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Lawrence of Arabia - The Battle for the Arab World

The PBS special, Lawrence of Arabia - The Battle for the Arab World, looks at the life of T.E. Lawrence, an English soldier who began as an archaeologist and ended up as the one man who represented both the British Empire and the Arabs in the war of betrayal and quest for freedom - the man they called Lawrence of Arabia.

Lawrence first visited Syria when he was 20 years old, in 1909, to study the castles of the Crusades. He soon befriended the locals, and his knowledge of the area and its people led the British army to send Lawrence back to the Arabian desert as a member of military intelligence. The British wanted their stake of the Suez Canal, a place that would faciliate trade and bring the British Empire more money. The Ottoman Empire was the only thing that stood in their way. The Turks had control of the area, as well as control of the Arab tribes that lived there and Lawrence soon joined the fight to give the Arabs their own self-ruling, united tribe. He became one of them and fought like it was his own freedom at stake.

Britain had agreed not to enter the self-ruling land of the Arab States as long as the Arabs agreed to fight with the British to protect the Suez Canal. These men fought day and night in the scorching desert because they believed they would be free. In reality, France and England agreed to split the Arab land in the Sykes-Picot agreement. (The Palestinian land was also promised to the Jews.) Lawrence continued to fight alongside his comrades, although he knew that they these "men might be dying for nothing."

This legendary story of betrayal and a man torn between two loyalties climaxes with the goal of reaching Damascus, a place where the Turks could be defeated, and if reached, meant that England would have to give the Arabs their land. Find out if this goal is met, how this relates to the chaos in the Arab nations today, and what becomes of the tormented Lawrence of Arabia.

Written by: V. Alexandra de F. Szoenyi

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