrence and Arabs captured another Ottoman city which was proposed to be as French City.
04 October 1918 – It was the time for propaganda. Lawrence was in London and he defended the Arab sovereign instead of France in Syria.
January – May 1919 – Paris Peace Conference. He was the member of Faisal's delegation. (Against France)
17 May 1919 – His plane crashed at the airport of Roma. Pilot and co-pilot dead, he survived.
1921 – He was one of the advisors of Churchill.
August 1922 – Lawrence enlisted in the Royal Air Force as an aircraftman under the name John Hume Ross.
1923 – Lawrence was forced out of the RAF in February 1923 after being exposed. He changed his name to T. E. Shaw and joined the Royal Tank Corps in 1923.
August 1925 – Royal Air Force accepted him again.
19 May 1935 – At the age of 46, two months after leaving military service, Lawrence was fatally injured in an accident on his Brough Superior SS100 motorcycle in Dorset, close to his cottage, Clouds Hill, near Wareham. A dip in the road obstructed his view of two boys on their bicycles; he swerved to avoid them, lost control, and was thrown over the handlebars.[45] He died six days later on 19 May 1935.[45] The spot is marked by a small memorial at the side of the road.
Lawrence was really extraordinary man with his high energy, love to adrenalin and determination. Several times France's policy even his own government's policies and orders like Balfour Declaration, were against his plans, on the other side there were people who had been lived under the Ottoman control more than 500 years and could not be together, and Ottoman forces .
He united Arabs, (when he left them in Aqaba and Damascus, all of tribes began to fight in each other) and lead them in their way to freedom.
